Vice President Business Group Chief Information Security Officer

Sun Life U.S. is one of the largest providers of employee and government benefits, helping approximately 50 million Americans access the care and coverage they need. Through employers, industry partners and government programs, Sun Life U.S. offers a portfolio of benefits and services, including dental, vision, disability, absence management, life, supplemental health, medical stop-loss insurance, and healthcare navigation. We have more than 6,400 employees and associates in our partner dental practices and operate nationwide.

At Sun Life, we're driven by our Purpose: helping our Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. Our values shape how we work: caring, authentic, bold, inspiring, and impactful.

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VP, Business Group Information Security Officer, SL U.S. (BG CISO) 

Job Purpose 

The Vice-President, Business Group Information Security Officer, U.S. (BG CISO) serves as a senior security leader and partner to the Business Group leadership team and Business Group President.  Acting as the senior security executive for the Business Group and the primary bridge between the business and enterprise Security function, the BG CISO provides independent oversight and challenge of cyber risk, resilience and security outcomes across the business group. 

The U.S. BG CISO is accountable for cyber risk, resilience, and security outcomes for Sun Life’s U.S. business, a core Health & Protection platform focused on group benefits, dental, disability, life and absence-management solutions, with operations primarily in the United States and connectivity to enterprise shared services and technology teams.  
 
Reporting directly to the global Chief Security Officer, this role is responsible for ongoing emphasis on automation, service delivery, cybersecurity resilience and secure growth.  Direct and indirect reports include a team of ~10 security leads and advisors aligned to U.S. business priorities, product/platform risk, incident readiness, and stakeholder engagement.

The BG CISO partners closely with executives, technology leaders, risk partners, and the enterprise security team to protect critical assets, enable innovation, strengthen resilience, and ensure risks are understood and managed within the organization's risk appetite. The BG CISO is accountable for providing independent business-aligned security oversight while enabling growth, innovation and transformation across the Business Group. The role translates complex cyber and security risks into business impacts and shapes strategy, investments, priorities, and operating decisions across the Business Group.  

Scope, Decision Authority and Key Interfaces 

The Vice-President, Business Group Information Security Officer serves as the senior security executive and trusted advisor to the Business Group President and leadership team. The role is accountable for cyber risk oversight, executive advisory services, security governance, resilience alignment, regulatory engagement, and independent challenge across the assigned business group. The Vice-President translates enterprise security strategy into business-relevant actions while ensuring cyber risk, resilience, regulatory obligations, and security priorities are appropriately considered within business decisions and transformation initiatives.  

The Vice-President has delegated authority to establish business-group security governance routines, direct security assessments, challenge risk decisions, require remediation planning, recommend security investment priorities, and escalate material cyber and resilience concerns through appropriate governance channels. Within approved authorities, the role provides independent advice and challenge regarding cyber risk, resilience, technology transformation, regulatory obligations, third-party risk, and risk acceptance decisions. Where management disagreement exists regarding material cyber risk acceptance, the matter will be escalated to the Global Chief Information Security Officer for review and discussion with the applicable Business Group President before a final decision is made. 

The role is accountable for business-group security oversight, executive advisory services, risk escalation, independent challenge, alignment of enterprise security services to business priorities, and operational ownership of Business Group Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) platforms and associated security outcomes. The role does not own enterprise cyber defence operations, enterprise security platform engineering, vulnerability remediation, incident response operations, or second-line risk oversight except where responsibilities are expressly assigned. The Vice-President works closely with Enterprise Security leaders to ensure Business Group CIAM capabilities remain aligned with enterprise architecture, security standards, resilience requirements, and regulatory obligations. 

Matters escalated to the Chief Information Security Officer would typically include significant cyber or operational resilience concerns, material breaches of risk appetite, major regulatory matters, unresolved management actions, significant third-party security issues, material client commitments, or disagreements regarding risk acceptance, prioritization, or investment decisions. 

Major Accountabilities 

Strategic Security Leadership and Vision 

• Serve as the primary Security advisor to the Business Group executive team and Business Group President. 

• Accountable for defining and driving the Business Group security strategy, aligned to enterprise security priorities and business objectives. 

• Ensure security considerations are integrated into business strategy, transformation initiatives, digital strategies, and operational decision-making. 

• Report significant changes in risk to appropriate levels of leadership on a periodic and event-driven basis.  

• Exercise independent challenge and escalate material cyber, technology, resilience and security risks through appropriate governance forums when risk exposure exceeds established risk appetite or remediation commitments are not achieved.  

• Deliver timely insights and data to enable informed executive decision-making, prioritization, and risk-based trade-offs.  

• Influence and shape multi-year security, resilience, and technology risk investment strategies, ensuring resource allocation aligns with business priorities, regulatory expectations and evolving threat landscapes.  

• Identify emerging threats, trends, and regulatory developments that may impact the Business Group and proactively develop mitigation strategies. 

Business Partnership & Influence 

• Build trusted relationships with business and technology executives. 

• Act as the voice of the Business Group within the CISO organization and as the voice of the CISO organization within the Business Group. 

• Facilitate effective collaboration between business stakeholders and enterprise security teams. 

• Influence business group investment priorities and strategic trade-offs related to cyber risk, resilience, regulatory obligations, and secure technology adoption 

Cyber Risk Management 

• Accountable for the Business Group’s cyber risk posture, control effectiveness and security outcomes, ensuring material risks are identified, assessed, escalated, remediated, or formally accepted through appropriate governance and in alignment with enterprise risk appetite. 

• Facilitate cyber risk assessments across application/platform/system levels to identify vulnerabilities and potential threats, analyze impacts, and recommend protection required based on threat modeling. 

• Support business leaders in making informed risk decisions consistent with enterprise policies and risk appetite. 

• Work with the Global Cyber threat intelligence team and monitor evolving threat landscapes and advise leaders on risk implications and required actions. 

• Provide oversight of BG specific third-party cyber risk related to critical vendors, strategic partners, outsourced services, and technology providers, ensuring security risks are appropriately identified, assessed, governed, monitored and escalated as appropriate.  

• Provide independent security advice on material risk acceptance decisions and ensure risks exceeding approved appetite or delegated authority are escalated to the appropriate enterprise and business governance forums.  

Governance, Regulatory & Compliance 

• Lead security governance activities within the Business Group. 

• Oversee regular reporting and ensure alignment to global functional teams 

• Represent Security on business governance forums, executive committees, and risk councils. 

• Ensure effective management of applicable cybersecurity, technology risk, operational resilience, regulatory, legal, and policy requirements within the Business Group. 

• Represent the Business Group during regulatory examinations, supervisory reviews, external assessments and cybersecurity-related audits.  

• Hold leaders accountable to effective remediation of audit findings, regulatory issues, and control deficiencies. 

Security Integration & Transformation 

• Partner with the enterprise security team to ensure security services and controls meet the needs of the Business Group. 

• Provide security leadership for major initiatives, acquisitions, client commitments, strategic partnerships, and technology transformations, including cyber due diligence, risk assessment, integration planning, and oversight of material remediation commitments. 

• Enable secure adoption of emerging technologies, including cloud, AI, automation, and digital solutions, ensuring appropriate cybersecurity, data protection, privacy, and governance controls are embedded throughout the lifecycle. 

• Provide oversight of information protection, data security, AI security and emerging technology risks ensuring critical information assets are protected and used responsibly and in compliance with regulatory and enterprise requirements.  

• Champion a secure-by-design approach across technology and business initiatives. 

Incident Preparedness & Resilience 

• Serve as the senior security executive for the Business Group during significant cyber incidents, operational disruptions, and crisis events, coordinating with enterprise incident response, business continuity, legal, privacy, risk, communications, and business leadership to support timely decisions, escalation, recovery and reporting. 

• Oversee the Business Group’s cyber and operational resilience preparedness, including alignment with business continuity and crisis management, scenario testing, crisis simulations, recovery planning and oversight of resulting remediation actions.  

• Oversee the Business Group’s cyber risk assessment program across critical applications, platforms, systems, business processes, and transformation initiatives, ensuring material vulnerabilities, and threats are evaluated, prioritized, and addressed based on business impact and threat-informed analysis. 

Security Culture & Awareness 

• Foster a strong security culture across the Business Group. 

• Promote accountability for risk management among leaders and employees. 

• Drive awareness and adoption of security best practices. 

Leadership & Talent Development 

• Lead a network of business-aligned security leaders and professionals from across the Business Group and affiliate entities, providing strategic direction, oversight, and coordination of security priorities within a complex global matrix environment.  

• Present cyber risk, resilience, security posture, and emerging threats to executive committees, governance forums, and board-level audiences as required.  

• Lead through influence across complex matrixed environments. 

• Represent both the enterprise security function and business group with senior executives, regulators, auditors, and within industry forums.  

• Demonstrate executive presence and credibility with senior leaders. 

• Balance risk management with commercial and strategic objectives. 

• Drive informed decision-making under ambiguity and changing conditions. 

• Act as a trusted advisor capable of challenging constructively when risks warrant escalation. 

Qualifications 

Education 

• University degree in Information Security, Computer Science, Technology, Risk Management, Business, or a related discipline. 

• Relevant security certifications preferred (CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CGEIT, or equivalent). 

Experience 

• 15+ years of progressive experience in cybersecurity, information security, technology risk, risk management, or related disciplines. 

• Experience advising senior global executives on technology and cyber risk matters. 

• Experience operating in highly regulated environments. 

• Proven ability to influence strategic and investment decisions at an executive level. 

• Experience leading large-scale transformation, risk, or security initiatives. 

Key Knowledge & Skills 

• Deep understanding of information security, cyber risk, regulatory requirements, and resilience frameworks. 

• Strong business acumen and ability to translate technical risks into business impacts. 

• Exceptional stakeholder management and executive communication skills. 

• Strong understanding of enterprise technology, cloud, data, AI, and digital platforms. 

• Strategic leader with the ability to anticipate and address emerging risks and opportunities. 

• Strong judgment, influence, and decision-making capability. 

• Ability to lead through influence in a matrixed global organization. 

Success Profile 

The ideal candidate combines the credibility of a security leader with the mindset of a business executive. They are a trusted advisor to senior leaders, capable of enabling growth and innovation while ensuring risks are effectively understood, governed, and managed. 

Salary Range: $220,000 - $300,000

At our company, we are committed to pay transparency and equity. Your actual base salary will be determined based on your unique skills, qualifications, experience, and education. In addition to your base salary, this position is eligible for discretionary short and long-term annual incentive awards based on your individual performance as well as the overall performance of the business. We are dedicated to creating a work environment where everyone is rewarded for their contributions.

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We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where all employees feel they belong, are supported and empowered to thrive.  We are dedicated to building teams with varied experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and ideas that benefit our colleagues, clients, and the communities where we operate.  We encourage applications from qualified individuals from all backgrounds.

Life is brighter when you work at Sun Life

At Sun Life, we prioritize your well-being with comprehensive benefits, including generous vacation and sick time, market-leading paid family, parental and adoption leave, medical coverage, company paid life and AD&D insurance, disability programs and a partially paid sabbatical program.  Plan for your future with our 401(k) employer match, stock purchase options and an employer-funded retirement account.  Enjoy a flexible, inclusive and collaborative work environment that supports career growth.  We’re proud to be recognized in our communities as a top employer.  Proudly Great Place to Work® Certified in Canada and the U.S., we’ve also been recognized as a "Top 10" employer by the Boston Globe's "Top Places to Work" for two years in a row.  Visit our website to learn more about our benefits and recognition within our communities.

We will make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of otherwise-qualified individuals with disabilities or special disabled veterans, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. Please email [email protected] to request an accommodation.

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We do not require or administer lie detector tests as a condition of employment or continued employment.

Sun Life will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including applicable fair chance ordinances.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

General Management30/10/2026