Senior Manager, Data Engineering

Senior Manager, Data Engineering & Delivery (Pod Lead) Toronto, ONT, Canada and 1 more Be the First to Apply Definity is the parent company to some of Canada’s most long-standing and innovative insurance brands, including Economical Insurance, Sonnet Insurance, Family Insurance Solutions, and Petline Insurance. Our ambition is to be one of Canada’s leading and most innovative property and casualty insurers. We can’t do that without our people, so we embrace and encourage a culture that’s collaborative, ambitious, rewarding, and empowering.  We offer a flexible, hybrid work experience where employees work from the office and virtually depending on the type of work they are doing and who they are working with. Bring your true self and be a part of our journey. It’s better here.  We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Senior Manager to lead our Data Engineering efforts, specifically focusing on the end-to-end delivery of critical data products within dedicated Data Pods. As a key leader, you will be instrumental in shaping our data strategy, guiding a multidisciplinary team of data professionals, and ensuring the timely and high-quality delivery of data solutions that drive business value. You will oversee the execution of our data product roadmap, fostering collaboration between your teams and business stakeholders to translate complex requirements into robust, scalable data products. This role is pivotal in ensuring our data platform evolves to meet the dynamic needs of the organization, with a strong emphasis on innovation and operational excellence. What can you expect in this role?  Data Pod Leadership: Lead and manage one or more Data Pods, which comprise a cross-functional team of data engineers, analysts, data scientists, and other required resources. Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performance culture within your pods, empowering team members and promoting continuous learning. Oversee resource management, hiring, onboarding, and talent development within your teams. Drive accountability for the quality, timeliness, and success of all data products delivered by your pods. End-to-End Data Product Delivery: Take full ownership of the data product lifecycle, from initial ideation and user story definition through development, testing, deployment, and ongoing maintenance. Ensure the technical excellence of data solutions, including data ingestion, transformation, modeling, and consumption, adhering to best practices. Champion the implementation of robust data quality frameworks and monitoring. Manage the technical roadmap for your assigned data products, ensuring alignment with broader organizational data strategy. Business Collaboration & Requirements Management: Partner closely with business stakeholders to understand their needs, gather requirements, and translate them into actionable user stories and technical specifications. Facilitate prioritization of features and initiatives with business leads and product owners, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and OKRs. Communicate effectively with stakeholders regarding project status, challenges, and roadmap updates, managing expectations proactively. Technical Strategy & Innovation: Contribute to the development and execution of the overall Cloud data platform strategy, vision, and framework. Stay abreast of emerging Big Data technologies and methodologies, identifying opportunities to leverage new tools and techniques to enhance our data capabilities. Drive innovation in data ingestion, curation, and consumption insights. Stakeholder Management & Partnership: Collaborate effectively with functional leads across Product, Design, Engineering, and Data & Insights to set strategic direction and achieve shared goals. Represent the data engineering function in cross-organizational initiatives. What do you bring to the role?  Experience: 8+ years of progressive experience in Data warehouse, Big Data and Data Analysis domains. 4+ years of proven experience in team management and people leadership, ideally within a distributed or agile environment. Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams to deliver end-to-end data products. Experience in defining and executing product roadmaps and prioritizing backlogs with business stakeholders. Experience with P&C Insurance Data domain strong asset Technical Skills: Hands-on experience and deep knowledge of the Big data systems Like Hadoop, Big query , snowflake  etc Proficiency with programming languages such as Python, and experience with Databricks, Dataflow, or other relevant ETL/ELT tools. Familiarity with message queuing technologies like Kafka or Pub/Sub. Experience with cloud computing platforms (Google Cloud Platform is a strong plus), distributed systems, and data warehousing/data lake concepts. Understanding of operational tools and systems (e.g., Guidewire ,Claims , Policy management systems  ,  Call centers , ServiceNow). Leadership & Soft Skills: Exceptional problem-solving abilities with a knack for diving deep into complex issues and formulating pragmatic solutions. Strong communication, collaboration, and influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively with global teams and diverse stakeholders. A passion for building and nurturing high-performing, inclusive teams. A strategic mindset with the ability to balance speed to market with robust, scalable solutions. A strong understanding of data governance, data quality, and data privacy principles. Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or a related field. Interested in this role, but don’t meet every requirement? We encourage you to apply We know from experience that a candidate doesn’t need 100% of the qualifications listed to bring incredible value to our team. We’re actively seeking diverse backgrounds and perspectives to help us make insurance better. At Definity, inclusion, diversity, and equity aren’t just “nice to have” — they’re essential to our success.  What’s in it for you? Hybrid work schedule for most roles Company share ownership program Pension and savings programs, with company-matched RRSP contributions Paid volunteer days and company matching on charitable donations Educational resources, tuition assistance, and paid time off to study for exams Focus on inclusion with employee groups, support for gender affirmation surgery, access to BIPOC counsellors, access to programs for working parents  Wellness and recognition programs  Discounts on products and services Actual salary for the role may vary depending on work location of the successful candidate and other factors including but not limited to, skills, education, experience, working conditions and the local labour market.  In addition to base pay, eligible employees may participate in various incentive plans which are paid out at the discretion of the company and subject to individual and company performance. Go ahead and expect a lot — you deserve it. Our inclusive work environment welcomes diversity and supports accessibility. If you require accommodation at any time during the recruitment process, please let us know by contacting . Background checks This role requires successful clearance of background checks (including criminal checks and leadership references).