Senior AI Engineering Director
Toronto, San Francisco Bay Area
$298,000 - $446,000/yearly
Senior Level
About the role
Who you are
- 12–15+ years in software engineering, data engineering, or ML engineering
- 5+ years leading large, distributed engineering teams (including managers of managers)
- Proven track record of delivering ML/AI systems at scale in production environments
- Deep knowledge of machine learning systems, MLOps, and cloud-native architectures
- Experience with ML frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch) and data platforms
- Strong understanding of GenAI/LLMs, prompt engineering, and retrieval-augmented systems
- Familiarity with distributed systems, APIs, and microservices architecture
- Strong ability to translate business strategy into technical execution
- Experience driving large-scale transformation initiatives
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
- Experience building enterprise AI platforms or internal AI products
- Background in both predictive ML and generative AI use cases
- Experience in global delivery models (e.g., US + India engineering hubs)
- Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
What the job involves
- We are seeking a Senior Director of AI Engineering to lead and scale a high-performing Machine Learning Engineering (MLE) organization
- This leader will be responsible for building production-grade AI/ML systems that power next-generation generative and predictive capabilities across the enterprise
- The role combines deep technical leadership, organizational scale, and strong business alignment to translate AI innovation into measurable impact
- Reporting to Yang Song within Digital and Innovation Office, this role will work closely with the Data & Engineering team around technology and development
- This is a hands-on technical leadership role responsible for building and scaling production-grade AI systems
- This role is critical to transforming AI from experimentation into a scalable, enterprise capability
- You will define how AI is built, deployed, and leveraged across the organization—unlocking faster decisions, smarter automation, and sustained competitive advantage
- Build, lead, and mentor a global team of Machine Learning Engineers and technical leaders
- Establish a high-performance engineering culture focused on quality, velocity, and accountability
- Drive hiring, onboarding, and career development for MLE talent across regions
- Own end-to-end delivery of ML platforms, pipelines, and services (training, inference, monitoring)
- Operationalize models into scalable, reliable, and secure production systems
- Partner with Data Science and Product to move from experimentation to deployment
- Set the vision for ML platform architecture, MLOps, and GenAI enablement
- Standardize tools, frameworks, and best practices for model development and deployment
- Ensure systems are built for scale, performance, and cost efficiency
- Lead development of GenAI capabilities (LLMs, RAG, copilots, automation workflows)
- Enable reusable AI services and APIs to accelerate use case delivery
- Stay ahead of industry trends and translate them into enterprise-ready capabilities
- Partner with Product, Data, Engineering, and Business leaders to prioritize high-impact use cases
- Communicate strategy, progress, and outcomes to executive stakeholders
- Align AI initiatives with business goals, including revenue growth, efficiency, and customer experience
- Establish best practices for model governance, monitoring, and lifecycle management
- Ensure compliance with security, privacy, and ethical AI standards
- Implement guardrails for safe and responsible use of AI technologies