Staff AI Developer

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Staff AI Developer based in Canada. We are seeking a highly experienced Staff AI Developer to lead the architecture, development, and deployment of production-grade AI and machine learning systems. In this senior technical leadership role, you will drive complex AI initiatives from initial research and design through scalable production implementation. You will build advanced generative AI and agentic systems, strengthen ML infrastructure, and establish engineering standards that prioritize reliability, security, and responsible AI practices. Working closely with product, engineering, and business leaders, you will translate complex technical challenges into solutions that deliver measurable value. You will also mentor engineers, guide architectural decisions, and champion AI-forward development practices using tools such as Claude Code and Cursor. This opportunity is ideal for a hands-on technical leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment where production-ready AI solutions are delivered in short development cycles. Accountabilities - Lead the end-to-end architecture, design, development, and deployment of complex AI and machine learning systems, taking ownership from research and prototyping through production at scale. - Design, build, and continuously improve scalable ML platforms, pipelines, and infrastructure that enable reliable, repeatable model development and deployment across teams. - Architect and deliver advanced generative AI applications and agentic systems that integrate effectively into enterprise workflows and solve complex business challenges. - Establish AI architecture principles, engineering standards, and development practices that promote maintainability, scalability, reliability, security, and responsible AI implementation.

- Develop and optimize retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, including chunking strategies, embedding models, vector databases, and advanced retrieval techniques. - Implement evaluation frameworks and observability solutions for LLM-powered applications, creating new capabilities where existing tools and processes are insufficient. - Apply AI safety principles and defensive techniques to address prompt injection, personally identifiable information (PII) handling, and other risks associated with production AI systems. - Optimize AI system performance and operating costs through token economics, caching strategies, model routing, quantization, and other efficiency improvements. - Design and integrate APIs connecting internal platforms, third-party services, and AI capabilities at scale. - Leverage cloud technologies, particularly AWS services and generative AI offerings, to deliver secure, scalable, and production-ready solutions. - Champion AI-forward engineering practices by using tools such as Claude Code and Cursor effectively and helping other engineers adopt them productively. - Collaborate with product managers, engineers, and leadership to define AI strategy, align technical decisions with business objectives, and communicate architectural tradeoffs, risks, and opportunities. - Lead technical design reviews and architecture discussions, encouraging rigorous evaluation, constructive feedback, and high engineering standards. - Mentor junior and mid-level engineers through coaching, code reviews, pairing, and guidance on complex technical challenges. - Take ownership of ambiguous, high-impact initiatives, balancing delivery speed with reliability, safety, scalability, and cost effectiveness. Requirements - At least seven years of professional software development experience, including four or more years focused on production AI/ML systems and substantial hands-on experience with generative AI development.