Web Platforms Engineer Toronto

Appnovation is the AI Product Company. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with teams around the world, Appnovation builds AI products, delivers enterprise AI and digital solutions, and co-invests with clients to bring new AI products to market.
Open source has been the foundation of Appnovation's work since 2007, and it remains the foundation underneath every AI product the company builds today. Appnovation teams work with organizations in highly regulated industries, including global leaders such as Pfizer, Google and AstraZeneca, to help them adopt AI they can govern and own.
Technology is foundational to all of Appnovation's offerings, from consulting to digital innovation to digital product and service creation. The technology department is focused on delivering software solutions that enable rich consumer experiences, from mobile and web applications to advanced analytics and machine learning, to content and engagement management service enablement platforms.
Inherent throughout our tech capabilities is deep expertise in the Software Development Life Cycle, a drive for creativity, a passion for the craft, and collaboration with other disciplines - all foundational ingredients in successful digital experiences and client partnerships.
We are seeking a Web Platform Engineer to be the hands-on technical expert for the web and content management (CMS) platforms of a global life sciences client. This is an architect-engineer role: you will help set technical direction, and you will also dig into the code yourself. You will lead the technical side of a CMS evaluation and modernization effort, quickly prototype new platform capabilities, and shape the platform layer that teams use to build and run patient and healthcare professional (HCP) websites at scale. You will work closely with the client's infrastructure, engineering and product teams, turning website needs into clear platform and integration requirements. The role is focused on web and CMS platforms only.
ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
CMS Evaluation and Selection:
Lead the technical side of evaluating modern CMS and digital experience platforms, including headless and AI-enabled options. Assess them against criteria such as AI-assisted authoring and site creation, integration fit, security, hosting on client-controlled infrastructure, and long-term cost, and make clear, evidence-based recommendations.
Rapid Prototyping and Technology Assessment:
Build quick proofs of concept for new platform features and emerging tools (for example, new Adobe Edge Delivery Services capabilities such as Document Authoring) and come back with a clear recommendation on whether and how to adopt them.
Platform Capability Ownership:
Shape, maintain and evolve the web platform layer that sits on top of the CMS, including tooling for creating new sites, reusable components and templates, automated testing, and managing content at scale.
Migration and Modernization:
Define the target architecture and migration approach for moving websites from legacy platforms, such as Drupal and in-house site builders, onto the selected platform, including reusable patterns, risks, dependencies and quality gates.
Infrastructure and Integration Partnership:
Act as the web team's technical liaison to central infrastructure and engineering teams. Turn website and CMS needs into clear requirements for hosting, integrations, APIs and AI/MCP layers, and represent the web platform in engineering office hours and guild forums.
AI-Enabled Content and Delivery:
Help shape how AI is used across the platform, from prompt-based content updates and site creation to automated testing and validation, with the right governance and controls in place.
Quality, Security and Compliance:
Make sure platform patterns support enterprise expectations for security, privacy and consent, accessibility, performance, SEO and regulatory compliance in a highly regulated environment.
Technical Guidance and Issue Resolution:
Be the go-to technical expert for website teams, help resolve complex platform and integration issues, and use what you learn to drive lasting fixes and platform improvements.
QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience, with 10+ years in web engineering and architecture, including 5+ years working hands-on with enterprise CMS or digital experience platforms.
Hands-on experience with more than one enterprise CMS, including Adobe Experience Manager (ideally Edge Delivery Services, formerly Franklin) and at least one of Drupal or a headless CMS such as Sanity or Contentful.
Proven experience leading, or playing a key technical role in, a CMS evaluation, selection or replatforming effort.
Strong development background, comfortable reading and writing code in GitHub repositories and building working prototypes quickly.
Solid knowledge of web architecture, front-end technologies, APIs, CI/CD, CDNs and third-party integrations such as analytics, consent, identity, forms and CRM.
Experience turning business and delivery needs into clear technical and platform requirements, and working with infrastructure, product and vendor teams to get them delivered.
Practical understanding of web security, privacy and consent, accessibility, performance and SEO.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Experience with AI-assisted content authoring, LLM-based tooling, or building and consuming MCP servers.
Experience with Adobe Edge Delivery Services authoring options, including Document Authoring (DA.Live).
Experience building multi-site platforms, site factories or internal developer tooling, including automated testing.
Experience in a regulated industry, ideally life sciences or pharma, including patient and HCP websites.
Experience working in a large, federated enterprise with multiple platform and delivery teams.
TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE
CMS and DXP:
Adobe Experience Manager (Edge Delivery Services, DA.Live), Drupal, headless CMS such as Sanity or Contentful.
Platform and delivery:
Git and GitHub, CI/CD pipelines, CDNs, cloud hosting (AWS or Azure), automated testing.
Integrations:
REST and GraphQL APIs, analytics, consent management, identity, forms and CRM.
AI:
LLM-based content tooling, MCP (build and consume), AI-assisted engineering tools such as Claude Code or GitHub Copilot.
WHO YOU ARE
You are an architect who still enjoys writing code, and you are happy to dig into a repo to prove a point
You can evaluate a new technology quickly and give a clear, honest recommendation backed by a working prototype
You can influence technology choices with engineers, infrastructure teams and senior leaders, often without formal authority
You think about how to scale, automate and operate a platform, not just how to build a single site
You set high standards for code quality, performance, accessibility and security, and seek continuous improvement
You can explain complex technical topics clearly to technical and non-technical audiences
You have solid analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills
You have a customer-first mindset and build strong relationships with clients and partner teams
You are comfortable with ambiguity and shifting priorities in a fast-paced environment
You actively seek out things outside your comfort zone and learn new concepts and technologies quickly
You have prior experience in consulting
Prior experience and connections in the Life Sciences industry is preferred
At Appnovation, we recognize that diverse teams are the strongest teams. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is not only something that we embrace - we celebrate it! We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and we encourage applicants from all backgrounds, lived experiences and industries to apply. Come join us at Appnovation, and learn more about how we stay true to our company values as we build better lives through better digital. Accommodations are available upon request throughout the recruitment process.
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