Director, AI Architecture B2C

BMO•Chicago, IL

4d•$130,000 - $270,000

About The Position

BMO is investing heavily in AI-powered customer experiences, personalization, digital banking, employee copilots, and intelligent decisioning. The B2C space allows you to influence how customers discover products, receive advice, interact with digital channels, and manage their finances. As an AI Architecture leader, your work isn't an experimental lab project. It directly affects customer acquisition, engagement, servicing, and retention. Unlike many organizations that are still piloting AI, BMO has established enterprise-wide AI capabilities and recently created the BMO Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence & Quantum to accelerate innovation while maintaining governance. This role offers the chance to: Define AI reference architectures Build reusable AI platforms Drive GenAI adoption across business units Influence long-term technology strategy AI has become a board-level and CEO-level priority across banking. BMO has publicly highlighted AI as a strategic differentiator and has invested significantly in AI talent and innovation. A Director AI Architecture role provides visibility with: Technology executives Business executives Risk and compliance leaders Enterprise architecture leadership

Requirements

Expertise with AI Security Skills: LLM security, Prompt injection mitigation, Data privacy, Responsible AI controls, RBAC implementation, Compliance frameworks (SOC, HIPAA, GDPR)
Expertise with Cloud architecture: AWS AI Services (Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Bedrock Agent Core, Amazon Lex, Amazon Transcribe, Amazon Translate, Kendra Knowledge Search), Azure AI Services (Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search, Azure AI Vision, Azure AI Document Intelligence, Azure AI Language, Azure AI Speech, Azure Machine Learning, Azure Bot Service)
Expertise with Security architecture: AWS (IAM, KMS, Secrets Manager), Azure (Microsoft Entra ID, Key Vault, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Purview, Azure Policy)
Expertise with Technical architecture: LLM architecture and deployment, Prompt engineering, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), Vector databases, AI orchestration frameworks, Agentic AI design patterns, Multi-agent architecture, Fine-tuning and model customization, Evals
Expertise with Infrastructure development: AWS (CloudFormation, AWS CDK, Terraform), Azure (ARM Templates, Bicep, Terraform)
Experience with managing teams/people.
Advanced level of proficiency: Adaptability, Banking operations
Expert level of proficiency: Critical thinking, Building and managing relationships, Risk assessment, Regulatory compliance management, Cloud architectures, Security architecture design, Technical architecture, Infrastructure development, Information technology strategies
Typically 9+ years of relevant experience and post-secondary degree in related field of study or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Seasoned expert with extensive industry knowledge.
Technical leader viewed as a thought leader for innovation.

Responsibilities

Designs and architects AI IT Systems that integrate business processes, customer experiences, applications, data, machine learning models, generative AI capabilities, and technology platforms, ensuring alignment with business objectives, responsible AI principles, regulatory requirements, and enterprise technology standards.
Leads the planning, evaluation, and optimization of AI-enabled capabilities, including Generative AI, Agentic AI, and intelligent automation.
Ensures an integrated AI architecture across interdependent technology systems, data platforms, cloud and on-premises environments, and customer-facing digital channels.
Creates and manages key AI architecture assets - blueprints, standards, reference architecture, governance frameworks etc. for the designated portfolio and business scope.
Creates technical design recommendations aligned to standards for development and integration of AI (machine learning, generative AI, intelligent automation, AI platform capabilities (connectors/MCP etc.)) into new or existing products, services, and applications.
Identifies risks or issues with AI solutions, model performance, ethical AI considerations, security vulnerabilities, compliance requirements, and solution design that may impact realization of project benefits; guides and supports stakeholders to make decisions that proactively resolve or mitigate potential project risks/delays.
Stays abreast of industry technical and business trends through participation in professional associations, practice communities, and individual learning, with emphasis on AI, cloud technologies, analytics, and regulatory developments.
Establishes and promotes Responsible AI practices including fairness, transparency, explainability, privacy, security, guardrails, observability, Evals, model governance, and regulatory compliance.
Attracts, retains, and enables the career development of top talent in AI architecture.
Improves team performance, recognizes and rewards performance, coaches employees, supports their development, and manages poor performance. Directs the delivery of AI architecture and transformation strategies across multiple business units.
Performs planning, problem-solving, and advising technical teams to optimize AI-enabled solutions that are strategic, operational, secure and economical
Participates in the system specification review process to ensure system requirements can be translated into valid AI, data, and software architecture designs that are scalable, explainable, secure, and operationally sustainable.
Identifies and researches relevant technologies, performs proofs of concept / prototypes, and recommends the applications of such technologies for future AI and digital product architecture, including foundation models, LLM platforms, AI agents, AI tools and LLMOps/AIFinOps capabilities.
Delivers innovative AI-powered solutions tailored to the specific needs of the organization, driving customer experience, personalization, engagement, and operational efficiency.
Provides input into the preparation of business case by providing key architectural insights on feasibility, risks, and alignment with enterprise strategy, including AI value realization, guardrails, Evals and Observability requirements, scalability considerations, and responsible AI implications.
Leads enterprise-wide initiatives that integrate data, analytics, AI platforms, machine learning capabilities, and customer-facing technologies and support long-term business objectives.
Balances high-level strategy with execution, ensuring AI architectural coherence organization wide.
Fosters a culture aligned to BMO purpose, values and strategy and role models BMO values and behaviors in all that they do.
Ensures alignment between values and behavior that fosters diversity and inclusion.
Regularly connects work to BMO’s purpose, sets inspirational goals, defines clear expected outcomes, and ensures clear accountability for follow-through.
Builds interdependent teams that collaborate across functional and operating groups to create the highest value for all stakeholders, including product management, AI engineering, risk, compliance, legal, and customer experience teams.
Operates at a group/enterprise-wide level and serves as a senior AI architect, and strategic advisor across BMO.
Influences how teams/groups work together to accelerate adoption of trusted, scalable AI capabilities
Applies expertise and think creatively to address unique or ambiguous situations and to find solutions to multiple, interdependent, complex problems involving AI, data, analytics, customer experience, and enterprise technology transformation.
Communicates complex AI concepts, business value, technical trade-offs, model risks, and governance requirements in simple terms.
Fosters strong internal and external networks and works with and across multiple teams to achieve business objectives, including partnerships with AI vendors and cloud providers.
Anticipates trends and responds by implementing appropriate changes, leveraging emerging AI technologies and evolving customer expectations to drive innovation and competitive advantage.
Broader work or accountabilities may be assigned as needed.
Take measured risks while protecting the bank by applying our Risk Management Framework in the execution of your role, in line with our Risk Culture and within our approved Risk Appetite, making sound and risk informed decisions that align to business strategy, protect assets, and adhere to applicable policy documents, laws and regulations, including AI governance standards, model risk management requirements, privacy regulations, cybersecurity controls, and Responsible AI principles.