Lead Software Engineer, AI

Thomson Reuters•Toronto, ON

23h•CA$140,000 - CA$175,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Thomson Reuters is seeking a Lead Software Engineer, AI to join their dynamic team. This role involves developing AI-driven software to transform professional work in legal, tax, risk, and compliance domains. The engineer will play a lead role in developing intelligent systems, spearheading the development of cutting-edge AI-powered solutions, and driving technical strategy. Responsibilities include architecting, building, and scaling enterprise-grade AI systems, designing complex AI systems like RAG architectures and autonomous AI agents, architecting scalable AI model integration strategies, and leading the adaptation of AI models for specialized domains. The role also involves defining technical standards, evaluating and adopting AI techniques, overseeing proof-of-concept projects, staying updated on AI research, and driving innovation initiatives. Additionally, the engineer will provide senior technical leadership, make technical architecture decisions, mentor engineers, champion MLOps/LLMOps, and act as a thought leader. Ensuring quality, security, and operational excellence includes designing testing frameworks, monitoring systems, leading compliance initiatives, conducting systems analysis, and establishing AI model lifecycle governance. Collaboration with AI researchers, engineering leadership, design, and product teams is key, as is optimizing AI system performance and influencing product strategy. The company uses AI in its recruitment process, which acts as a supporting tool with human oversight for decision-making.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience; Master's degree preferred.
8+ years of experience in software engineering with at least 4 years in senior or lead roles focused on AI/ML.
Experienced with Generative AI/RAG/LLM.
Experience in areas such as: leading solution discovery for various planning and teams, Architecture, Agentic tools, Evaluations, Deployment, Lifecycle of Solution, Metrics.
Expert-level proficiency in Python and extensive experience with AI/ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX).
Deep understanding of machine learning principles, advanced evaluation methodologies, and distributed system design.
Proven experience with MLOps/LLMOps and managing the complete lifecycle of enterprise AI-powered applications.
Demonstrated expertise integrating AI models into large-scale production systems using APIs, data pipelines, and cloud-native architectures.
Advanced experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and orchestration tools (Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform).
Strong leadership experience driving technical initiatives.
Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving skills, and ability to operate effectively in complex, fast-paced environments.
Outstanding communication and presentation skills with experience influencing senior stakeholders.
Experience leading teams in building AI-driven systems, agent-based architectures, or enterprise integrations with AI APIs from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and others.
Advanced knowledge of vector databases, embeddings, semantic search, and information retrieval systems.
Domain expertise in legal, tax, accounting, or other regulated industries.
Track record of successful AI product launches and scaling AI systems to enterprise customers.
Portfolio demonstrating leadership in innovative LLM-based solutions and AI product development.
Experience with AI governance, model risk management, and regulatory compliance.
Publications, patents, or speaking experience in AI/ML domains.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Spearhead the development of cutting-edge AI-powered solutions and driving technical strategy.
Collaborate with senior stakeholders, product leadership, and cross-functional teams to architect, build, and scale enterprise-grade AI systems.
Design and lead the implementation of complex, enterprise-scale AI systems, including sophisticated multi-component pipelines, advanced retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architectures, and autonomous AI agents with multi-step reasoning capabilities.
Architect scalable AI model integration strategies for production software through robust APIs, distributed data pipelines, and microservices architectures.
Lead the adaptation and customization of AI models for specialized domains, driving innovation in expert systems for legal, tax, fraud and compliance.
Define technical standards and best practices for AI system architecture across the organization.
Lead evaluation and strategic adoption of cutting-edge AI techniques to solve complex business challenges.
Oversee proof-of-concept projects and guide technical feasibility assessments for new AI-driven features.
Stay at the forefront of AI research and emerging technologies, translating insights into actionable technical roadmaps.
Drive innovation initiatives and establish the organization's position in emerging AI technology areas.
Lead technical architecture decisions and translate high-level business requirements into comprehensive, scalable technical specifications.
Mentor a team of senior and junior Software engineers, fostering technical growth and career development.
Champion MLOps and LLMOps practices across the organization, leading both design and implementation initiatives.
Serve as a senior thought leader, driving technical discussions in executive forums and representing the organization at industry conferences and events.
Design and implement comprehensive testing frameworks, monitoring systems, and observability solutions for AI model performance at scale.
Lead compliance initiatives ensuring adherence to ethical AI principles, security standards, and regulatory requirements.
Conduct advanced systems analysis and drive operational improvements across AI infrastructure.
Establish governance frameworks for AI model lifecycle management.
Partner with AI researchers, senior engineering leadership, design, and product teams to translate AI capabilities into market-leading applications.
Drive optimization of AI system performance across multiple dimensions including latency, resource usage, cost efficiency, and user experience.
Lead strategic initiatives for application feature enhancements through advanced AI capabilities.
Influence product strategy through deep technical expertise and market understanding.

Benefits

Flexible hybrid working environment (2-3 days a week in the office depending on the role).
Flex My Way policies designed to help manage personal and professional responsibilities.
Work from anywhere for up to 8 weeks per year.
Career Development and Growth opportunities.
Grow My Way programming.
Skills-first approach.
Flexible vacation.
Two company-wide Mental Health Days off.
Access to the Headspace app.
Retirement savings.
Tuition reimbursement.
Employee incentive programs.
Resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.
Globally recognized, award-winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work-life balance.
Two paid volunteer days off annually.
Opportunities to get involved with pro-bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.