Lead Software Engineer

RBC•Toronto, ON

1d•Onsite

About The Position

As a Lead Software Engineer on the Advice Centre Engineering Team, you will architect and lead the design, development, and delivery of enterprise-scale applications and backend services that enable real-time audio streaming, transcription, and AI-powered summarization. You’ll drive RBC’s broader AI strategy by championing technical excellence and mentoring engineering teams to deliver solutions that enhance advisor efficiency and transform how our advisors interact with clients. This is a strategic technical leadership role where you’ll guide innovative audio and AI capabilities from concept through production at scale, setting technical direction, fostering best practices, and working across modern web technologies and cloud infrastructure to build resilient, scalable systems that deliver measurable business impact.

Requirements

Post-secondary education in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field, or equivalent professional software development experience (7+ years with 3+ in senior/lead capacity)
Proven ability to lead and mentor engineering teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning
Advanced proficiency in TypeScript, Node.js, and modern frontend frameworks (React), with extensive hands-on experience building desktop applications using Electron.js
Expert-level proficiency in audio streaming technologies including WebSocket protocols, real-time data handling, and browser Media APIs (MediaRecorder, Web Audio API, MediaStream)
Proven experience architecting systems using AWS Transcribe Streaming, including WebSocket integration, audio encoding formats (PCM/Opus), and streaming response handling
Expert knowledge of authentication patterns including OAuth 2.0/OIDC and secure token management
Advanced understanding of Electron security best practices including context isolation, preload scripts, Content Security Policy, and secure inter-process communication
Extensive experience with backend frameworks (Koa) and testing frameworks (Jest, k6) for building and validating production-grade applications at scale
Master-level proficiency in stream processing, including audio buffer management, backpressure handling, memory optimization, and performance tuning
Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex multi-tier applications, desktop systems, and WebSocket connections; mentoring others to do the same
Familiarity with modern development, deployment practices, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code patterns

Nice To Haves

Experience with WebEx API/SDK for enhanced communication platform integration and architectural planning
Advanced knowledge of audio processing techniques including noise reduction, echo cancellation, and audio normalization
Familiarity with Windows audio APIs such as WASAPI for advanced system-level audio capture
Experience with Electron packaging, code signing, auto-updates, and installer creation using tools like electron-builder; ability to guide team adoption
Experience load testing real-time systems using tools like k6 with WebSocket scenarios and performance optimization strategies
Advanced AWS deployment and architecture experience across services including EC2, S3, Lambda, API Gateway, managed transcription services, and cost optimization
Backend development experience with Java Spring Boot or similar frameworks; ability to architect polyglot solutions
Expert knowledge of monitoring concepts (logs, metrics, traces, telemetry) and observability tools (Dynatrace, Elastic Stack, Prometheus, Grafana)
Experience with technical hiring, team scaling, and building high-performing engineering organizations

Responsibilities

Lead technical strategy and architecture for multi-tier architecture applications that handle real-time audio processing and transcription at enterprise scale, establishing patterns and best practices across the team
Design and oversee backend services and frontend applications that seamlessly integrate audio streaming, real-time transcription, and generative AI-powered summarization capabilities
Mentor and guide software engineers in the team, conducting code reviews, fostering technical excellence, and developing engineering talent
Drive agile execution across sprints, leading technical prioritization, balancing requirements, aligning deliverables with business objectives, and removing technical blockers
Champion modern development practices including AI coding tools (Copilot, Windsurf, Claude), code quality standards, and productivity acceleration techniques
Design resilient, observable, and scalable systems from the ground up, establishing monitoring, alerting, and observability frameworks to ensure production reliability across all services
Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders including product, architecture, and platform teams to align technical decisions with organizational strategy