Director of Engineering, AI Frontiers

Job Description The Director of Engineering, AI Frontiers is a hybrid management/IC role that leads a small team of AI engineers in evaluating frontier AI technologies for enterprise adoption. The person manages evaluations and prototyping of agentic systems, multimodal models, and AI tooling against real business scenarios while embedding security, compliance, and data governance constraints from the start. They produce working prototypes, reproducible evaluation reports, and evidence-backed recommendations communicated through Radar publications and executive briefings. The role requires 8+ years of engineering experience with 3+ in a lead/management capacity, hands-on LLM/agentic/RAG experience, comfort tracking the frontier, and the ability to translate technical findings for non-technical stakeholders in regulated environments. WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY? The AI Frontiers team exists to close the gap between frontier AI capabilities and enterprise adoption. The gap is real: frontier models, agentic platforms, and AI-native tooling advance on a weekly cycle. Internal adoption moves on a quarterly or annual one. The team's mandate is to scan the landscape at the speed it moves, evaluate what matters with enterprise rigor, prove business value through hands-on prototypes, and produce findings that pull adoption from business lines. This role leads the technical work of that mission. You will manage a small team of AI engineers, drive hands-on evaluation and prototyping, build the tooling and infrastructure the team depends on, and ensure that evaluation recommendations are grounded in working code, not vendor demos. You will also be a practitioner yourself: the team practices what it preaches, and every role carries explicit expectations for AI-augmented work. WHAT WILL YOU DO? Manage and mentor a team of AI engineers across evaluation, prototyping, and tooling work Lead hands-on technical evaluations of frontier AI capabilities, including agentic systems, multimodal models, reasoning systems, and AI development tooling Build working prototypes that test capabilities against real business scenarios and enterprise constraints, including security, data governance, and integration requirements Establish and maintain sandbox environments for rapid evaluation, validated with risk and security, activated on demand Build and operate the tooling that supports the evaluation pipeline: intake, triage, design, execution, and results review Partner with liaisons in security, architecture, and risk to embed enterprise constraints into evaluation design from the start, not as an afterthought Translate technical findings into clear, evidence-backed recommendations that business-line leaders can act on Represent the engineering perspective in Radar publications, field work sessions, and executive briefings Ensure evaluations are reproducible: methodology, test scenarios, data, and results documented to a standard that a peer could independently assess WHAT DO YOU NEED TO SUCCEED? Must have: 8+ years of software engineering experience with 3+ years in a technical lead or engineering management role Practical experience building and evaluating AI systems, including LLM-based applications, agentic pipelines, and RAG architectures Comfort working at the frontier: you follow model releases, track agentic frameworks, and have opinions about what matters and what is hype Strong engineering judgment: you know when to build a prototype in a day and when depth is warranted Ability to communicate technical findings in plain language to non-technical stakeholders Experience working in or alongside highly regulated environments, with direct exposure to security, compliance, or governance constraints Nice-to-have: Experience evaluating or benchmarking AI models and systems against defined success criteria Background in financial services Familiarity with enterprise integration patterns, data platforms, or platform engineering Public writing, presentations, or open-source contributions in the AI space ​ What's in it for you? We thrive on the challenge to be our best, progressive thinking to keep growing, and working together to deliver trusted advice to help our clients thrive and communities prosper. We care about each other, reaching our potential, making a difference to our communities, and achieving success that is mutual. A comprehensive Total Rewards Program including bonuses and flexible benefits, competitive compensation, commissions, and stock where applicable Leaders who support your development through coaching and managing opportunities Ability to make a difference and lasting impact Work in a dynamic, collaborative, progressive, and high-performing team A world-class training program in financial services Opportunities to do challenging work. #LI-Post #TECHPJ Job Skills Big Data Analytics, Client Counseling, Coaching Others, Critical Thinking, Decision Making, Industry Knowledge, Machine Learning (ML), Results-Oriented, Software Engineering, Software Product Design Additional Job Details Address: RBC WATERPARK PLACE, 88 QUEENS QUAY W:TORONTO City: Toronto Country: Canada Work hours/week: 37.5 Employment Type: Full time Platform: TECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONS Job Type: Regular Pay Type: Salaried Posted Date: 2026-08-21 Application Deadline: 2026-09-15 Note : Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the application deadline date above Our Employment Opportunities At RBC, we are guided by living shared values of Client First, Integrity, Collaboration, Respect and Excellence and winning together as One RBC. We believe an inclusive workplace that has diverse perspectives is core to our continued growth as one of the largest and most successful banks in the world. Maintaining a workplace where our employees feel supported to perform at their best, effectively collaborate, drive innovation, and grow professionally helps to bring our Purpose to life and create value for our clients and communities. RBC strives to deliver this through policies and programs intended to foster a workplace based on respect, belonging and opportunity for all. Join our Talent Community Stay in-the-know about great career opportunities at RBC. Sign up and get customized info on our latest jobs, career tips and Recruitment events that matter to you. Expand your limits and create a new future together at RBC. Find out how we use our passion and drive to enhance the well-being of our clients and communities at . RBC is presently inviting candidates to apply for this existing vacancy. Applying to this posting allows you to express your interest in this current career opportunity at RBC. Qualified applicants may be contacted to review their resume in more detail.