Senior AI Engineer

The Concordia Applied AI Institute (AI2) is a multi-disciplinary applied research unit representing more than 120 faculty members and their graduate students from the 4 Concordia University faculties. AI2 is a values-driven institute, committed to engaged leadership, caring for AI’s community and consequences, and responsive to public interest. We support AI that improves, rather than maintains, the status quo. Through workshops, panel discussions, publications, and other avenues, we facilitate meaningful engagement with issues related to AI governance and adoption. 

Job description

As part of an AI Adoption team, you will be responsible for developing machine learning models, especially large language models for NLP-related projects. You will be involved in every stage of the process, including data preparation, model design, training, evaluation, and deployment, as well as other tasks related to the position as outlined by the supervisor Projects involve various data types such as text, images, tables, and signals, and will be conducted in collaboration with the Concordia community. 

Application deadline: December 3, 2024

Position start date: January 13, 2025

Position end date: January 12, 2026

Salary: $80,000 – $90,000 per year

Hours per week: 35 (hybrid work schedule – 3 days in office)

Work environment

The AI Adoption team is an interdisciplinary R&D team composed of engineers and social scientists, both full-time professionals and research assistants from the Concordia community. We collaborate with faculty members from Concordia University that provide guidance and expertise for our projects. We work closely with and develop AI-based solutions for various industries, non-for-profit organisations, and government stakeholders. Our team follows agile methodology with daily stand-up meetings within a smaller group, and a weekly sprint review and planning meeting with the whole team. We hold day-long hackathons 2-3 times a year as opportunities for collective knowledge sharing, brainstorming, and coding together. You will coordinate as a team to establish workflow and work independently to achieve project goals and deadlines. Your work will be reviewed by your manager as well as fellow team members.

We enjoy working with diverse teams. We appreciate the varied outlooks and perspectives of our team members and how they shape our projects.

Qualities we admire

• Respond well to feedback
• Being comfortable with self-directed learning
• Problem-solving
• Growth mind-set
• Prioritize team over individual success
• Being organized

Profile description

If you’re excited about the role and are committed to learning with and from your team members, aren’t afraid of constructive criticism, please apply! We’re more interested in finding someone who’s a great fit for our team than just checking off a list of qualifications.

• You have a Master’s degree in Computer Science or related field or the equivalent practical experience.
• You have experience with training and fine-tuning large language models (LLM) to solve natural language processing (NLP) problems.
• You have experience in developing and applying state-of-the-art machine learning models to solve real-world problems.
• You have experience working with large datasets of various quality.
• You have a good level of spoken and written English; good spoken and written French is an asset.
• You have strong interpersonal and organizational skills.
• You have good communication skills, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.

Testing required

The language skills of qualified candidates may be tested.

Territorial Acknowledgment

Concordia University is located on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters on which we gather today. Tiohtià:ke/Montreal is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations. Today, it is home to a diverse population of Indigenous and other peoples. We respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within the Montreal community.

Employment Equity

Concordia University is strongly committed to employment equity within its community, and to recruiting a diverse faculty and staff. The University encourages applications from all qualified candidates, including women, members of visible minorities, Indigenous persons, members of sexual minorities, persons with disabilities, and others who may contribute to diversification; candidates are invited to self-identify in their applications. 

Accessibility

Concordia desires to increase diversity among its community members and we strive to make our recruitment processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants. If you are contacted for an interview and anticipate needing accommodations during the process, please contact, in confidence, applied.ai@concordia.ca

Immigration Status

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian and Permanent Residents will be given priority. To comply with the Government of Canada’s reporting requirements, the University is obliged to gather information about applicants’ status as either Permanent Residents of Canada or Canadian citizens.

This position is subject to all conditions outlined in the CARE collective agreement.

How to apply

Please send your CV and cover letter to applied.ai@concordia.ca

Accommodations are available to support your success at the interview stage. Please let us know how we can mitigate barriers that would prevent you from fully participating by contacting applied.ai@concordia.ca

Your request will be held in confidence.