Chief AI Architect

Scotiabank; Toronto; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Diversity and Inclusion programs

Tuition assistance

Flexible vacation and sick days

Community engagement opportunities

Dynamic workplace environment

Job summary

A Canadian financial institution seeks a Chief AI Architect to lead AI architecture initiatives and translate enterprise AI strategy into actionable solutions. The ideal candidate boasts over 12 years of experience in technology and architecture, with significant expertise in AI and financial services. The role emphasizes leadership, innovation, and collaboration in a diverse and inclusive environment, offering competitive rewards and professional development opportunities.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in technology and architecture, with 5+ years in AI initiatives.
• Expertise in designing comprehensive AI solutions and cloud architecture.
• Experience with regulatory requirements for AI in financial services.

Responsibilities

• Define enterprise AI solution architecture and integration blueprints.
• Lead the Enterprise AI and Agentic Solution Architecture group.
• Translate AI strategy into architecture decisions for deployment.

Skills

Enterprise AI solution architecture

API management

Event-driven integration patterns

Technical peer to technology executives

Job description

The Chief AI Architect is the most senior architecture authority in AI and Agentic Engineering and the definitive technical voice for enterprise AI solution design across Scotiabank. This role leads the Enterprise AI and Agentic Solution Architecture group, the function responsible for translating Scotiabank’s enterprise AI strategy into coherent, governed, production‑viable solution architectures that span business lines, platforms, and geographies. The Chief AI Architect does not build the AI platform and does not own feature delivery. They define how AI capabilities are assembled into complete business solutions, establish the architectural standards that govern all AI solution builds across the bank, and ensure that platform investments in AI and ML infrastructure are mapped to enterprise business outcomes with architectural precision. This role operates as a technical peer Head of AI and Agentic Engineering. This is the person the bank turns to when an enterprise AI architecture decision has consequences that outlast any individual program.

Is this role right for you? In this role, you will:

• Define Scotiabank’s enterprise AI solution architecture: the canonical reference architectures, solution patterns, and integration blueprints that govern how GenAI, agentic AI, and ML capabilities are assembled and deployed across business lines, customer‑facing products, and internal operations at scale.
• Lead the Enterprise AI and Agentic Solution Architecture group. Set architectural direction for the group, build architectural capacity by developing architects from Senior to Principal levels, establish design authority review cadence and criteria, and ensure the group operates as an accelerator for AI solution delivery rather than a governance bottleneck.
• Translate Scotiabank’s enterprise AI strategy and business line requirements into architecture‑level decisions: platform capability mapping, integration architecture, data architecture dependencies, deployment topology, and the end‑to‑end solution blueprints that engineering teams implement without ambiguity.
• Represent Scotiabank’s enterprise AI architecture externally through engagement with OSFI on AI regulatory interpretation, participation in industry architecture forums and standards bodies, and technical community engagements that position Scotiabank’s approach and inform the evolution of enterprise AI architecture practice across the financial services sector.

Do you have the skills that will enable you to succeed in this role?

• 12+ years of technology and architecture experience, with at least 5 years as the architecture authority of record for AI, data, or platform initiatives spanning multiple business units in a Tier 1 financial institution or an enterprise of equivalent scale and regulatory complexity.
• Deep mastery of enterprise AI solution architecture. You can design complete, end‑to‑end AI solutions spanning LLM integration, AI architecture, Machine Learning Architecture, MLOps Architecture, Cloud Architecture, Agentic harnesses, agentic workflow composition, data platform dependencies, API integration topology, and production observability. You have command of the trade‑offs introduced at each architectural layer and the judgment to make defensible decisions under ambiguity.
• Expertise in enterprise integration architecture as applied to AI: event‑driven integration patterns for AI‑augmented banking workflows, API management strategy for AI capability exposure, synchronous and asynchronous AI service composition, and the specific requirements for embedding AI into core banking systems with the latency, reliability, idempotency, and audit trail guarantees that regulated financial operations require.
• Demonstrated ability to translate regulatory requirements, including OSFI E‑23 model risk management, SR 11‑7, enterprise AI governance policy, and FINTRAC data obligations, into architecture controls embedded in solution designs at inception, not compliance documentation retrofitted after the fact.
• Experience building and leading an architecture function: establishing design authority governance that scales to a large and growing AI solution portfolio, developing architects from Senior to Principal levels, and producing the architectural standards and review processes that allow solution teams to move at delivery speed without sacrificing architectural integrity.
• Track record of operating as a technical peer to technology executives: presenting architecture positions to senior leadership, influencing platform and infrastructure investment decisions, and navigating enterprise technology governance in a complex, matrixed financial institution without losing the trust of the engineering teams who build what you design.

What’s in it for you?

• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Allyship – We strive to create an inclusive culture where every employee is empowered to reach their fullest potential, respected for who they are, and embraced through bias‑free practices and inclusive values across Scotiabank. We embrace diversity and provide opportunities for all employees to learn, grow & participate through our various Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that span across diverse gender identities, ethnicity, race, age, ability & veterans.
• Accessibility and Workplace Accommodations – We value the unique skills and experiences each individual brings to the Bank, and are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. Scotiabank continues to locate, remove and prevent barriers so that we can build a diverse and inclusive environment while meeting accessibility requirements.
• Upskilling through online courses, cross‑functional development opportunities, and tuition assistance.
• Competitive Rewards programme including bonus, flexible vacation, personal, sick days and benefits will start on day one.
• Dynamic Ecosystem – Free tea & coffee, universal washrooms, and lots of space for team collaboration.
• Community Engagement – No matter where you choose to work from; we offer opportunities for community engagement & belonging with our various programs.

Location(s): Canada : Ontario : Toronto

At Scotiabank, we value the unique skills and experiences each individual brings to the Bank, and are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. If you require accommodation (including, but not limited to, an accessible interview site, alternate format documents, ASL Interpreter, or Assistive Technology) during the recruitment and selection process, please let our Recruitment team know.