Director of Technology

INNOCEAN Canada; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hybrid schedule

Generous benefits

Learning & development fund

Wellbeing program

Job summary

INNOCEAN Canada in Toronto is seeking an experienced Director of Technology to lead AI-driven production, infrastructure, and technical delivery within a 25-person Studio. You will own the technology roadmap, assemble project teams, and ensure scalable delivery that aligns with client briefs and business goals.

You will bridge creative, media, and tech, guiding cross-functional teams and vendors while shaping the Studio's future-state of AI-powered production.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in a technical leadership or production-facing role in a studio/agency environment.
• Strong product development experience; shipped tools, platforms, or pipelines.
• Deep knowledge of generative AI tools and workflows; able to reason about real capabilities vs marketing.
• Proven ability to scope, estimate, and deliver complex technical projects with trade-offs.
• Experience integrating APIs and automation across multi-step pipelines.
• Comfort with ambiguity and turning briefs into structured technical plans quickly.
• Experience managing a portfolio of technology vendors and partners.
• Excellent client-facing communication of technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end technical delivery for AI-driven production work; from estimation to delivery.
• Define technical approaches for generative AI projects and translate briefs into clear plans.
• Scope, estimate, and deliver projects while balancing budget, timeline, and complexity.
• Identify risks early and communicate constraints to production and account leads.
• Own the Studio's technology roadmap and integrate platforms/tools for design, development, and production.
• Build scalable infrastructures and workflows across disciplines; minimize handoffs and rework.
• Lead vendor and partner evaluations; manage relationships and ensure adherence to standards.
• Present approaches and progress to clients and senior stakeholders; champion AI education within the Studio.

Skills

Technical leadership

Product development

Generative AI

Estimation & scoping

APIs & automation

Client-facing presence

Vendor management

Education

University or college degree, or equivalent experience

Tools

APIs

Automation tools

Job description

We're looking for an experienced Director of Technology who thrives at the intersection of creative production, AI-driven workflows, and technical delivery. If you're a confident, client-facing technical leader who can turn ambitious creative ideas into scalable, buildable reality — and who's excited to shape how a modern creative studio works with AI — we'd love to hear from you.

About us

INNOCEAN Worldwide Canada is an award-winning global marketing and communications company based in Toronto with offices across 16 countries and growing. At Innocean, we believe the future of business belongs to companies and brands that understand how to create memorable customer experiences. We are passionate about creating extraordinary value to our clients, providing bespoke solutions that propel their business forward locally, nationally, and internationally.

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Director of Technology to join our Studio team at INNOCEAN Canada on a full-time basis in Toronto (Hybrid). Reporting to the VP, Studio, this role is the technical anchor of a 25-person creative studio — the person who ensures what gets sold to clients can actually be built, shipped, and scaled.

This is a build role. You'll define how AI-driven work gets made inside the Studio, from early estimation and technical scoping through to final delivery. You'll own the Studio's technology roadmap, assemble the right teams for each project, and shape the infrastructure and workflows that make our work faster, smarter, and more ambitious. Part technologist, part creative production leader, part translator — you sit at the intersection of clients, creatives, media, and the technology itself.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Delivery & AI Production

• Own technical delivery end-to-end on AI-driven production work — from early estimation through execution to final delivery
• Define technical approaches for generative AI projects (image/video generation, workflow automation, content production pipelines) and translate ambiguous briefs into clear, scoped technical plans
• Scope, estimate, and deliver technical projects with confidence — making real-time trade-off calls between budget, timeline, and technical complexity
• Identify technical risk early and communicate constraints, trade-offs, and dependencies clearly to production and account leads

Technology Roadmap & Studio Infrastructure

• Own the Studio's technology roadmap — evaluate, select, and integrate the platforms and tools that power design, development, content, and production
• Build and maintain systems and infrastructure across all disciplines — scalable workflows, integrations, and automation that reduce manual handoffs and rework
• Define the Studio's future-state vision and help clients understand and adopt our digital production suite
• Partner closely with Producers and Creative Directors as the technical counterpart — aligning on scope, timelines, and feasibility before work is sold or committed to a client
• Assemble the right technical resourcing for each project and guide creative technologists and developers through production, protecting against scope creep
• Bridge media, creative, and production — ensuring technology decisions serve all disciplines, not just one
• Serve as the primary point of contact for the Studio's technology and vendor partner ecosystem (roughly 7 active partners today) — lead technical evaluation conversations and manage ongoing relationships
• Manage the partner portfolio with rigour, bringing a clear technical point of view to every evaluation and holding partners to the Studio's standards
• Present technical approaches, roadmaps, and progress directly to clients and senior stakeholders with confidence
• Champion technical education across the Studio and with creative partners — building comfort with new tools, not just deploying them
• Stay connected to media — understanding where technology intersects with media planning and buying, and playing an active role in that conversation

Qualifications & Experience

Skills and Behaviour

• 5+ years of hands-on experience in a relevant technical discipline — creative technology, software development, or a related production-technology field — plus experience in a Technical Director, Technical Lead, or similar production-facing leadership role
• Strong product development knowledge — you've built or shipped tools, platforms, or pipelines before, not just administered them
• Deep, current knowledge of generative AI tools and workflows — enough to reason about what a model or pipeline can realistically do, not just what it's marketed to do
• Proven experience scoping, estimating, and delivering technical projects and making real-time trade-off decisions between budget, timeline, and technical complexity
• Experience integrating APIs, automation workflows, or multi-step production pipelines across tools
• Comfort operating in ambiguity — able to turn a loose creative brief into a structured technical plan quickly
• Experience managing a portfolio of technology vendors and partners, including leading technical evaluation conversations
• Client-facing polish — you can present a technical point of view to non-technical stakeholders with confidence
• Comfort operating across disciplines — you understand enough about creative, production, and media to translate between them credibly

Education and Experience

• University or college degree, or equivalent professional experience
• Minimum 5+ years of combined technical leadership and production-facing experience
• Agency, in-house creative studio, or adjacent production environment experience is an asset
• Working knowledge of machine learning fundamentals as applied to real-world generative pipelines is an asset
• Experience leading cross-functional technical teams (developers, creative technologists, AI specialists) is an asset
• Experience with automotive or other enterprise/CPG-scale client accounts is an asset

What you'll love about working at INNOCEAN Canada

• People-first and Inclusive of all, we're proud to be recognized by 'Great Places to Work' FIVE years in a row and counting - overall, as well as for youth, inclusion, and as a Best Place to Work for Women
• Flexible hybrid work set up (2 days in winter; 3 days in summer) with an awesome space at King Street West for collaboration and team get-togethers
• Generous time off plus an end of year winter break; our people also get extra days off when they reach key work milestones!
• Your Wellbeing is all-important - A Fully employer paid benefits coverage, flex spending wellness account, RRSPs, confidential individual counselling, and paid personal days
• Learning and development fund, and coaching and mentorship in your day-to-day to fuel your growth

Additional information:

This is an active, approved role.

Our recruitment team may use AI-assisted tools to help identify and review candidate applications based on job-related requirements and qualifications. All hiring decisions are made by humans.

INNOCEAN Canada is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, inclusion, and teamwork. We encourage all qualified applicants to inquire below. Any disability-related needs will be accommodated throughout the recruitment process.