Engineering Manager (Voyager, Applied AI & Innovation)

Relay; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and equity

Hybrid work environment — Toronto area

Parental leave with top‑up

Comprehensive health benefits

Dog-friendly space

Award-winning workplace

Job summary

Relay is seeking an Engineering Manager for Voyager in Canada to guide a senior-heavy team building AI infrastructure and production-ready systems. You’ll balance exploration and reliability while shaping technology foundations behind a product used by thousands of small businesses.

You’ll lead platform delivery, set engineering processes, mentor senior engineers, and collaborate across product and data teams to ship high-quality AI capabilities at scale.

Qualifications

• Strong judgment about emerging technologies and when to pursue them.
• Experience leading senior-heavy engineering teams (staff-level engineers).
• Hands-on experience building reliable, scalable AI systems in production.

Responsibilities

• Oversee Voyager platform delivery, aligning with business goals.
• Lead exploratory R&D initiatives and make clear adoption recommendations.
• Establish engineering processes, sprint planning, and code reviews.
• Grow and coach senior engineers, creating clear growth paths.

Skills

Team leadership

Engineering management

AI infrastructure

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Terraform

AWS

Datadog

GitHub

Job description

• Relay is entering an exciting new chapter, and we’re hiring an Engineering Manager, Voyager to help shape how AI powers our next stage of scale. You’ll make high-impact, strategic decisions every day, with direct influence over the technology foundations behind a product used and loved by thousands of small businesses
• Voyager works a step ahead, exploring what’s next for Relay. We build the technology foundations that make AI and insights possible across the product, and we partner with product teams so they can build quickly on top of them. We also act as Relay’s innovation center, running fast, exploratory spikes on emerging technologies to establish what’s viable before the company commits to it
• The work spans both ends of the maturity curve, from hardening infrastructure other teams depend on to prototyping things that may not exist yet. In this role, you’ll decide where the team places its bets, keep the balance between exploration and production, and grow the engineers doing the work
• AI Infrastructure Ownership: Be accountable for the reliability, security, and lifecycle of Voyager’s shared LLM systems, from design through deployment and monitoring
• R&D and Proof-of-Concepts: Lead exploratory initiatives that evaluate and validate emerging technologies, producing a clear recommendation on whether and how Relay should adopt them
• Developer Enablement: Give teams across Relay the tooling, patterns, and guidance they need to ship AI workflows quickly and safely
• Delivery Leadership: Lead the planning and delivery of Voyager’s platform and R&D initiatives, making sure work meets quality standards, timelines, and business goals. Drive clarity in priorities and execution across the team
• Team Operations: Establish and refine engineering processes, including sprint planning, code reviews, and technical design reviews, adapted for a team that moves between prototypes and production systems
• People Management & Development: Build and grow a high-performing, senior-heavy engineering team through hiring, onboarding, coaching, and performance management, creating clear growth paths for senior and staff-level engineers
• Our Tech Stack
• Front-end: React, Typescript, React Native
• Back-end: Node.js, Typescript, Terraform, AWS (DynamoDB, RDS Postgres, Lambda, S3, SQS, SNS, SES, ElasticSearch, ECS)
• Tools: Cursor, Claude, GitHub, GitHub Actions, Datadog, Jira, Metabase

Benefits

• Competitive salary and meaningful equity: Relay employees are Relay owners, complete with equity and a competitive salary. Since 2023, 66%+ of employees have received salary increases, with multiple new team members joining just last year.
• Social connection: We believe in celebrating our wins with two annual company-wide get-togethers, quarterly team events, happy hours, and special events and networking opportunities with industry leaders.
• Personal and professional growth: Through ongoing feedback, mentorship, and coaching, work with peers and leaders who are invested in your growth and success. Even with more than half of our team joining in the last 12 months, almost 20% have received promotions in the last year alone.
• Parental leave with top-up: We offer 12 weeks off with a 100% salary top-up for all full‑time employees, regardless of location, and accessible for all parents: birthing, non‑birthing, and adoptive
• Comprehensive health benefits: Enjoy full health benefits from day one: no probation period required. We offer flexible Health or Wellness Spending Accounts and medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents.
• Hybrid work environment: We value meaningful collaboration and connection at our Toronto office three days per week, with lunch, snacks, and beverages on us.
• Top‑tier equipment: As a Mac‑first company, our Toronto offices have everything you need to produce your best work comfortably, from multiple screens to ergonomic seating.
• Flexible vacation and time off: Every team member starts with 15 vacation days and 5 flex days to use as needed, plus an extra week of office closure during the end‑of‑year holidays.
• Dog‑friendly space: Can dogs really make you happy and healthy? We don’t know for sure, but since we don’t want to chance it, our office is 100% floof‑friendly.
• Award‑winning workplace: As a winner of CB Insights’ Fintech 100, Deloitte Canada’s Technology Fast 50, Forbes Fintech 50, and the CIX Top 10 Growth Award, Relay is a recognized innovative and high‑growth company.

You have strong judgment about emerging technology and can separate what’s useful from what’s currently loud, then explain that call clearly to leadershipYou can run a team that moves between exploration and production, and you know when a rough spike is the right answer and when something needs to be built to lastYou’ve managed senior‑heavy teams, including senior and staff‑level engineers, and know how to lead through influence, give technical leaders room to own big problems, and keep them growingYou have hands‑on experience building agentic systems that run in production, not just prototypes, and understand what it takes to make them reliable, observable, and safe at scaleYou’re passionate about building and scaling engineering teams, and deeply invested in growing people to do their best workYou thrive in cross‑functional environments, bringing teams together, connecting the dots, and driving initiatives that deliver meaningful impactYou have a strong technical foundation and a proven track record of shipping high‑quality products. You’re technical enough to review designs, challenge architecture decisions, and earn credibility with senior engineersYou build with AI, not just use it: You’re actively embedding AI into how you work, pushing what’s possible, and bringing your team along with youYou seek out feedback: You see directness as respect, not criticism. You actively seek input, sit with hard truths, and use feedback as fuel for improvementSmall businesses are why we’re here: Relay exists to help them thrive — and that mission has to resonate with youYou own your work: You take pride in your work, follow through on commitments, and feel a deep sense of responsibility for outcomes, not just tasksYou push relentlessly for reinvention: You’re always asking “how can this be better?” — in your work, in your craft, in yourself. Comfort is a signal to push harder, not coast. You’d rather build something better than defend something familiarYou’re energized by complexity and ambiguity: You enjoy tackling problems that don’t come with a playbook. You’re comfortable building from scratch, iterating as you go, and collaborating to shape the best path forwardYou crave autonomy: We trust our team with big challenges and the freedom to solve them. If you’re someone who takes initiative, is comfortable taking risks, and seeks input when needed, you’ll find the freedom here empoweringYou care about impact, not noise: You care deeply about the substance of your work. You measure success by results, not recognition, and you let your work speak for itselfWe’re looking for people who are relentless, curious, and care deeply about the work. You’re encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn’t perfectly match the job description — your perspective and drive matter more