Forward Deployed Engineer, Infrastructure Specialist (Public Sector)

FDE Times; Ottawa; Hybrid; CAD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and dental benefits

RRSP matching

Vacation

Parental leave top-up

Learning stipend

Office stipend

Remote-friendly

Job summary

Cohere is seeking an engineer to lead end-to-end deployment of North in private cloud and on-prem environments from Ottawa, with 20-40% travel anticipated.

You will partner with enterprise IT teams to assess infrastructure, security, and data management, and design deployment strategies while ensuring data privacy and security compliance.

We value hands-on customer collaboration, DevOps excellence, and a strong Kubernetes/Helm background in a remote-friendly environment.

Qualifications

• Experience deploying enterprise software in private/hybrid cloud environments.
• Experience administering production Kubernetes clusters and Helm.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end deployment of North in private cloud and on-premises environments, including planning, configuration, testing, and rollout.
• Partner with enterprise IT teams to assess infrastructure, security requirements, and data management practices.
• Experiment at a high velocity and with a high level of quality to engage our customers and deliver solutions.
• Design and implement deployment strategies tailored to client needs, ensuring compliance with data privacy and security standards.
• Troubleshoot and resolve deployment-related technical issues, providing timely solutions to minimize downtime.

Skills

Kubernetes

Helm

DevOps

CI/CD

Cloud platforms

Security & compliance

Customer collaboration

Tools

Git

Job description

Who are we?

Cohere is the leading security-first enterprise AI company. We build cutting-edge foundation AI models and end-to-end products that are designed to solve real-world business problems.

We’re training and deploying frontier models for enterprises who are building AI systems. We believe that our work is instrumental to the widespread adoption of AI and we are looking for folks that want to be part of that.

We obsess over what we build. Each one of us is responsible for contributing to increasing the capabilities of our models and the value they drive for our customers. Cohere is a team of researchers, engineers, designers, and more, who are all passionate about their craft.

We are a global technology company headquartered in Toronto with key offices in London, New York City, San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Berlin and Seoul. Join us!

About North

North is Cohere's cutting-edge AI workspace platform, designed to revolutionize the way enterprises utilize AI. It offers a secure and customizable environment, allowing companies to deploy AI while maintaining control over sensitive data. North integrates seamlessly with existing workflows, providing a trusted platform that connects AI agents with workplace tools and applications.

Why This Role?

Cohere’s team partners with Canadian public sector organisations to unlock transformative value through secure, ethical deployment of Generative AI (GenAI) solutions. We work collaboratively to address complex societal challenges while maintaining the highest standards of data security and compliance. You will work directly with public sector customers to quickly understand their greatest problems and design and implement solutions using Cohere's stack.

This role offers a unique opportunity to shape how enterprises harness the power of AI in real-world applications. As a bridge between our core North product and our clients’ engineering teams, you’ll be at the forefront of solving complex problems and securely integrating AI into critical sectors.

We are seeking engineers with diverse skill sets, including backend, infrastructure, agent development, and deployments, who deeply care about customers and want to work at the cutting edge of Agentic AI.

Location: Ottawa, 20-40% travel anticipated.

Security Clearance: Active Top Secret clearance strongly preferred; candidates eligible and willing to obtain clearance will also be considered. If you are ineligible for clearance there are other positions on our careers site that do not have this requirement.

More information about Canadian Security Clearance can be found here.

In this role, you will

• Lead end-to-end deployment of North in private cloud and on-premises environments, including planning, configuration, testing, and rollout.
• Partner with enterprise IT teams to assess infrastructure, security requirements, and data management practices.
• Experiment at a high velocity and with a high level of quality to engage our customers and ultimately deliver solutions that exceed their expectations
• Design and implement deployment strategies tailored to client needs, ensuring compliance with data privacy and security standards.
• Troubleshoot and resolve deployment-related technical issues, providing timely solutions to minimize downtime.

You may be a good fit if

• You have experience with and enjoy working directly with customers
• You have experience deploying enterprise software in private/hybrid cloud environments
• You have proven experience administering production Kubernetes clusters and expertise with Helm
• Familiarity with DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and tools like Git for version control
• You have strong expertise in cloud infrastructure (Azure, AWS, GCP), networking, and virtualization
• You excel in fast-paced environments and can execute while priorities and objectives are a moving target
• Familiarity with Canadian public sector security and compliance requirements (e.g., data sovereignty, access controls).

Full-Time Employees at Cohere enjoy these Perks

• A weekly lunch stipend of $75/£75 or equivalent in your local currency for lunch.
• Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget for mental health.
• RRSP matching, 401K, Pension Scheme.
• 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months, for either parent.
• Annual enrichment benefits: Arts & culture, fitness/wellness, quality time, and a workspace improvement credit. Education & learning stipend for conferences, courses, and coaching.
• 6 weeks of paid vacation (30 working days!)
• Budget for traveling to other offices if you are remote, plus an annual company offsite.

How and Where We Work

• Cohere is remote-friendly, but we also have offices in Toronto, London, New York City, San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Berlin and Seoul with more opening soon.
• For those in the office: a daily lunch program, plenty of snacks, and regular community and social events.
• For those not near an office: a co-working benefit so you can work alongside others in your city.
• Everyone receives a $500 home office stipend to set up your workspace properly.

We strive to create an inclusive work environment for all; we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please submit an Accommodations Request Form, and we will work together to meet your needs.

We may use AI-enabled tools to screen and assess applicants against the criteria for this position. This helps our recruiters identify potentially qualified candidates, but it doesn't limit the applications our recruiters may review or consider.