Senior GRC Specialist

Cohere; Toronto; On-site; CAD 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Open and inclusive culture

Team collaboration on AI research

Weekly lunch stipend

Comprehensive health and dental benefits

Parental leave top-up for 6 months

Personal enrichment benefits

Remote-flexible work arrangement

6 weeks of vacation

Job summary

A leading technology firm in Toronto is seeking a Compliance Specialist to enhance their governance and compliance programs. This role is pivotal in building scalable compliance initiatives, working with frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Candidates should have over 5 years of experience in compliance, strong project management skills, and a technical background, particularly in AI governance. A collaborative spirit is essential to succeed in this fast-paced environment, which offers significant growth and learning opportunities.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in scaling compliance programs.
• Direct experience with frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and FedRAMP.
• Hands-on experience with automation tools and scripting (Python a plus).

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement compliance programs and controls.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate regulations into actions.
• Manage compliance audits and regulatory assessments.

Skills

Building and scaling compliance programs

AI governance and frameworks

Project management skills

Technical fluency

Automation and process design

Strong written communication

Job description

Why this role?

The Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) team at Cohere operates as a centralized function within the Security organization, leading efforts across governance, risk management, and compliance. This team is instrumental in reinforcing customer trust, ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements, and advancing robust internal governance and control practices across Cohere.

This role offers the opportunity to help build and shape Cohere’s compliance and governance foundation. As expectations around security, privacy, public sector readiness, and responsible AI continue to evolve, this individual will play a key role in translating complex requirements into scalable programs, practical controls, and durable governance processes. It is a high‑impact role for someone eager to work at the intersection of security, compliance, technology, and AI governance, and to help enable responsible growth in a fast‑moving environment.

This is not a purely policy‑focused GRC role. We’re looking for someone who can pair compliance expertise with practical technical problem‑solving, including automation, lightweight tool building, and process improvement.

What you’ll do

• Build, implement, and scale compliance programs, controls, and processes across frameworks and regulatory requirements including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, ISO 42001, Product Compliance, and FedRAMP/DoD (+others)
• Support and mature compliance efforts related AI governance including work aligned to ISO 42001 and the EU AI Act
• Drive compliance readiness for FedRAMP, DoD, and related public sector requirements, while supporting broader enterprise and customer‑facing compliance obligations
• Partner with Security, Engineering, Modeling, Product, Legal, and other cross‑functional teams to translate requirements into practical, scalable controls
• Improve compliance operations through automation, tooling, and scalable workflows
• Help build scripts or lightweight tools for evidence collection, reporting, control tracking, and audit readiness
• Manage cross‑functional projects, timelines, remediation efforts, and audit preparation
• Support audits, assessments, and customer or regulatory compliance requests

What we’re looking for

You’ll ideally have 5+ years of progressive experience in the following:

• Building and scaling compliance programs across multiple frameworks and regulatory requirements, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, with extensive experience in FedRAMP, DoD, and public sector or highly regulated environments
• AI governance and frameworks such as ISO 42001
• Strong project management and cross‑functional execution skills
• Technical fluency and comfort working with Engineering and Security teams
• Automation, workflow tooling, or process design; some hands‑on experience with Python or similar scripting for lightweight automation is a plus
• Strong written communication, organization, and attention to detail

Nice to have

• Experience designing and implementing mature risk management frameworks, including FAIR, quantitative risk methodologies, and other structured enterprise risk models
• Consulting experience in regulated environments, including multi‑jurisdictional compliance programs and regulatory requirements across the U.S. and international markets
• Experience with additional frameworks such as NIST CSF, NIST RMF, NIST AI RMF, CMMC, or similar standards
• Experience working in cloud‑native, SaaS, or highly technical product environments
• Experience preparing reports, metrics, and presentations for senior leadership, including communicating compliance posture, program progress, and risk insights to executive stakeholders

If some of the above doesn’t line up perfectly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply!

We value and celebrate diversity and 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.

Full‑Time Employees at Cohere enjoy these Perks:

🤝 An open and inclusive culture and work environment

🧑💻 Work closely with a team on the cutting edge of AI research

🍽 Weekly lunch stipend, in‑office lunches & snacks

🦷 Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget to take care of your mental health

🐣 100% parental leave top‑up for up to 6 months

🎨 Personal enrichment benefits towards arts and culture, fitness and well‑being, quality time, and workspace improvement

🏙 Remote‑flexible, offices in Toronto, New York, San Francisco, London and Paris, as well as a co‑working stipend

✈️ 6 weeks of vacation (30 working days!)