Lead Software Engineer, AI & Emerging Tech

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Toronto

On-site

CAD 247,000 - 334,000

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) is seeking a Lead Engineer for AI & Emerging Tech to drive design, development, and deployment of next-generation AI-powered solutions across the organization. You will code, architect, pilot, and mentor engineers while advancing Gen AI initiatives on AWS and modern tech stacks.

This hands-on leadership role requires deep expertise in Python, cloud infrastructure, and AI/ML, with a collaborative approach to partnering with product managers,

Qualifications

Gen AI and AI product development experience.
Experience with cloud-native architectures.
Strong coding and debugging skills.

Responsibilities

Lead and contribute to AI product development and pilots.
Design and build scalable Gen AI solutions.
Implement cloud-native solutions with AWS services.
Drive performance optimization and experimentation with Gen AI methods.
Collaborate with PMs and data scientists to define technical solutions.
Own end-to-end delivery and manage timelines using Agile practices.
Ensure governance and DevSecOps practices.

Skills

Gen AI

Python

AWS

Leadership

React

TypeScript

Data modeling

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

AWS

Terraform

Docker

Kubernetes

Airflow

Jira

Puppet

LangChain

Job description

Purpose. Performance. People.

Joining CPP Investments means joining one of the world’s most admired and respected institutional investors to drive a single mandate: to deliver strong, sustainable returns for generations of Canadians. With a long-term horizon and global reach, we deploy capital at scale across public and private markets. Our size, stability, and disciplined investment philosophy allow us to pursue complex opportunities and build enduring partnerships worldwide. For our people, this means meaningful work with tangible impact, real opportunity, and collaboration with exceptional colleagues who value partnership and performance. Here, you’ll contribute to outcomes that matter alongside team members committed to excellence and shared success.

Role Summary:

As a Lead Engineer for AI & Emerging Tech, you will drive the design, development, and deployment of next-generation tech and AI-powered solutions that unlock business value across the organization. This is a hands‑on, coding‑intensive leadership role, where you will code, architect, pilot and build robust solutions, mentor engineers, and push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI, AWS cloud, and emerging technologies. You’ll partner with cross‑functional teams to identify high‑impact use cases, lead agile engineering sprints, and ensure solutions are secure, scalable, and aligned with organizational goals. The ideal candidate is a senior engineer passionate about coding, with deep expertise in python, emerging tech, cloud infrastructure, and AI/ML —and thrives in a fast‑paced, exploratory environment.

Accountabilities & Qualifications:

As a Lead Software Engineer, you will guide and participate in building and supporting value‑add technology solutions and products end‑to‑end. You will also demonstrate leadership and drive engineering excellence within your team and influence the same across the Technology & Data department.

Accountabilities

Lead and actively contribute to the development of AI products, pilots and solutions, with a focus on clean, maintainable code using Python, React, and AWS tools.
Design, architect and build scalable Gen AI solutions, including LLM pipelines, Agentic, MCP, Graph/RAG architectures, and prompt‑based applications and emerging tech.
Implement cloud‑native solutions using AWS services such as EKS, Lambda, Fargate, Glue, and Athena.
Optimize performance of AI products, Drive continuous learning and experimentation with cutting‑edge Gen AI methods, frameworks, APIs, and toolchains.
Work closely with product managers, data scientists, and domain experts to define technical solutions aligned with business needs.
Act as a subject matter expert (SME) on Gen AI technologies and help shape the organization’s AI roadmap.
Own end‑to‑end delivery of Gen AI solutions.
Manage timelines, deliverables, and project milestones using Agile practices (Scrum/Kanban).
Monitor operational metrics and incident data to drive continuous improvement and reliability.
Ensure adherence to governance, DevSecOps protocols.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field; advanced degrees or certifications are an asset. 6+ years of progressive experience in engineering roles, including at least 1-2 years leading emerging tech or AI initiatives.

Experience in:

Gen AI models (GPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot) and prompt engineering techniques
Agentic AI, MCP, and Graph/RAG architectures
Gen AI Framework (Amazon Bedrock, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Hugging Face, PandsAI)
Web application development using Next.js, React, TypeScript/JavaScript
AWS cloud services (EC2, ELB/GLB/NLB, EKS, Fargate, Lambda, Athena, Glue, Lake Formation)
Infrastructure as Code (Puppet, Terraform, Docker) and containerized deployments
ETL orchestration using Apache Airflow/DAGs
Vector/Graph databases (Weaviate, Milvus, PGVector, Neo4J, Neptune) and query optimization
Python programming (NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Boto3)
Automated testing frameworks (Ragas, Playwright, Zephyr, Selenium,)
Familiarity with SDLC best practices, DevSecOps, Agile Scrum/Kanban, and work management tools (JIRA, Confluence, JIRA Align).
Knowledge of LLM fine tuning techniques
Experience in BI tools like QuickSight, Tableau, and knowledge of financial markets and enterprise data systems

For candidates applying to the New York posting: The salary range for this position is $163,000 to $255,000. US state/city legislation requires CPP investments to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. The base salary range shown here is a reasonable expectation for the posted role and is part of a competitive total rewards package which includes comprehensive benefits, a performance‑based incentive plan, a 401 (k) plan and paid time off. Actual salaries may vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors, including, but not limited to, experience and expertise. You are motivated to contribute to something larger than yourself, approach complex challenges with rigor, and hold yourself to high standards in a collaborative, performance‑driven environment. We provide colleagues with cutting‑edge AI tools, dedicated learning time, and practical support to help them deliver with greater impact.

Inclusion & Accessibility

CPP Investments is committed to equitable access to employment and building a workforce that reflects diverse talent and perspectives. If you require accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know and we will work with us to meet your needs.

Attention: Protect Yourself from Fraud

CPP Investments is committed to a secure and transparent recruitment process. We will never ask candidates for payment or financial information at any stage of hiring. All legitimate opportunities are posted on our careers page, and communications will come from our applicant tracking system, Workday. CPP Investments may use AI tools to help screen and assess applicants by analyzing resumes and applications for relevant skills and experience. These tools support, but do not replace human decision‑making.

#LI-ONSITE

About Us

Why Work With Us For 25 years, we’ve proudly invested the Canada Pension Plan Fund, helping to secure retirement for more than 22 million Canadians. We invest for the long term — and that includes our people. Here, you’ll work alongside high‑calibre colleagues on meaningful challenges that has real‑world impact. Our purpose drives us, our performance sets us apart, and our people make it possible.

Our Guiding Principles

Our guiding principles shape our culture. They define how we work and represent the values that guide our behaviours. They are Integrity, Partnership and High Performance.

Our Impact

We invest globally across public and private markets, managing capital on behalf of millions of contributors and beneficiaries. We focus on long‑term value creation and responsible investing, with offices in major financial centres worldwide.

What You Can Expect