Lead Software Engineer, AI & Emerging Tech

CPP Investments; Toronto; On-site; CAD 227,000 - 355,000; Full time

Job summary

CPP Investments is seeking a Lead Engineer for AI & Emerging Tech to design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions across the organization. You will code, architect, mentor, and drive Gen AI initiatives using Python, React, and AWS.

You will partner with product managers and data scientists to define technical solutions, ensure security and scalability, and lead agile sprints while advancing the organization’s AI roadmap.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or related field; advanced degrees or certifications are assets.
• 6+ years of progressive engineering experience, including 1–2 years leading emerging tech or AI initiatives.
• Experience with Gen AI models (GPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot) and prompt engineering techniques.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of AI products and Gen AI solutions with clean, scalable code.
• Design and build scalable Gen AI pipelines and architectures.
• Own end-to-end delivery and align solutions with business needs.

Skills

Python

Gen AI

AWS

React

TypeScript

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field

Tools

AWS

LangChain

Bedrock

Kubernetes

Terraform

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

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.

Salary

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.

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 you 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.

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 have 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 around the world.

What You Can Expect

• Meaningful work with measurable impact
• Exposure to complex, global challenges
• Opportunities for learning and growth
• Competitive total rewards and benefits
• Comprehensive wellness programs
• Inclusive and respectful of diverse perspectives

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