Manager of Research Engineering, TR Labs

Refinitiv; Toronto; On-site; CAD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid Work Model

Flex My Way

Headspace access

Tuition reimbursement

Two mental health days off

Job summary

Thomson Reuters Labs is seeking a hands‑on Manager of Research Engineering to guide AI solutions from concept to production, partnering with product and domain experts to deliver high‑value features.

You will mentor engineers, shape the technical roadmap, and champion industry best practices in scalable software delivery across Legal AI solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer science, or equivalent.
• Master’s or PhD in a relevant field preferred.
• Minimum of 7 years of software development experience with proven team leadership.
• 1+ years in a people leadership role and product development leadership.
• Experience driving ML applications with cross‑functional partners.
• Portfolio showing technology innovations and large-scale rollouts.
• Excellent project management and communication skills.
• Expertise in Python, MLOps, containerization, and cloud (AWS/Azure).

Responsibilities

• Foster a culture of innovation, growth, and continuous improvement.
• Own delivery of business‑critical features for customer‑facing apps.
• Promote collaboration between scientists and engineers on projects.
• Operate with urgency and manage rapid organizational change.
• Mentor and develop engineers and build a leadership pipeline.
• Drive technical roadmap with product, science, and tech lead.
• Contribute to long-term technology strategy and scalable growth.
• Lead cross‑functional project teams bridging research and production.

Skills

Python development

MLOps

Containerization

Cloud infrastructure

PM/leadership in agile

Education

Bachelor's in IT/CS

Master's/PhD preferred

Tools

AWS

Azure

Kubernetes

Docker

Job description

Manager of Research Engineering, TR Labs

Are you excited about the future of AI technology? Are you passionate about delivering value and maximizing the impact of R&D investment? Thomson Reuters Labs is seeking a hands‑on engineering manager to guide the delivery of cutting‑edge AI solutions from concept to production. At Thomson Reuters Labs, we experiment, we build, we deliver. We support the organization and our customers through applied research in information retrieval and natural language processing. We work closely with product and domain experts to identify compelling solutions at the intersection of user need and technical feasibility. Our team is responsible for AI innovation across Thomson Reuters’ Legal solutions including Westlaw and CoCounsel. As Manager of Research Engineering, you are both a technical leader and a people manager. You will help shape the technical direction for production services, build deep partnerships across the enterprise, and take ownership of recruiting, career growth, and mentorship for Labs engineers. You will provide technical guidance on complex, high‑impact projects in close collaboration with the research arm of Labs, and champion the adoption of industry best practices around well‑managed software delivery.

About the Role

• Foster a culture of innovation, growth, and continuous improvement
• Own the delivery of business‑critical features for high‑value, customer‑facing applications
• Promote efficient collaboration between scientists and engineers on a project basis
• Operate with urgency and manage change at a rapid pace
• Mentor and develop team members, helping build a pipeline of future leaders and prepare the team for organizational scaling.
• Drive the technical roadmap of the team, in partnership with product, science, and the technical lead, prioritizing initiatives that enhance product value while managing technical debt effectively
• Contribute to the long‑term technology strategy aligned with organizational goals, preparing the team for scalable growth

Other responsibilities include:

• Leadership:
  • Help champion a bold vision for your customers and products
  • Help align cross‑functional stakeholders to strategy, vision, and roadmap
  • Work through influence toward results across cross‑functional teams
  • Promote the adoption of advanced engineering practices within your team to foster innovation and efficiency, and contribute to broader adoption across research and product development teams
• People Management:
  • Demonstrate strong people leadership, helping build a pipeline of future leaders
  • Ensure the team delivers on expectations, communicating clear goals that support impactful work against team OKRs
  • Mentor, coach, and develop team members, helping prepare the team for organizational scaling
  • Set goals around talent development, diversity and inclusion, and demonstrate progress
• Sphere of Influence:
  • Lead a cross‑functional project team spanning research and engineering
  • Maintain a balanced strategic and tactical focus
  • Operate as an excellent cross‑functional influencer, bridging the gap between applied science and production engineering

About You

You're a fit for the role of Manager of Research Engineering if your background includes:

• Required:
  • A bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, or the equivalent.
  • Master’s or PhD in a relevant specialization preferred.
  • Minimum of 7 years’ software development experience, with demonstrated ability to successfully manage software development teams in an agile environment
  • 1+ years in a people leadership and product development leadership role
  • Experience spearheading technical development in a cross‑functional setting, with responsibility for ML applications; close partnership with Applied Scientists, R&D groups, or similar.
  • A portfolio showcasing significant contributions to technology innovation.
  • Excellent project management, organization, and communication skills.
  • Experience contributing to and overseeing large‑scale rollouts and infrastructure initiatives.
  • Expertise in several of the following areas: robust Python development, MLOps, containerization, cloud infrastructure (AWS and Azure).
• Preferred:
  • Experience in strategic planning, organizational development, and team scaling
  • Experience in one or more of the following areas: advanced search and recommendation technology, orchestration of ML pipelines for real‑time inference, microservices architecture, model monitoring and governance
  • Experience preforming software development with any of the following frontend technologies including React / Typescript / Tailwind.

What’s in it For You?

• Hybrid Work Model: We’ve adopted a flexible hybrid working environment (2‑3 days a week in the office depending on the role) for our office‑based roles while delivering a seamless experience that is digitally and physically connected.
• Flexibility & Work‑Life Balance: Flex My Way is a set of supportive workplace policies designed to help manage personal and professional responsibilities, whether caring for family, giving back to the community, or finding time to refresh and reset. This builds upon our flexible work arrangements, including work from anywhere for up to 8 weeks per year, empowering employees to achieve a better work‑life balance.
• Career Development and Growth: By fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development, we prepare our talent to tackle tomorrow’s challenges and deliver real‑world solutions. Our Grow My Way programming and skills‑first approach ensures you have the tools and knowledge to grow, lead, and thrive in an AI‑enabled future.
• Industry Competitive Benefits:
  • Flexible vacation
  • Two company‑wide Mental Health Days off
  • Access to the Headspace app
  • Retirement savings
  • Tuition reimbursement
  • Employee incentive programs
  • Resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing
• Culture: Globally recognized, award‑winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work‑life balance, and more. We live by our values: Obsess over our Customers, Compete to Win, Challenge (Y)our Thinking, Act Fast / Learn Fast, and Stronger Together.
• Social Impact: Make an impact in your community with our Social Impact Institute. We offer employees two paid volunteer days off annually and opportunities to get involved with pro‑bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
• Making a Real‑World Impact: We are one of the few companies globally that helps its customers pursue justice, truth and transparency. Together, with the professionals and institutions we serve, we help uphold the rule of law, turn the wheels of commerce, catch bad actors, report the facts, and provide trusted, unbiased information to people all over the world.

Our use of AI within the recruitment process

Thomson Reuters utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our global recruitment process. Unless you opt‑out, our AI system will assess the information provided by you and compare it to the requirements listed for the role, and present the result to our recruitment personnel for further review. The AI system acts as a supporting tool, but there is always a human making the decision if you will be considered for the role.

About Us

Thomson Reuters informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. We serve professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Our products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world leading provider of trusted journalism and news. We are powered by the talents of 26,000 employees across more than 70 countries, where everyone has a chance to contribute and grow professionally in flexible work environments. At a time when objectivity, accuracy, fairness, and transparency are under attack, we consider it our duty to pursue them.

Sound exciting? Join us and help shape the industries that move society forward. As a global business, we rely on the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences of all employees to deliver on our business goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, color, sex/gender, including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status or any other protected classification under applicable law.

Thomson Reuters is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer providing a drug‑free workplace. We also make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law. More information on requesting an accommodation here.

More information about Thomson Reuters can be found on thomsonreuters.com

At Thomson Reuters, we’re not riding the AI wave — we’re reshaping the future of professional work across law, tax, compliance, and journalism. Here, you will collaborate with smart, ambitious people who thrive on solving complex problems, delivering market‑leading solutions, and innovating with curiosity and care.

Learn more about a career with us Our Employer Story Inside Thomson Reuters Blog Awards and Recognition Join Our Talent Community Protect Your Job Search Future‑ready careers Our focus on a skills‑first approach ensures you’ll have the tools and knowledge to grow, lead, and thrive in an AI‑enabled future.