Responsible AI & Data Governance Lead

LawZero; Montreal (administrative region); On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Paid vacation

Retirement contributions

Additional compensation for retirement

Collaborative inclusive work culture

Vibrant office in Little Italy, Mile-X

Job summary

LawZero in Montreal seeks a Responsible AI & Data Governance Lead to develop and implement data governance and responsible AI practices. This role sits within the Legal & Governance team and collaborates with research, data, product, and evaluations teams to ensure compliant, ethical, and auditable AI deployments.

Responsibilities include designing governance policies, overseeing data provenance and PII handling, managing dual-use and bias risk, and governing internal AI tools with

Qualifications

• 5 to 7 years of experience in responsible AI, data governance, and/or technology legal/compliance roles.
• Technical literacy to understand AI/ML research methodologies, data & training pipelines, and AI product development and deployment.
• Demonstrated experience with data governance, data provenance systems, or AI governance in a technical context.
• Familiarity with AI governance frameworks including the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and Canada's voluntary AI standards.
• Strong process orientation, documentation discipline, and ability to build systems from scratch in an early-stage organization.

Responsibilities

• Data Governance: Design and implement data governance practices and policies with Data and Legal teams, including sourcing, integrity, provenance and lineage; licensing and IP; and synthetic data governance. Develop procedures for identifying, redacting, and securely handling PII in datasets and product inputs.
• Responsible AI: Monitor governance frameworks; develop controls and processes; embed ethics in the product lifecycle and applied use case projects.
• Research and Development Integrity: Ensure research methodologies are documented to support verification, replication and audit; maintain SOPs for publication, open source releases, and dataset sharing.
• Dual-Use & Bias Risk Management: Conduct dual-use evaluations for outputs with potential for harm; coordinate testing and safety evaluations with documentation of methodologies and results.
• Internal AI Tool Governance: Establish and manage policies for responsible deployment of third-party and internal AI tools for LawZero employees in coordination with legal and IT teams.
• AI Policy: Support VP Legal & Governance and broader team in AI governance and policy initiatives.

Skills

Responsible AI

Data governance

Technology compliance

Job description

We are seeking a Responsible AI & Data Governance Lead to support in developing and implementing Law Zero's data governance and responsible AI practices. The role is embedded within the Legal & Governance team but works closely with the research, data, product and evaluations team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Data Governance: Design and implement, in collaboration with the Data and Legal teams, LawZero's data governance practices and policies, including on sourcing and acquisition; integrity, inventory, provenance and lineage; licensing and IP; and synthetic data governance.PII & Privacy Protection: In collaboration with the Data and Legal teams, develop and implement procedures for identifying, redacting, and securely handling Personally Identifiable Information in research datasets and product inputs.


• Responsible AI: Monitor emerging AI governance frameworks; develop and implement the adequate controls and processes. Embed ethics and responsible AI considerations in the product development lifecycle and applied use case projects.


• Research and Development Integrity: Ensure research methodologies are documented to a standard that supports verification, replication, and audit; maintain SOPs for publication, open source releases, and dataset sharing.


• Dual-Use & Bias Risk Management: In collaboration with the Evaluations team, conduct dual-use evaluations for research outputs with potential for harmful application; coordinate comprehensive technical testing and safety evaluations, including bias and fairness review, and maintain documentation of testing methodologies and results for all research tools and products before external deployment.


• Internal AI Tool Governance: Establish and manage policies and controls for the responsible deployment of third-party and internal AI tools for use by LawZero employees, in coordination with the legal and IT teams.


• AI Policy: Support the VP Legal & Governance and broader team in AI governance and policy initiatives.

Skills and qualifications:

• 5 to 7 years of experience in responsible AI, data governance, and/or technology legal/compliance roles.


• Technical literacy sufficient to understand AI/ML research methodologies, data & training pipelines, and AI product development and deployment.


• Demonstrated experience with data governance, data provenance systems, or AI governance in a technical context.


• Familiarity with AI governance frameworks including the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and Canada's voluntary AI standards.


• Strong process orientation, documentation discipline, and ability to build systems from scratch in an early-stage organization.

What we offer

• The chance to contribute meaningfully to a globally critical initiative


• Comprehensive health benefits (including mental health and wellness management account)


• 20 days of vacation per year upon start


• Employer contribution of 4% to your retirement savings, with no required employee match


• Additional compensation totaling 8% of your salary to apply towards additional retirement savings or bonuses (independent of group and individual performance)


• A team of passionate world-class experts in their field


• A collaborative and inclusive work environment in our vibrant office space in the heart of Little Italy, in the trendy Mile-Ex district, close to public transportation

About LawZero

LawZero is a non-profit organization committed to advancing research and creating technical solutions that enable safe-by-design AI systems. Its scientific direction is based on new research and methods proposed by Professor Yoshua Bengio, the most cited AI researcher in the world. Based in Montreal, LawZero's research aims to build non-agentic AI that learns primarily to understand the world rather than to act in it, giving truthful answers to questions based on transparent and externalized probabilistic reasoning. Such AI systems could be used to accelerate scientific discovery, to provide oversight for agentic AI systems, and to advance the understanding of AI risks and how to avoid them. LawZero believes that AI should be cultivated as a global public good developed and used safely towards human flourishing. For more information, visit www.lawzero.org

You belong here

At LawZero, diversity is important to us. We value a work environment that is fair, open and respectful of differences. We welcome applications from highly qualified individuals interested in working towards our mission in a respectful, inclusive and collaborative setting.

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