Senior AI & Agent Systems Engineer - Toronto, On

Dokainish & Company; Toronto; On-site; CAD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consultancy firm is seeking a Senior AI & Agent Systems Engineer to design and operate production-grade AI systems within enterprise software. This role involves the architecture, implementation, and reliability of AI services, requiring strong Java skills and extensive software engineering experience. Must be based in Toronto, Ontario, and able to work legally in Canada. The role is full-time and non-remote, focusing on collaboration and integration within existing systems, offering substantial opportunities for impact and professional growth.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Strong proficiency in Java (non-negotiable).
• Hands-on experience integrating LLMs into real applications.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement agent-based systems that operate reliably.
• Build and maintain AI-backed backend services using Java and/or TypeScript.
• Implement guardrails to control AI behavior.

Skills

Software engineering experience

Java proficiency

TypeScript or Python proficiency

System design skills

API design skills

Understanding of LLM behavior

Job description

(TORONTO) -Senior AI & Agent Systems Engineer

About Dokainish& Company

Since 2011 Dokainish& Company has been providing world class professional consultancy services.

We specialize in working diligently and collaboratively with our clients to achieve long‑lasting and impactful results across numerous business functions. Our areas of expertise include, but are not limited to, Project Management, Quantitative Risk Analysis, Organizational Change Management, Project Controls, Enterprise Reporting, Estimating, Asset Management, and System Implementation for Capital Projects. We draw upon decades of project experience to deliver customized solutions to our clients’ most complex challenges.

We are a fast‑growing organization, currently seeking a Senior AI & Agent Systems Engineer to design, build, and operate production‑grade AI systems embedded within enterprise software platforms.

IMPORTANT: Please provide a link to one or more of the following: GitHub profile, technical portfolio, architecture documentation, or public project write‑up on your resume.

Role Overview

This role owns the architecture, implementation, reliability, and governance of AI‑driven services, including intelligent agents and orchestration layers. You will work closely with the Engineering Manager and senior developers to integrate AI capabilities into real systems with real users, cost constraints, and failure modes.

This is not a research or prompt‑only role. Strong software engineering fundamentals are mandatory.

This is a full‑time, non‑remote position based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Key Responsibilities

AI Systems & Agent Architecture

• Design and implement agent‑based systems that operate reliably in production
• Build orchestration logic for multi‑step and multi‑agent workflows
• Define agent boundaries, responsibilities, and failure handling strategies
• Make architectural trade‑offs balancing accuracy, latency, cost, and reliability

Backend & Platform Integration

• Build and maintain AI‑backed backend services using Java and/or TypeScript
• Integrate LLMs into existing APIs, workflows, and data pipelines
• Ensure AI systems respect authentication, authorization, and access controls
• Work within existing system constraints rather than rebuilding everything

Guardrails, Evaluation & Operations

• Implement guardrails to control AI behavior and prevent unsafe or misleading outputs
• Design evaluation approaches for AI outputs and agent behavior
• Implement logging, monitoring, and alerting for AI systems
• Track and clearly communicate AI limitations, failure modes, and operational risks
• Manage rate limiting, cost controls, and usage visibility

AI Governance & Enablement

• Ensure AI usage aligns with security, privacy, and compliance expectations
• Review and harden AI‑assisted code before production release
• Guide other engineers on safe and effective AI integration
• Push back when AI is proposed where it introduces more risk than value

Collaboration

• Work closely with the Engineering Manager on system design and delivery planning
• Coordinate with backend and frontend engineers to integrate AI capabilities cleanly
• Contribute to technical discussions, design reviews, and production readiness efforts

Required Skills & Experience

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Strong proficiency in Java (non‑negotiable)
• Strong proficiency in at least one additional backend language (TypeScript or Python)
• Experience building and operating production backend systems
• Hands‑on experience integrating LLMs into real applications
• Experience building or operating agent‑based or workflow‑driven AI systems
• Deep understanding of: LLM behavior and limitations, hallucination risks and mitigation, prompt versioning and validation, retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG)
• Strong system design, data modeling, and API design skills
• Comfort operating independently with minimal supervision
• Ability to explain complex technical decisions to non‑technical stakeholders

Working Arrangements

• Must be based in Toronto, Ontario, or willing to relocate.
• This is a full‑time, non‑remote position based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• Legally eligible to work in Canada.

We are highly skilled when moving ideas into actions and empower each other to deliver outstanding results. If you believe your skill set, drive, qualifications, and experience is a match, we welcome your application and can’t wait to hear from you.

We thank all applicants for their interest in joining Dokainish& Company, please note only those candidates considered for an initial interview will be contacted.

Dokainish& Company is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, gender, race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age and veteran status, or any other protected status required by applicable law.

In accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, and Dokainish& Company AODA Policy, accommodation will be provided in all parts of the hiring process. Applicants need to make their needs known in advance.