Staff AI Engineer

WillowTree; Vancouver; Hybrid; CAD 175,000 - 199,000; Full time

Job summary

WillowTree, a TELUS Digital company, is looking for a Staff AI Engineer to join their Data & AI team. The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in generative AI, applying models to enhance digital products. This hybrid position allows collaboration within the office while promoting innovation and effective solution development.

Benefits

Group Savings Options with company matching

100% coverage of medical premiums

Flexible Paid Time Off

Parental Leave Top-Up

Employee Share Purchase Plan

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Qualifications

• Experience in applied Generative AI and multi-modal models.
• Proficient with cloud platforms and AI services.
• Ability to effectively communicate complex AI solutions.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy AI solutions that resolve business problems.
• Collaborate with Data Science and Engineering teams.
• Implement and optimize AI components for project needs.

Skills

Generative AI

LLMs

Software Engineering

Python

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's or higher in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Azure AI Services

Vertex AI

Job description

AI Engineer (Staff) Who We Are

Welcome to TELUS Digital — where innovation drives impact at a global scale. As an award-winning digital product consultancy and the digital division of TELUS, one of Canada’s largest telecommunications providers, we design and deliver transformative customer experiences through cutting-edge technology, agile thinking, and a people-first culture.

In January 2023, TELUS Digital acquired WillowTree, creating a combined firm with service offerings spanning Customer Experience and Digital Solutions.

With a global team across North America, South America, Central America, Europe, and APAC, we offer end-to-end expertise across eight core service areas: Digital Product Consulting, Digital Marketing Services, Data & AI, Strategy Consulting, Business Operations Modernization, Enterprise Applications, Cloud Engineering, and QA & Test Engineering.

From mobile apps and websites to voice UI, chatbots, AI, customer service, and in-store solutions, TELUS Digital enables seamless, trusted, and digitally powered experiences that meet customers wherever they are — all backed by the secure infrastructure and scale of our multi-billion-dollar parent company.

Location and Flexibility

Our Staff AI Engineers are integral to our Data & AI team at WillowTree, a TELUS Digital company. To help retain our deep culture of collaboration, this role will maintain an in-office presence in a hybrid capacity [Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays]. This role can be located in Boston, MA, Columbus, OH, Charlottesville, VA, or Durham, NC.

The Opportunity

TELUS Digital is seeking a proficient GenAI Engineer passionate about the technology, and ready to implement research concepts into tangible and production-ready solutions for our global clients. As a GenAI Engineer, you will be instrumental in applying and integrating generative AI models to enhance digital products, while also applying best coding, testing, and monitoring practices, making AI accessible and valuable in a real-world context.

Responsibilities

• Apply your knowledge of AI systems and software engineering to design, develop, and deploy solutions that directly address and resolve business problems.
• Partner with professionals from Data Science and Data Engineering to address complex technical challenges, ensuring that the latest and most effective Data & AI techniques are being utilized.
• Take ownership of implementing and optimizing applied AI components, ensuring they meet project needs with high complexity and scale.
• Navigate and manipulate generative AI models, including (but not limited to) LLMs, to create prompts and solutions tailored to specific use cases.
• Develop and incorporate AI solutions while adhering to industry best practices, including moderation, security, monitoring, and compliance standards.
• Understand and properly apply Responsible AI concepts in all the stages of the solution.
• Lead the charge in designing, measuring, and evaluating AI model outputs, developing standard and custom metrics to ensure alignment with business objectives.
• Translate AI research and PoCs into production-ready features, delivering robust and scalable AI components that integrate seamlessly with larger systems.
• Drive the selection and application of appropriate evaluation metrics, ensuring that AI solutions are robust, unbiased, and meet all necessary performance standards

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in applied Generative AI, considering LLMs, multi-modal models, AI Agents, etc.
• Strong understanding of the trade-offs between various generative AI models and the ability to choose the right model for specific use cases.
• Experience with data embeddings and vector databases, understanding the trade-off between available options, and leveraging it to optimize data ingestion.
• Experience in architecting and developing solutions that integrate generative AI with traditional software solutions with minimal to no oversight.
• Is proficient in the Python language and understands the trade-offs between multiple frameworks and patterns.
• Experience building and testing a server-side platform for API development and orchestration (i.e. Docker, Kubernetes, etc)
• Hands-on experience deploying software on leading cloud platforms leveraging deployment and infrastructure techniques such as CI/CD pipelines.
• Skilled in creating and adjusting prompts for complex AI systems to meet diverse project requirements.
• Familiarity with testing and evaluating AI systems using state-of-the-art methods and best practices.
• Experience utilizing cloud-based AI services such as AWS Bedrock, Azure AI Services, and Vertex AI.
• Strong collaboration skills and ability to work alongside developers from multiple different areas.
• Ability to communicate complex AI solutions and concepts effectively to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Equal Opportunity Employer

At TELUS Digital, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All aspects of employment, including the decision to hire and promote, are based on applicants’ qualifications, merits, competence and performance without regard to any characteristic related to diversity.

We will only use the information you provide to process your application and to produce tracking statistics. Since we do not request personal data deemed sensitive, we ask you to abstain from sharing that Information with us.

For more information on how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy.

What We'll Offer

In addition to a great culture and interesting work with opportunities for growth and development, this position is eligible for the following benefits:

• Group Savings Options (GRSP, GTFSA, GIA) with company matching
• Healthcare benefits - Medical, Vision, Dental (We cover 100% of the employee and dependent(s) medical premiums)
• Life & Disability Insurance
• Generous and Flexible Paid Time Off
• Parental Leave Top-Up
• Employee Share Purchase Plan
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• And more!

*Individual compensation is based on various factors unique to each candidate, including, skill set, experience, qualifications, and other job-related reasons determined during the interview process. Role ranges are periodically reviewed and updated based on market changes, internal needs, and industry trends. To drive ongoing pay equity for team members, WillowTree conducts regular compensation audits.

Canada Pay Range $175,000 — $199,000 CAD