Role overview

APPLY is seeking a Director of AI to lead the design and delivery of AI-enabled products and platforms for major consumer and entertainment brands including Arc’teryx, NFL, Lululemon, and Kraft Heinz. In this senior, client-facing position, you will combine AI and software engineering expertise with consulting judgment and technical leadership to transform complex business problems into reliable, production-ready AI solutions.

Key responsibilities

Guide clients through the journey from AI strategy and opportunity identification through rapid validation, engineering, deployment, and ongoing operation of secure and scalable AI applications.
Serve as a senior technical authority on AI engagements, providing hands-on expertise in architecture design, prototyping, and technical reviews.
Oversee the delivery and success of AI-enabled products and platforms across multiple client projects.
Work directly with clients while maintaining sufficient technical depth to shape system architectures, guide engineering teams, and resolve critical delivery challenges.
Contribute to advancing APPLY’s internal AI engineering capability by developing reusable patterns, standards, accelerators, and delivery practices that strengthen the organization’s offerings.

Requirements

Proven experience as an AI engineering leader with a track record of delivering production-ready AI solutions.
Strong expertise in both AI engineering and software engineering fundamentals.
Demonstrated ability to translate complex business problems into technical solutions.
Experience in client-facing senior technical roles with consulting judgment and product thinking capabilities.
Ability to lead and guide engineering teams through architecture decisions and technical challenges.

What makes this role worth considering

You will work with some of the world’s most ambitious consumer and entertainment brands across Retail, CPG, Sports, and Media sectors. APPLY offers hybrid and remote-friendly work arrangements for candidates based in Canada, with flexibility to work during Eastern or Pacific timezone business hours, allowing you to balance client engagement with distributed team collaboration.