Role overview

Cohere is a security-focused enterprise AI company building foundation models and end-to-end products for real-world business applications. This Forward Deployed Engineer role focuses on North, Cohere’s AI workspace platform designed to help enterprises deploy AI securely while maintaining control over sensitive data. You will partner directly with Canadian public sector organizations to implement secure, ethical generative AI solutions that address complex challenges.

Key responsibilities

Build and ship features for the North AI workspace platform.
Develop autonomous agents capable of interacting with sensitive enterprise data.
Work at high velocity with high quality standards to engage customers and deliver solutions that exceed their expectations.
Guide the entire product lifecycle from initial conceptualization through production deployment.
Lead end-to-end deployment of North in private cloud and on-premises environments, including planning, configuration, testing, and rollout activities.
Work directly with public sector customers to understand their critical problems and design tailored solutions using Cohere’s technology stack.

Requirements

Eligibility for Active Top Secret security clearance is required; candidates willing and eligible to obtain clearance will be considered.
Proven experience shipping production Python code at scale.
Demonstrated experience building and deploying high-performance client-side or server-side RAG and agentic applications.
Strong coding abilities with comfort working across the full technology stack and the ability to understand and fix issues outside your primary codebase.
Experience working directly with customers and a genuine interest in customer-focused problem solving.
Ability to thrive in fast-paced environments where priorities and objectives shift rapidly.

What makes this role worth considering

Based in Ottawa with anticipated travel of 20–40%, this position places you at the forefront of deploying cutting-edge agentic AI in critical public sector applications. You’ll work as a bridge between Cohere’s core product and government engineering teams, directly shaping how enterprises securely integrate AI into sensitive domains. Cohere offers comprehensive benefits including six weeks of paid vacation, full health and dental coverage, parental leave top-up support, education stipends, and a $500 home office setup allowance.