Senior Director, ATOM Engineering

What is the opportunity?RBC's AI Group has developed ATOM (Asynchronous Temporal Model), a groundbreaking proprietary AI foundation model that is transforming how RBC serves its clients. ATOM learns from billions of financial event sequences to power personalized client experiences, intelligent credit decisions, fraud detection, and innovative digital banking solutions. As a member of RBC Borealis AI, reporting to the VP, Solutions Engineering & Delivery, the Senior Director, ATOM Engineering will lead the engineering team responsible for deploying, scaling, and operationalizing ATOM across RBC's enterprise platforms. This is a high-impact technical leadership role at the forefront of RBC's $1 billion AI ambition, where you'll translate cutting-edge AI research into production-grade solutions that serve millions of clients.What will you do?Foundation Model Engineering & DeliveryLead the end-to-end engineering, deployment, and support for RBC foundation models. Support delivery teams throughout the consumption of these models in production.Build robust, scalable, and secure software infrastructure to support ATOM's integration with RBC's enterprise platforms and the Lumina AI & Data Platform.Partner with VP, Applied AI and VP, Research teams to translate research on foundation models into production-ready, enterprise-grade software solutions.Drive the technical roadmap for ATOM (and other foundation model) engineering capabilities including model serving infrastructure, API development, integration patterns, and deployment automation.Ensure solutions that incorporate RBC foundation models meet RBC's performance, reliability, scalability, and security requirements for mission-critical banking applications.Cross-Functional Collaboration & Solution IntegrationCollaborate closely with business line CIOs, product managers, and technology teams to understand and support the use of foundation models in production.Partner with platform teams (Lumina, AI & ML Platform, Agentic Platform) to ensure seamless integration of foundation models with RBC's AI infrastructure.Work with AI Governance, Model Risk, and third-party risk teams to ensure all deployments meet regulatory, compliance, and ethical AI standards.Engage with AI Research teams to provide feedback on model development, identify production-challenges, and influence research priorities based on deployment learnings.Team Leadership & Capability BuildingBuild and lead a high-performing engineering team of software engineers, ML engineers, DevOps specialists, and technical product managers.Foster a culture of engineering excellence, innovation, and accountability with a focus on delivering measurable business outcomes.Develop team capabilities in modern software engineering practices, MLOps, cloud-native architectures, and AI solution delivery.Mentor engineers and create career development pathways for growing technical leadership talent.Production Operations & Performance ManagementEstablish and own operational excellence for ATOM-powered solutions including monitoring, incident response, performance optimization, and continuous improvement.Implement robust DevOps and MLOps practices to enable rapid iteration, automated testing, and reliable deployment of ATOM models and features.Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for ATOM solutions including model performance, system reliability, latency, cost efficiency, and business impact.Drive ongoing optimization of ATOM infrastructure to balance performance, cost, and scalability as usage grows across the enterprise.What do you need to succeed?Must Have12+ years of experience in software engineering, platform engineering, or ML engineering roles with at least 3-5 years in leadership positions and people management.Proven track record building and deploying large-scale, mission-critical software systems in production environments, preferably in financial services or other regulated industries.Strong understanding of machine learning operations (MLOps), model deployment, model serving infrastructure, and production ML systems.Experience leading cross-functional engineering teams (10+ people) delivering complex technical solutions across multiple business domains.Demonstrated ability to translate research prototypes or algorithms into scalable, production-grade software solutions.Nice to HaveExperience building or deploying AI foundation models, large language models, or similar advanced AI systems in production.Background in financial services technology with understanding of banking systems, transaction processing, and regulatory requirements.Hands-on experience with AI/ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch) and understanding of deep learning model architectures.Knowledge of data engineering, real-time data pipelines, and integration with enterprise data platforms.Familiarity with responsible AI practices, model governance, bias detection, and explainability techniques.Experience with agile delivery methodologies, product management, and outcome-driven development.Computer Science degree or equivalent technical background; advanced degree (MS, PhD) in related field is a plus.Track record of innovation through patents, technical publications, or open-source contributions.What's in it for you?Work on cutting-edge AILead engineering for ATOM, RBC's proprietary foundation model that is transforming banking for millions of clients.Massive scale and impactYour solutions will process billions of transactions and directly influence credit decisions, fraud prevention, and personalized client experiences.Technical leadershipAs a member of RBC Borealis AI, build and lead a world-class engineering team while shaping RBC's AI engineering strategy and standards.Innovation at the intersection of AI and bankingBridge advanced AI research with practical, production-grade solutions in a highly regulated environment.Comprehensive Total Rewards Program including competitive compensation, bonuses, flexible benefits, and stock options.Talent developmentLeaders who support your growth through coaching, mentorship, and opportunities to influence RBC's technology direction.Dynamic, high-performing teamWork alongside leading AI researchers, data scientists, platform engineers, and business innovators.Opportunities for progressively greater impactAs ATOM scales across RBC, so will your scope, influence, and career opportunities.Job SkillsData Science, Decision Making, Emerging Technologies, Group Problem Solving, Machine Learning (ML), Multi-Level Communication, Programming Languages.Additional Job DetailsAddress: RBC WATERPARK PLACE, 88 QUEENS QUAY W:TORONTOCity: TorontoCountry: CanadaWork hours/week: 37.5Employment Type: Full timePlatform: TECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONSJob Type: RegularPay Type: SalariedPosted Date: 2026-05-24Application Deadline: 2026-06-30NoteApplications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the application deadline date above.Our Employment OpportunitiesAt RBC, we are guided by living shared values of Client First, Integrity, Collaboration, Respect and Excellence and winning together as One RBC. We believe an inclusive workplace that has diverse perspectives is core to our continued growth as one of the largest and most successful banks in the world. Maintaining a workplace where our employees feel supported to perform at their best, effectively collaborate, drive innovation, and grow professionally helps to bring our Purpose to life and create value for our clients and communities. RBC strives to deliver this through policies and programs intended to foster a workplace based on respect, belonging and opportunity for all.J-18808-Ljbffr