Senior Manager, Generative AI & Cognitive AI

Our Story & Purpose:

We’re Vancity, a member-owned credit union built on the principles of inclusion and social justice. Since 1946, our relentless commitment to these values has helped us challenge the status quo and break down barriers. We’ve made bold commitments to become net-zero by 2040 across all mortgages and loans, and we’re actively pursuing strategies in Indigenous banking and financial resilience for our members.

We are committed to being a pioneer in Ethical AI. We design and deploy AI systems responsibly—grounded in fairness, transparency, privacy, and human-centered values—to ensure technology benefits our members, communities, and society at large.

As the largest private sector Living Wage Employer in Canada, we’re proud to be consistently recognized as one of the country’s Top Employers. If you’re ready to join our team of 2,300 diverse individuals, access competitive rewards and benefits, and be part of a greater movement - apply today!

Your Role in Supporting Our Members:

We are establishing a GenAI & Cognitive AI Pod and are seeking a Senior Manager, Generative AI to lead this team. This role is both people leader and technical leader, responsible for shaping GenAI architecture, driving delivery, and building a high performing team.

You will own large language model (LLM) based solutions, agentic AI systems, and GenAI platforms, working closely with Applied ML, Intelligent RPA, platform, and security teams to bring cognitive automation use cases into production.

This is a Full-time, Permanent role and will report directly to the Director, AI Centre of Excellence. Our head office is based in Vancouver, but we are open to candidates in BC and Ontario. While this position is for an existing vacancy and provides a hybrid work arrangement, you will be expected to be on-site for events and business demands when needed.

How You'll Make an Impact:

Lead GenAI & Cognitive AI Delivery

• Leading the design, development, and deployment of Generative AI and agentic AI solutions
• Owning end-to-end delivery of LLM use cases, from feasibility and PoC through production
• Overseeing RAG architectures, GenAI APIs, agent orchestration, and cognitive automation patterns
• Building and operationalizing experimentation and evaluation frameworks, hands-on with accuracy measurement, benchmarking, and continuous improvement of GenAI, RAG, and agentic AI systems.

Architecture & Platform Ownership

• Defining and owning GenAI reference architectures across Azure and Databricks
• Establishing best practices for:
• • Azure OpenAI usage patterns
• • RAG design and vector search
• • Agent frameworks and tool calling architectures
• • Secure and responsible GenAI deployment
• • Ensuring solutions meet enterprise security, privacy, and governance requirements

People & Pod Leadership

• Building and lead the GenAI & Cognitive AI Pod, including:
• GenAI Engineers
• Cognitive UX / Conversational Designers
• Providing technical mentorship, coaching, and performance management
• Establishing delivery rituals, engineering standards, and a strong culture of learning and accountability

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Partnering with AI leadership, managers, and senior managers to shape the GenAI roadmap
• Translating business needs into scalable GenAI and cognitive automation solutions
• Communicating technical tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations to technical and nontechnical audiences

What You’ll Bring to the Team:

• 9–12 years of experience in AI, ML, data, or software engineering roles
• Masters or PhD degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related fields
• 4+ years of hands-on experience with Generative AI and Agentic AI concepts, including LLMs, RAG, and AI agents
• 3+ years of architecture experience, designing scalable, cloud based AI systems
• 2+ years of experience working with Azure, including Azure AI Foundry or related AI services
• Demonstrated experience deploying AI/ML models into production environments
• Strong knowledge of Generative AI and LLM ecosystems
• Experience with Databricks for data engineering, ML, or GenAI workflows
• Extensive experience with the Microsoft Azure AI ecosystem, covering Azure AI Services, Azure OpenAI, and Copilot Studio.
• Thorough knowledge of RAG, NLP, CLU, conversational AI, and the latest Agentic AI architectures.
• Familiarity with:
• • RAG pipelines and vector databases
  • Agentic AI patterns (planners, tools, memory, orchestration)
  • CI/CD, MLOps, and cloud native deployment practices
• Proven people management experience, including coaching and team development
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills
• Ability to operate in ambiguity and lead through influence
• Results-oriented mindset with a strong sense of ownership

Extra Skills That Set You Apart:

• Experience integrating GenAI solutions with Robotic Process Automation (RPA) or automation platforms
• Knowledge of Responsible AI, model risk management, or AI governance
• Experience working within an AI Centre of Excellence or platform team
• Background in applied ML, decision intelligence, or cognitive systems

You’ll Thrive Here If You Are:

• A Hands- On Technical Leader: You are able to define GenAI and agentic AI technical vision, lead architecture decisions, and actively contribute to building, experimenting, and deploying LLM based solutions aligned to business outcomes.
• Technically Fluent in Modern AI Platforms: You are deeply experienced with Azure, Databricks, and cloud native AI architectures, including GenAI deployment patterns, RAG pipelines, agent frameworks, and production grade model lifecycle management.
• A Strategic Leader: You are strong at partnering with engineers, designers, managers, and senior leaders—translating complex GenAI concepts, risks, and tradeoffs into clear, actionable insights that drive decisions and delivery.

We value lived experience, so if you are interested in this role, we encourage you to apply even if you feel your skills don't perfectly align with those listed.

What You’ll Earn:

This role offers a salary range of $141,100 to $174,300 per annum. The base pay offered may vary depending on factors such as relevant qualifications, skills, previous experience, and internal equity. As part of our total rewards package, employees may also be eligible for our annual incentive program, subject to program eligibility requirements.

Why You’ll Love Working Here:

A career at Vancity is more than just a job, you’re joining a tradition of change-makers who are creating lasting change for our communities. Beyond base pay, we offer a comprehensive total rewards package to ensure our employees are empowered to thrive:

• Living Wage Employer: We’re the largest private-sector Living Wage Employer in Canada and consistently ranked among Canada’s Top Employers.
• Customizable Benefits: Permanent employees receive flexible benefit packages that can be tailored annually to meet evolving needs.
• Generous Vacation: New employees start with 3-4 weeks of vacation per year, with additional days earned over time.
• Extra Stat Holidays: In addition to BC’s 11 statutory holidays, we offer 2 extra days, plus care days for personal or family illness.
• Immediate Health Coverage: Health and dental benefits begin on your hire date, with three levels of coverage to choose from.
• Defined Benefit Pension: Our retirement plan provides a guaranteed income for life, recognizing that retirement looks different for everyone.

Vancity Talent Programs:

Vancity supports an inclusive hiring process for candidates who self-identify as Indigenous, Black, or Trans. With special permission from the BC Human Rights Commissioner, this initiative provides access to career development opportunities, prioritized job screening, and feedback. Any information you choose to share will be stored securely and used only for recruitment and career development connected to this initiative, in line with the BC Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). For details, please see our dedicated Talent Programs job posting.

This role is an open vacancy, and our hiring process is grounded in fairness, transparency, and inclusion. We are committed to an inclusive, barrier-free and accessible recruitment experience for all candidates. If you require any accommodations or support at any stage of the recruitment process (including the application stage), we encourage you to let us know by contacting our Talent Acquisition team at recruitment@vancity.com. We’re here to work with you to ensure your needs are met promptly and effectively. All requests will be handled with the utmost respect and confidentiality, so you can participate fully in the process.