Director of AI Applications Development

We’re building a relationship-oriented bank for the modern world. We need talented, passionate professionals who are dedicated to doing what’s right for our clients.

At CIBC, we embrace your strengths and your ambitions, so you are empowered at work. Our team members have what they need to make a meaningful impact and are truly valued for who they are and what they contribute.

To learn more about CIBC, please visit CIBC.com

What you'll be doing

As part of CIBC’s technology team, you’ll lead our AI Applications Development function and guide a high-performing team of AI engineers, developers, and quality assurance specialists who build and support enterprise-grade AI solutions. As Director, you’ll provide technical and people leadership to drive the design, development, deployment, and ongoing evolution of advanced AI applications across the bank. You’ll work closely with technology and business partners to shape solution architecture, define integration requirements, and deliver solutions that align to strategic priorities and enterprise standards. You’ll help ensure our AI-driven applications are secure, scalable, reliable, and well monitored, with a strong focus on cloud-native delivery, observability, and compliance. You’ll also foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, continuous improvement, and strong documentation practices while supporting your leaders and teams in delivering high-quality solutions that enhance the client experience.

At CIBC we enable the work environment most optimal for you to thrive in your role. Details on your work arrangement (proportion of on-site and remote work) will be discussed at the time of your interview.

How you'll succeed 

• People leadership - Lead and develop a team of leaders, AI engineers, developers, and quality assurance specialists by setting clear direction, providing meaningful coaching, and creating opportunities for growth. Build an inclusive, high-performing environment where team members are supported, accountable, and connected to CIBC’s priorities.
• Strategic partnership - Build trusted relationships with technology and business partners, vendors, and senior stakeholders to understand business needs, translate them into practical AI solutions, and influence decisions through clear, business-focused communication.
• Technical leadership - Guide architecture and engineering decisions for enterprise AI applications, with a focus on security, scalability, performance, and reliability. Support the development and deployment of modern AI solutions using tools and technologies such as Python, FastAPI, JavaScript frameworks, Azure AI services, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), large language models (LLMs), and agentic AI frameworks.
• Quality and platform excellence - Champion strong engineering practices across cloud infrastructure, continuous integration and continuous delivery, observability, documentation, and test automation to help ensure solutions are resilient, maintainable, and ready for enterprise scale.
• Delivery leadership - Work with internal partners to prioritize, plan, and deliver initiatives on agreed timelines and budgets. Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, encourage reuse across teams, and help shape a shared AI strategy that scales across the enterprise.

Who you are 

• You are a hands-on builder first. You have recently designed, built, and shipped production AI applications yourself, and you still enjoy writing code, reviewing pull requests, and solving production issues alongside the team.
• You bring strong technical depth. You have hands-on experience with Python, FastAPI, JavaScript (Vue.js or React.js), SQL, Redis, and Azure Cloud services, including Azure OpenAI / AI Foundry and API Management. You are comfortable with CI/CD tools such as GitHub Actions and QA automation frameworks such as Playwright, Cypress, or Selenium.
• You know modern AI engineering. You have built solutions using large language models (LLMs), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), prompt and context engineering, tool calling, and agentic frameworks such as LangGraph, LangChain, LangSmith, or equivalent. It’s an asset if you have experience with Databricks, LLM evaluation, and observability for AI agents in production (e.g., Splunk, OpenTelemetry).
• You build for the enterprise. You design for security, scalability, reliability, and compliance, and you understand what it takes to run AI safely in a regulated environment.
• You are ready to grow as a people leader. You mentor engineers, set technical direction, and raise the engineering bar. You are excited to grow into leading a team of engineers and QA specialists as the function scales.
• Your influence makes a difference. You build trusted relationships with business and technology partners, translate business needs into practical AI solutions, and explain complex ideas clearly to non-technical audiences.
• You're digitally savvy. You are curious, adapt quickly to new tools and trends, and take ownership of outcomes in a fast-moving space.
• You live your values. You bring high standards, genuine care to your relationships, and want to grow with an employer that shares your values and brings out your best.

What CIBC Offers

At CIBC, your goals are a priority. We start with your strengths and ambitions as an employee and strive to create opportunities to tap into your potential. We aspire to give you a career, rather than just a paycheck.

• We work to recognize you in meaningful, personalized ways including a competitive salary, incentive pay, banking benefits, a benefits program*, defined benefit pension plan*, an employee share purchase plan, a vacation offering, wellbeing support, and MomentMakers, our social, points-based recognition program.

• Our spaces and technological toolkit will make it simple to bring together great minds to create innovative solutions that make a difference for our clients.

• We cultivate a culture where you can express your ambition through initiatives like Purpose Day; a paid day off dedicated for you to use to invest in your growth and development.

*Subject to plan and program terms and conditions

What you need to know

• CIBC is committed to creating an inclusive environment where all team members and clients feel like they belong. We seek applicants with a wide range of abilities and we provide an accessible candidate experience. If you need accommodation, please contact Mailbox.careers-carrieres@cibc.com

• CIBC is committed to clarity in our hiring process. All roles posted are opportunities we’re actively recruiting for, unless stated otherwise.

• You need to be legally eligible to work at the location(s) specified above and, where applicable, must have a valid work or study permit.

• We may ask you to complete an attribute-based assessment and other skills test (such as simulation, coding, French proficiency).

• We use artificial intelligence tools during the recruitment process. Our goal for the application process is to get to know more about you, all that you have to offer, and give you the opportunity to learn more about us.

Job Location

Toronto-81 Bay, 21st Floor

Employment Type

Regular

Weekly Hours

37.5

Skills

Application Development, Coaching, Decision Making, Enterprise Technologies, Leadership, People Management, Project Management, Solutions Design, Stakeholder Management, Technical Architecture