The AI Data Lead is a senior hands-on technical leader responsible for designing, building, governing, and evolving the firm's modern data and AI platform. This role combines deep expertise in Microsoft data engineering technologies with practical experience implementing AI-enabled solutions that deliver measurable business value.

This role will be responsible for establishing the foundational data capabilities required for successful AI implementation. The AI Data Lead will help define and execute the firm's data strategy, ensuring enterprise data is discoverable, governed, centralized, protected, and AI-ready.

Working across a diverse landscape of business systems, applications, and repositories, the AI Data Lead will lead efforts to identify, catalog, classify, cleanse, integrate, and govern data assets while enabling secure access to information for analytics, automation, Copilot, AI agents, and future AI initiatives.

This role is ideal for a highly technical professional who enjoys being hands-on with data engineering, architecture, governance, and AI implementation while influencing the organization's long-term data and AI strategy.

As an AI Data Lead your responsibilities will include:
• Define and execute the firm's enterprise data strategy in partnership with business and technology leaders to support analytics, AI, and digital transformation initiatives.
• Establish and govern enterprise data assets through data cataloging, classification, stewardship, ownership, quality, metadata, and lineage frameworks.
• Build and maintain an AI-ready data foundation that enables trusted, secure, and governed access to enterprise information and knowledge.
• Lead the design, implementation, and optimization of modern data platforms using Microsoft and Azure technologies, including Fabric, Dataverse, Azure Data Factory, and Databricks.
• Design scalable data integration and engineering solutions, including ingestion, transformation, orchestration, and consolidation of enterprise data from multiple business systems.
• Develop modern data architectures including Lakehouse, Data Warehouse, semantic models, and reusable data products that support reporting, automation, AI, and advanced analytics.
• Architect secure and governed data solutions for AI that enable enterprise search, knowledge management, intelligent agents, automation, and generative AI capabilities.
• Lead enterprise data governance, security, and compliance initiatives, including Microsoft Purview implementation, information protection, and responsible AI practices.
• Serve as the firm's technical leader for AI and data architecture, establishing standards, target-state architectures, and best practices across the organization.
• Drive innovation through proofs of concept, pilot programs, and hands-on technical leadership, while partnering with internal stakeholders, project teams, and external solution providers to deliver strategic outcomes.

Think you've got what it takes to be an AI Data Lead? Like the colour purple? Great. Here's a few more boxes we're also hoping you can tick:
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related STEM discipline. Master's degree in Computer Science is preferred.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in Data Engineering, Data Architecture, Analytics Engineering, or Cloud Data Platforms.
• Demonstrated experience designing modern data architectures and building enterprise data integration and pipeline solutions that support analytics, AI, and business systems such as ERP and CRM platforms.
• Strong hands experience with data technologies: data warehousing, data lakes, query, processing, orchestration, governance and visualization (experience with Microsoft Data technologies strongly preferred)
• Strong understanding of data governance, quality, metadata, master data management, and security and compliance principles.
• Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft Data technologies strongly preferred (Data Factory, Databricks, Synapse, Fabric, Power BI and Azure SQL) or related
• Hands-on experience implementing enterprise AI, generative AI, intelligent automation, and data governance solutions using Microsoft technologies including Copilot, Azure AI Foundry, and Microsoft Purview.
• Proven ability implementing AI-ready data foundations for Copilot or enterprise AI initiatives.

What's in it for you?

Profit sharing, Flex days, RRSP contributions, Firmwide holiday closure, Wellness benefits, Concierge-like benefits, Work from anywhere in Canada in the summer for 4 weeks, and more!

At Doane Grant Thornton, we believe compensation should reflect more than just market data-it should reflect you. We're serious about compensation. We benchmark regularly across a wide spectrum of roles, industries, sectors, and levels to ensure our ranges are both competitive and current. But we don't stop there. We also consider the unique strengths, experiences, and impact each individual brings to the table. Our salary ranges are reviewed annually, and where you land within the range depends on a mix of factors-your background, your skills, and how your contributions align with internal equity. To help start the conversation, the current salary range for this role is $101,900-$140,100 in Toronto. If the role is available in other locations, the range may differ to reflect local market factors.

Our special culture shines through when we have the opportunity to connect in person. That's why we're working in a model where teams are required to be together in the office 4 days per week.