The OpportunityShyftLabs is looking for a Senior AI Engineer to sit at the intersection of AI/ML engineering and backend platform development. This isn't a research role, it's a hands-on engineering position where you'll design, build, and ship AI-powered features directly into production systems. You'll work closely with Product, Architecture, and cross-functional engineering teams to integrate intelligent capabilities into our next generation of data-driven platforms, while also contributing to the scalable backend infrastructure that powers them.
The ideal candidate combines deep AI/ML engineering experience with strong backend development skills, someone equally comfortable fine-tuning an LLM integration as they are designing a robust API or event-driven service.
What You'll Do- Architect and implement AI-powered features end-to-end, from model integration and prompt engineering to deployment, monitoring, and iteration
>- Integrate LLM APIs, ML models, and intelligent automation pipelines into scalable, production-grade backend systems
>- Fine-tune and optimize models for performance, reliability, and cost efficiency in live environments
>- Design and build robust APIs, event-driven services, and third-party integrations that support AI-enabled workflows
>- Collaborate with Product to translate business requirements into technical AI solutions, defining scope, complexity, and dependencies
>- Build and maintain data pipelines and MLOps workflows to support model deployment and lifecycle management
>- Contribute to system architecture decisions, integration patterns, and reusable AI frameworks across the platform
>- Partner with data scientists and engineers to ensure smooth, scalable model deployments
>- Produce clear technical documentation, architecture diagrams, data flows, API specs, and AI integration patterns
>- Lead code reviews, enforce best practices in code quality and testing, and mentor engineers across teams
>- Troubleshoot complex production issues across distributed and AI-integrated systems
>- Stay ahead of industry trends in AI/ML tooling, frameworks, and practices
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What You Bring- 5+ years of experience building scalable, production-grade software systems
>- 2+ years of hands-on AI/ML engineering experience, including deploying models into production environments
>- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, AI, or a related field
>- Strong expertise in Python, with hands-on experience using frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Scikit-learn
>- Solid backend engineering background, API development, microservices, distributed systems, and event-driven architectures
>- Experience integrating LLM APIs and building AI-driven features into web or platform applications
>- Strong proficiency in JavaScript/TypeScript and Node.js, with exposure to GraphQL
>- Deep experience building and consuming RESTful APIs and distributed services
>- Proficiency with SQL and hands-on experience with cloud platforms, GCP or AWS (e.g., S3, Lambda, RDS, EC2)
>- Familiarity with MLOps best practices and tools for model monitoring, versioning, and deployment
>- Strong understanding of software design patterns, system architecture, and data flow design
>- Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly
>- Experience working in Agile/Kanban environments with a strong grasp of the full SDLC
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Nice to Have- Experience with data platforms, analytics systems, or ETL pipelines
>- Familiarity with real-time data processing and messaging systems such as Kafka or SQS
>- Exposure to tax, fintech, or compliance-related product development
>- Experience designing multi-tenant or enterprise-grade SaaS platforms
>- Background in integration-heavy environments such as ERP, financial systems, or external data providers
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Salary Range- $120,000 - $160,000 (CAD)
-Hybrid Flexibility: Enjoy a hybrid model with three days per week in our Toronto office.
-Downtown Toronto Office: Work in the heart of the city.
-Comprehensive Benefits: We cover 100% of health, dental, and vision insurance premiums for you and your dependents which means no out-of-pocket costs. Eligibility starts from day one itself.
-Growth & Learning: Access extensive learning and development resources to keep leveling up your skills.
