Technical Program Manager, AI Delivery for Public Sector & Defence, Canada
Hybrid (Ottawa), Hybrid (Toronto), Hybrid (Montreal)CA$200k - CA$245k + equityFull-timePosted 4mo ago
About the role
Technical Program Manager focused on Canadian public sector and defence accounts, bridging Cohere’s frontier AI capabilities with government needs, including security, compliance, data sovereignty, and regulatory requirements.
Responsibilities
- Own end-to-end technical program delivery for Canadian public sector and defence customers, from initial deployment through production scaling
- Serve as the primary technical program point of contact for government customers, building trusted relationships with departmental CIOs, IT directors, and technical teams
- Translate complex government requirements (security, compliance, accessibility, bilingualism, data sovereignty) into actionable engineering plans
- Navigate government procurement processes, RFP responses, and contractual technical obligations
- Provide clear, timely, and objective communication across Cohere's engineering organization, customer stakeholders, and government leadership
- Translate between AI/ML technical concepts and government-appropriate language for decision-makers who may not have deep technical backgrounds
- Present technical roadmaps and status updates to senior government officials and departmental executives
- Represent Cohere's technical capabilities in sensitive government and defence contexts
- Create and manage project schedules that account for government timelines, security review processes, and ministerial approval cycles
- Identify and manage dependencies across government departments, security authorities, cloud service providers, and internal Cohere teams
- Navigate risks unique to government deployments: privacy compliance, Algorithmic Impact Assessments, Treasury Board submissions, security authorizations
- Drive alignment between product development priorities and specific government requirements
- Ensure on-time delivery of AI solutions that meet government-grade security, privacy, accessibility, and performance standards
- Coordinate technical work across multiple teams: model customization, security hardening, integration with government systems, bilingual support
- Establish governance checkpoints appropriate for high-stakes government deployments
- Problem-solve complex technical challenges in air-gapped, on-premises, or highly regulated environments
Qualifications
- 6+ years of experience as a customer-facing Technical or Engineering Program Manager in AI/ML consulting, technology transformation, or enterprise software delivery
- Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management
- Experience working with government, defence, or heavily regulated customers (public sector, defence contractors)
- Proven track record managing complex, multi-stakeholder technical programs with stringent compliance requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field; advanced degree or technical certs a plus
Skills
Required:Executive communicationStakeholder management
Benefits
- Weekly lunch stipend
- Full health and dental benefits, including budget for mental health
- RRSP matching, 401K, Pension Scheme
- 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months
- Annual enrichment benefits (arts & culture, fitness/wellness, quality time, workspace improvement credit)
- Education & learning stipend for conferences, courses, and coaching
- 6 weeks of paid vacation (30 working days)
- Budget for traveling to other offices if remote, plus annual company offsite
- Remote-friendly with office perks and home office stipend
Last updated Oct 21, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
About Cohere
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