Engineering Manager, AI Applications

ABOUT THE POSITION

Meet the Smart Safety Company

At Safe Fleet our name says it all. We make fleet vehicles – and everyone in and around them – safer. Our fleet safety platform brings together best-in-class products, ground-breaking technology, and a 100-year history of fleet know-how and innovation to solve the world's biggest fleet safety problems.

Our core value is safety. Without safety first, efficiency and productivity are not possible. This is true for our products, our culture, and our relationship with our community. Our vision is to reduce preventable deaths and injuries in and around fleet vehicles with a goal of ZERO accidents.

We are re-defining what safety means for fleets of every type – from school buses to waste collection trucks, firefighting to utility vehicles, police cruisers to delivery vans.

Whether you work in our Charlotte plant to build life-saving stop arms for school buses, or design advanced camera vision products in our Vancouver office, forge valves and high-quality nozzles to fight fires, or dream up new ways to protect fleet operators in our Corporate HQ in Kansas City, you'll contribute to our goal to keep everyone safe.

We are a fast-growing manufacturing, service, and technology company with over 1700 employees in over 15 locations across Canada and the US. We're looking for motivated self-starters with innovative thinking to join our team and help us achieve our growth and performance goals. Sound like you?

JOB SUMMARY

We are seeking a highly technical and hands-on Engineering Manager, AI Applications to lead the design, development, and delivery of scalable AI-powered applications across the organization.

This role is primarily focused on building real-world AI applications using modern AI platforms and services (e.g., OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Google Gemini, Claude, and other emerging AI services). In addition, the role requires solid expertise in Data Science and Machine Learning, ensuring that the team can apply the right approach (whether LLM-based, traditional ML, or hybrid solutions) based on the problem at hand.

The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise in AI systems, strong software engineering fundamentals, and the ability to lead and mentor a growing team. This is not a research-only position, it is a builder and delivery-focused leadership role that also contributes to AI education and enablement across the organization.

You will

• Lead and mentor a team of 4-8 engineers.
• Design and implement scalable AI-powered applications using modern AI services (OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, etc.), RAG architectures, AI agents, and workflow orchestration.
• Apply Data Science and Machine Learning techniques where appropriate, including predictive modeling and model evaluation.
• Build and integrate solutions using API-based LLMs, local/self-hosted models, Hugging Face, transformer-based models, and emerging standards such as MCP.
• Establish reusable AI/ML architecture patterns, engineering standards, and cost-efficient deployment practices.
• Contribute directly to prototyping, coding, and production delivery.
• Translate business needs into structured technical execution plans.
• Partner with Product and stakeholders to prioritize AI initiatives based on business value
• Collaborate with IT, Security, and Compliance to ensure responsible AI deployment
• Contribute to internal AI training sessions and technical workshops.
• Promote best practices in AI application design, evaluation, and responsible usage across teams.

Salary: $155,000 - $175,000/yr CAD

The final offer will be determined based on a combination of factors including skills, experience, and alignment with the role's responsibilities.

• Candidates at the lower end of the range will meet the core qualifications and demonstrate strong potential to grow within the role.
• Mid-range offers reflect a solid match with the role's technical and collaborative requirements.
• Offers at the top of the range are reserved for candidates who bring exceptional qualifications, specialized expertise, or unique value that significantly exceeds the baseline expectations

At Safefleet, we are an equal opportunity employer that is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone is valued and respected. We embrace diversity and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other legally protected status. We promote fair and equitable hiring practices and foster a culture of inclusivity and respect. Our core values of integrity, innovation, teamwork, customer focus, and safety guide our efforts to provide a workplace where all employees can thrive and reach their full potential.

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with demonstrated system design expertise
• 2+ years of experience in Engineering Manager, Team Leader or equivalent roles
• 2+ years of hands-on experience building AI-powered applications in production
• Strong experience integrating modern AI platforms and services (e.g., OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, or similar)
• Solid understanding of transformer-based models, prompt engineering, RAG architectures, and AI agents
• Practical experience applying Data Science and Machine Learning techniques in real-world scenarios
• Experience with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP)
• Proven experience leading and mentoring engineering teams
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain AI concepts to technical and non-technical audiences

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with local/self-hosted models and the Hugging Face ecosystem
• Familiarity with MCP and AI agents orchestration frameworks
• Experience deploying and monitoring ML pipelines in production
• Familiarity with Agile methodologies such as Scrum or Kanban
• Experience working in regulated or security-conscious environments