Engineering Program Manager, Public Sector & Defence

Who are we?

Our mission is to scale intelligence to serve humanity. We’re training and deploying frontier models for developers and enterprises who are building AI systems to power magical experiences like content generation, semantic search, RAG, and agents. We believe that our work is instrumental to the widespread adoption of AI.

We obsess over what we build. Each one of us is responsible for contributing to increasing the capabilities of our models and the value they drive for our customers. We like to work hard and move fast to do what’s best for our customers.

Cohere is a team of researchers, engineers, designers, and more, who are passionate about their craft. Each person is one of the best in the world at what they do. We believe that a diverse range of perspectives is a requirement for building great products.

Join us on our mission and shape the future!

Why This Role?

We're seeking an experienced Engineering Program Manager to join Cohere's customer-facing Engineering Program Management team, with a focus on Canadian public sector and defence accounts. This is a highly specialized role requiring an individual who understands both the technical complexity of frontier AI models and the unique requirements of government and defence organizations.

You will be the critical bridge between our cutting-edge AI capabilities and the specific needs of Canadian federal departments, provincial agencies, Crown corporations, and defence organizations. You'll navigate complex procurement processes, stringent security requirements, data sovereignty concerns, and regulatory compliance while ensuring our customers successfully deploy and scale our AI solutions.

In this role, you'll collaborate with our Strategic Customer team, Applied ML (AML) Engineering, Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE), Platform, Product, and Go-to-Market teams, serving as the technical program lead and trusted advisor for our most sensitive and high-impact government engagements.

Location: Ottawa or Toronto required (proximity to government customers)
Security Clearance: Active Top Secret clearance strongly preferred; candidates eligible and willing to obtain clearance will also be considered

What You'll Do

Customer Program Leadership:

• 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.

Strategic Communication:

• 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.

Complex Program Management:

• 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.

Technical Delivery & Execution:

• 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.

You May Be a Good Fit If:

Required Experience:

• 7+ years of experience as an Engineering or Technical Program Manager

• At least 2 years in customer-facing technical delivery and operations for enterprise-grade software or AI/ML solutions

• 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.

Technical Background:

• Strong understanding of enterprise software deployment architectures (cloud, on-premises, hybrid, air-gapped)

• Knowledge of or experience with LLM training, fine-tuning, or deployment would be a strong differentiator

• Comfortable discussing API integrations, model inference, data pipelines, and ML operations with technical stakeholders.

Government & Defence Acumen:

• Deep understanding of how government organizations procure, evaluate, and deploy technology

• Familiarity with Canadian government requirements: data sovereignty, privacy laws (Privacy Act), accessibility standards, official languages obligations, security classifications

• Understanding of defence and national security considerations in AI deployment

• Experience with Algorithmic Impact Assessments or AI ethics frameworks is a strong asset

• Eligible to obtain Canadian government security clearance (Top Secret preferred)

Nice to Have:

• Active Canadian government security clearance (Secret or Top Secret) - strong preference for active Top Secret clearance

• Bilingual (English/French) proficiency

• Background in or strong familiarity with Canadian defence, intelligence, or critical infrastructure sectors

• Experience with GC Cloud services (Azure, AWS GovCloud) or Protected B/C environments

• Project management certification (PMP, PgMP) or government-specific methodologies.

Security Clearance Requirements

This role requires eligibility for Canadian government security clearance.

Strong preference will be given to candidates who currently hold an active Top Secret (TS) clearance, as this will enable immediate engagement with our most sensitive defence and national security customers.

However, we will also consider exceptional candidates who:

• Currently hold Secret clearance and are eligible for TS upgrade

• Do not currently hold clearance, but are eligible and willing to undergo the Top Secret clearance process

• Have a previous government security clearance that has lapsed

Please note that obtaining Top Secret clearance can take 12-18 months. Candidates without active clearance will work on non-classified public sector accounts while the clearance process is underway.

What Makes This Role Unique

This isn't typical program management—it's a highly specialized role at the intersection of frontier AI, national security, and public sector digital transformation. You'll work on some of Canada's most sensitive and impactful AI deployments, helping government organizations harness cutting-edge technology while maintaining the highest standards of security, ethics, and accountability.

If you're passionate about responsible AI adoption, understand the unique constraints and opportunities within government, and want to have an outsized impact on how Canada leverages AI to serve its citizens, this role is for you.

If some of the above doesn’t line up perfectly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply!

We value and celebrate diversity and strive to create an inclusive work environment for all. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please submit an Accommodations Request Form, and we will work together to meet your needs.

Full-Time Employees at Cohere enjoy these Perks:

🤝 An open and inclusive culture and work environment 

🧑‍💻 Work closely with a team on the cutting edge of AI research 

🍽 Weekly lunch stipend, in-office lunches & snacks

🦷 Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget to take care of your mental health 

🐣 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months

🎨 Personal enrichment benefits towards arts and culture, fitness and well-being, quality time, and workspace improvement

🏙 Remote-flexible, offices in Toronto, New York, San Francisco, London and Paris, as well as a co-working stipend

✈️ 6 weeks of vacation (30 working days!)