Technical Program Manager, AI Delivery for Public Sector & Defence, Canada

Who are we?

Cohere is the leading security-first enterprise AI company. We build cutting-edge foundation AI models and end-to-end products that are designed to solve real-world business problems.

We’re training and deploying frontier models for enterprises who are building AI systems. We believe that our work is instrumental to the widespread adoption of AI and we are looking for folks that want to be part of that.

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. Cohere is a team of researchers, engineers, designers, and more, who are all passionate about their craft.

We are a global technology company co-headquartered in Toronto and San Francisco, with key offices in London, New York City, Montreal, Seoul, Germany and Paris. Join us!

Why This Role?

We're seeking an experienced Program Manager to join Cohere's customer-facing Program Management team, with a focus on Canadian public sector and defence accounts. This is a highly specialized role requiring an individual who understands technical program delivery, 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 (preferred) or Montreal 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.

Required Experience:

You May Be a Good Fit If:

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.

Technical Background:

Strong understanding of enterprise software deployment architectures (cloud, on-premises, hybrid, air-gapped)
Working knowledge of or experience with modern AI: LLMs, agentic systems, MCP, RAG, fine-tuning, evals, and responsible AI 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