Senior Manager, Data Science and AI

Address:

Please note this is an Individual Contributor role (not a people manager) requiring solid hands on skills

The Team

We enable and accelerate our partners on their data science and AI journeys across the enterprise, helping teams across BMO unlock value at scale. We support one another in times of need and take pride in our work. We are data practitioners, thought leaders, multipliers, coders, and more. Above all, we are a global team of diverse individuals who enjoy working together to create smart solutions that make an impact across the enterprise.

We tackle a wide range of problems for diverse groups using state-of-the-art techniques in Computer Vision, NLP, Data Science/AI, and Generative AI, always guided by the relevance and needs of the business.

As an enterprise AI team, you will have continuous opportunities to learn and solve meaningful problems across domains such as Cyber Security, Capital Markets, Technology & Operations ,Personal and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, Wealth Management, Financial Crime, Enterprise Risk, Legal/Audit Compliance, AIOps, HR Analytics, ESG Investing/Analysis, and Climate Analytics. You will also help build enterprise-grade scalable AI solutions.

Our ambition is bold. It centers on deploying our capital and resources to their highest and most profitable use through a “digital first” operating model, powered by data-driven decisions.

The Impact

As a Senior Manager, Data Science & AI, you will lead strategic initiatives, build data-driven solutions with measurable impact, define standards, and foster knowledge sharing and collaboration to help realize our vision.

Every team member contributes leadership, innovation, timely delivery, and the ability to articulate business value. This is a unique opportunity to help define and enable BMO’s Data Science and AI vision.

You will lead and develop solutions and capabilities that support a digitally enabled, future-ready bank that drives efficiency, profitability, and loyalty, all powered by a winning culture.

What’s In It For You

In this role, you will advance BMO’s Digital First strategy by providing leadership across business, data science, AI, and technology.

You will apply advanced analytics and AI techniques (e.g., machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence) to deliver better predictions and intelligent automation. This enables smarter decisions, improved customer experiences, and increased productivity. You will also drive innovation through the development of reusable Data & AI products and the establishment of best practices.

You will have the opportunity to shape BMO’s Generative AI strategy by building reusable components, prompt engineering frameworks, and scalable pipelines that power intelligent automation and personalized experiences across the bank.

You will be supported by a leadership team that is invested in your career and committed to finding the right opportunities for your growth.

What We’re Looking For

• Strong research mindset, coding ability, integration skills, execution focus, and forward thinking

• Relentless curiosity, ownership, and a willingness to challenge the status quo

• Deep knowledge of the data science, AI, and Generative AI landscape, with hands-on experience designing, fine-tuning, and deploying large language models (LLMs) and multimodal models in production environments

• Ability to shape advanced conceptual thinking to solve complex, novel problems

• A collaborative partner who fosters strong stakeholder engagement

Responsibilities

• Influence and negotiate to achieve business objectives

• Provide strategic input into business decisions as a trusted advisor

• Lead discovery sessions with stakeholders to identify business requirements and expected outcomes

• Develop business cases by identifying needs, analyzing options, and assessing ROI

• Recommend data collection, integration, and retention strategies aligned with business needs and best practices

• Structure loosely defined, complex problems and determine appropriate experimentation and statistical techniques

• Identify or create algorithms to uncover patterns

• Drive analytics innovation by exploring new ideas and selecting the right techniques for business problems

• Use scripting and programming skills to prepare datasets from various sources (structured, semi-structured, unstructured)

• Develop analytical solutions using statistical and machine learning techniques (e.g., A/B testing, modeling, ML, DL, AI)

• Lead the development and integration of Generative AI solutions (e.g., LLMs, diffusion models) into enterprise workflows, ensuring alignment with business goals and responsible AI practices

• Additional responsibilities may be assigned based on your career growth ambitions

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, Statistics, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent experience

• Typically 4+ years of relevant experience and/or certification

• Deep experience with machine learning algorithms development

• Strong coding skills in Python

• Proven experience with Generative AI, including prompt engineering, fine-tuning foundation models (e.g., GPT, LLaMA, Claude), and integrating LLMs into production systems using frameworks like LangChain, RAG pipelines, or vector databases

• Experience deploying models in production using MLOps frameworks

• Familiarity with distributed computing (e.g., Hive, Hadoop, Spark) and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS SageMaker, AzureML, Azure AI Foundry, Azure Open AI etc.)

• Proficiency in programming languages (e.g., SQL, Python) and ML/DL libraries (e.g., XGBoost, H2O, SparkML, Hugging Face)

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines for ML/AI systems, including automated testing, model versioning, and continuous deployment

• Strong collaboration and cross-functional teamwork skills

• Comfort with ambiguity

• Expertise in data-driven decision-making

Note: This role can be performed fully remotely from anywhere in Canada, provided the candidate is available during core Eastern Standard Time (EST) working hours.

The above represents BMO Financial Group’s pay range and type.

Salaries will vary based on factors such as location, skills, experience, education, and qualifications for the role, and may include a commission structure. Salaries for part-time roles will be pro-rated based on number of hours regularly worked. For commission roles, the salary listed above represents BMO Financial Group’s expected target for the first year in this position.

BMO Financial Group’s total compensation package will vary based on the pay type of the position and may include performance-based incentives, discretionary bonuses, as well as other perks and rewards. BMO also offers health insurance, tuition reimbursement, accident and life insurance, and retirement savings plans. To view more details of our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.bmo.com/global/en/Total-Rewards

About Us

At BMO we are driven by a shared Purpose: Boldly Grow the Good in business and life. It calls on us to create lasting, positive change for our customers, our communities and our people. By working together, innovating and pushing boundaries, we transform lives and businesses, and power economic growth around the world.

As a member of the BMO team you are valued, respected and heard, and you have more ways to grow and make an impact. We strive to help you make an impact from day one – for yourself and our customers. We’ll support you with the tools and resources you need to reach new milestones, as you help our customers reach theirs. From in-depth training and coaching, to manager support and network-building opportunities, we’ll help you gain valuable experience, and broaden your skillset.

To find out more visit us at https://jobs.bmo.com/ca/en.

BMO is committed to an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace. By learning from each other’s differences, we gain strength through our people and our perspectives. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. To request accommodation, please contact your recruiter.

Note to Recruiters: BMO does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. Any unsolicited resumes sent to BMO, directly or indirectly, will be considered BMO property. BMO will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. A recruiting agency must first have a valid, written and fully executed agency agreement contract for service to submit resumes.