Sr. Program Manager, AI Research Programs

What's the opportunity?

We’re looking for an enthusiastic candidate to fill our Sr. Program Manager, AI Research Programs role. As a Senior Program Manager you will play a critical role in leading one or more strategic partnerships across the portfolio. This is a high-impact role at the intersection of industry and academia, where you will enable world-class research collaborations, drive program excellence, and help scale our flagship innovation programs. As a member of the team, you will be joining a group that believes in being bold & curious, so we are looking for someone who is passionate about the AI ecosystem, eager to make an impact, and thinks outside the box!

Your responsibilities include:

• Lead end-to-end program management for one or more research partnerships;
• Serve as the primary point of contact between RBC Borealis, funding agency, and academic partners;
• Develop and manage full lifecycle of programs, including planning, timelines, budgets, and reporting frameworks;
• Ensure successful execution of program goals by tracking milestones, risks, and outcomes;
• Partner with internal leaders & researchers to align program requirements with organizational priorities and resources;
• Support onboarding and regular engagement of external partners and/or funding agency within assigned partnership;
• Drive continuous improvement of program operations, including processes, tools, and governance models;
• Prepare executive-level updates, insights, and impact reporting for senior leadership.

You're our ideal candidate if you have:

• Master’s or PhD in a scientific field, with experience working in research environment;
• 3-4 years’ experience in program or project management, ideally in complex, multi-stakeholder environments;
• Experience working with or within academia (e.g., university research programs, grants, labs, or academic partnerships);
• Strong understanding of research program lifecycles, particularly in AI, technology, or related fields;
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent programs with competing priorities;
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with experience bridging industry and academic environments;
• Strong organizational, communication, and problem-solving capabilities;
• Familiarity with the Canadian & international AI research ecosystem is preferred.

What's in it for you?

• Be part of a dynamic & flexible working environment;
• Become part of a team that thinks progressively and works collaboratively. We care about seeing each other reach full potential;
• Leaders who support your development through coaching and managing opportunities;
• Ability to make a difference and lasting impact from a local-to-global scale.

About RBC Borealis

RBC Borealis is the driving force behind Royal Bank of Canada’s AI and data innovation. As part of Canada’s largest financial institution, we bring together a team of architects, engineers, scientists, and product experts on a mission to revolutionize finance through world-class research, solutions, and a resilient data platform. With locations across Toronto, Waterloo, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver, we’re at the forefront of AI research and platform development. With a focus on cutting-edge research in areas like time series forecasting, causal machine learning, and responsible AI, we are seamlessly integrating AI research and data engineering, to solve critical challenges in the financial industry. We are building intelligent, and scalable, data-driven solutions that will help communities thrive and drive innovation for our customers across the bank.

Inclusion and Equal Opportunity Employment

RBC is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veterans’ status, Aboriginal/Native American status or any other legally-protected factors. Disability-related accommodations during the application process are available upon request.

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