Applied AI Lead - Calgary
Sia (formerly Sia Partners) · Calgary, Canada · 2mo ago
Company Description
Sia is a next-generation, global management consulting group. Founded in 1999, we were born digital. Today our strategy and management capabilities are augmented by data science, enhanced by creativity and driven by responsibility. We’re optimists for change and we help clients initiate, navigate and benefit from transformation. We believe optimism is a force multiplier, helping clients to mitigate downside and maximize opportunity. With expertise across a broad range of sectors and services, our 3,000 consultants serve clients worldwide from 48 locations in 19 countries. Our expertise delivers results. Our optimism transforms outcomes.
Strategy & Management Consulting
Sia’s Strategy & Management Consulting global footprint and expertise in more than 40 sectors and services allow us to enhance our clients' businesses worldwide. We guide their projects and initiatives in strategy, business transformation, IT & digital strategy.
Sia supports Energy & Utilities, Transportation, and Industrials in driving transformation, innovation, and competitiveness. Since 2000, we have guided energy companies (oil & gas and utilities), transportation, industrial and processes manufacturing leaders through growth strategies, business transformation, digital modernization, energy transition, regulatory challenges, application of AI technologies, and Industry 4.0 advancements. Our industry subject matter experts help our clients to adapt, innovate, and lead in an evolving landscape.
Job Description
We're looking for an Applied AI Lead to join Sia's ETI (Energy & Transportation, and Industrials) practice in either Calgary or Edmonton and help clients move AI, automation, and agent-based workflows from idea to working production systems.
This is a hands-on technical role. You will personally build, prototype, and ship AI-enabled solutions inside client environments, often bridging modern AI tooling with the operational technology (OT) and legacy IT systems common in energy, transportation, and industrial settings. You'll partner closely with our AI Transformation Managers, who own the business case and stakeholder relationships, so you can focus on what you do best: building things that actually work in production, not just in a demo.
You'll join a growing ETI technical team, working day to day alongside AI Transformation Managers and Sia's broader Data & AI colleagues on live client engagements.
What You'll Do
Build & Ship AI Solutions
Design, prototype, and build AI agents, copilots, and automation workflows directly inside client systems
Write production-quality code to move solutions from pilot to scaled deployment
Integrate AI tooling with clients' existing data platforms, applications, and, where relevant, operational technology (OT) environments
Own technical delivery of assigned workstreams end to end, including testing, iteration, and hand-off to client teams
Bridge Business and Technical Teams
Partner with AI Transformation Managers to translate business requirements into technical specifications and delivery plans
Work directly with client engineering, data, and IT/OT teams to understand system constraints and integration paths
Translate technical trade-offs and constraints back into plain language for business stakeholders
Solve for Production, Not Just Pilots
Evaluate emerging AI platforms, frameworks, and tools for practical fit within client environments, where legacy, high-reliability, or safety-critical systems are often the norm
Build monitoring, evaluation, and guardrails so solutions perform reliably once in production
Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues that arise during pilot and scale phases
Contribute to the Practice
Build reusable technical accelerators, code libraries, and reference architectures for the ETI practice
Mentor junior technical talent and contribute to technical hiring and practice development
Share learnings across engagements to shorten build time on future projects
Qualifications
Required
5-8+ years of experience building and shipping software or AI/ML solutions, including production deployment
Hands-on experience building with Generative AI: LLMs, AI agents, copilots, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), or workflow automation platforms; you should be able to speak to code you've written, not just tools you've used
Proficiency in Python or another relevant language, plus experience with common AI/ML frameworks and at least one major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
Experience integrating AI solutions with existing enterprise systems, data platforms, or industrial/OT environments
Comfort working directly with client technical teams, including engineers, data teams, and IT/OT staff
Ability to explain technical work and trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent hands-on experience
Preferred
Experience serving clients in Energy & Utilities, Transportation & Logistics, Manufacturing, or Industrial Products, especially where OT/IT integration was part of the work
Experience with AI platforms and frameworks such as OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, LangChain, LlamaIndex, AWS Bedrock, or Azure AI
Experience in a consulting or client-facing technical delivery role
Familiarity with DevOps/MLOps practices such as CI/CD, monitoring, or model evaluation
Additional Information
WHAT DO WE OFFER?
This is an opportunity to join a rapidly growing team to serve some of the most exciting and highly respected companies in the world. You will have the opportunity to provide clients with pioneer mind-set thinking, customized solutions, and you will often have the satisfaction of seeing the impact of your work on their business. We are committed to a healthy work-life integration.
BENEFITS
- Competitive salary with a clear and structured yearly salary increase and bonuses
- Healthcare that includes dental, vision, life insurance, and RRSP contributions
- Career advocacy program that supports achieving personal development goals through coaching, collaboration, and real-time feedback
- Robust learning and development platform through the Sia Institute, Working Groups and Training
- Reimbursement for continuing education and certifications
- Your team will consist of highly educated, specialized and entrepreneurial consultants within a company which is a successful player in the global consulting market
- Working in an environment which creates opportunities to share knowledge and work together on international projects with colleagues all over the world
DEIB
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are part of Sia’s DNA. Thanks to our expertise in several sectors and our international growth, our teams include a variety of experiences and cultures. We’re confident that promoting DEIB creates an environment in which everyone can reach their full potential.
Our global network, DEIB@Sia, brings together our people worldwide to facilitate local and global progress, focused on the following areas:
- Gender equality (global Gender Equality Index score of 91/100 for FY19-20)
- LGBTQ+
- Race & Ethnicity
- Working Parents
- Disabilities
To learn more about Sia, please visit:
https://www.sia-partners.com/en/join-us
Sia is an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment, including hiring, promotion, remuneration, or discipline, are based solely on performance, competence, conduct, or business needs.
Sia is an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment, including hiring, promotion, remuneration, or discipline, are based solely on performance, competence, conduct, or business needs.