Director, AI Forward Deployed Researcher

WHO WE ARE Welcome to TELUS Digital https://www.telusdigital.com/ - where innovation drives impact at a global scale. As an award-winning digital product consultancy and the digital division of TELUS https://www.telus.com/en/, one of Canada’s largest telecommunications providers, we design and deliver transformative customer experiences through cutting-edge technology, agile thinking, and a people-first culture. With a global team across North America, South America, Central America, Europe, and APAC, we offer end-to-end expertise across eight core service areas: Digital Product Consulting, Digital Marketing Services, Data & AI, Strategy Consulting, Enterprise Technology, Enterprise Applications, Cloud Engineering, and QA & Test Engineering. From mobile apps and websites to voice UI, chatbots, AI, customer service, and in-store solutions, TELUS Digital enables seamless, trusted, and digitally powered experiences that meet customers wherever they are. All backed by the secure infrastructure and scale of our multi-billion-dollar parent company. LOCATION AND FLEXIBILITY This role can operate remotely within the US (we are prioritizing candidates based on the US West Coast) OR be based out of one of our major US office locations - Charlottesville, VA, Durham, NC, Columbus, OH, or Boston, MA. THE OPPORTUNITY The Director, Forward Deployed Researcher is a strategic leader, advanced AI research specialist, and manager who directly oversees and engages in the highest-value client implementations. This role is responsible for driving frontier AI research into production, setting the strategic technical direction for enterprise clients, and managing a team of Forward Deployed Researchers and Engineers. This role operates at the critical intersection of cutting-edge research, software engineering, executive-level strategic consulting, and team management As a Forward Deployed Researcher, Director, you will embed directly within Fortune 500 and highly regulated client organizations to advance frontier AI implementations, shape AI strategy, deliver bespoke production systems, and build world-class technical teams. Unlike traditional research leaders who remain in labs or remote environments, you will be embedded within client teams, walking the halls of banks, healthcare organizations, and tech companies to understand their unique challenges, conduct applied research, and lead the delivery of transformative AI solutions grounded in both frontier techniques and practical enterprise constraints. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES STRATEGIC AI RESEARCH & EXECUTIVE CONSULTING - Act as a trusted technical and research advisor to client executive leadership (CTOs, Heads of AI, VPs of Engineering, Board Members) on overall AI strategy, roadmap, and competitive positioning - Translate frontier AI research and complex technical concepts into actionable business strategies and implementation plans that justify premium engagement and drive measurable ROI - Shape client understanding of what constitutes "production-ready," "scalable," and "competitive" AI systems within regulated industries - Conduct market and technical landscape analysis to inform client AI strategy and identify emerging opportunities - Provide thought leadership on AI best practices, emerging technologies, research trends, and industry benchmarks - Identify opportunities for AI adoption, value creation, and competitive advantage within client organizations - Mentor client AI leadership teams on research methodologies, experimentation, and validation practices TEAM LEADERSHIP & CAPABILITY BUILDING - Manage, mentor, and scale a team of Forward Deployed Researchers and Engineers embedded at high-value client organizations - Oversee the development and delivery of bespoke, research-backed production systems across multiple, concurrent client engagements - Establish best practices, technical frameworks, methodologies, and accelerators for the team that benefit multiple clients and scale across TELUS Digital - Recruit, develop, and retain top-tier Forward Deployed talent; create career development pathways and technical competency frameworks - Serve as an internal thought leader, sharing research insights, lessons learned, and best practices across the Forward Deployed Engineer community - Mentor junior Forward Deployed Engineers and Solutions Engineers on technical, consulting, and leadership skills - Foster a culture of innovation, client-centricity, continuous improvement, and technical excellence within the team - Establish metrics, KPIs, and performance management systems for team success and client impact CLIENT-EMBEDDED RESEARCH & PRODUCTION DELIVERY - Lead high-impact, applied AI research initiatives to address the client’s most complex and ambiguous challenges during 3-6 month+ onsite engagements - Design and implement advanced GenAI/LLM solutions (e.g., advanced RAG, multi-agent systems, custom fine-tuning, synthetic data generation, RLHF) tailored to clients’ unique requirements and constraints - Build production-ready AI systems addressing data quality, evaluation, governance, and deployment challenges in regulated environments - Conduct frontier AI experiments (novel architectures, training methodologies, evaluation frameworks) with direct applicability to client use cases - Ensure all production systems meet stringent security, compliance, performance, and scalability requirements for Fortune 500 and highly regulated clients - Integrate TELUS Digital capabilities with client infrastructure, data platforms, and workflows - Architect systems that the client can operate and evolve long-term with reduced dependency on external support - Own end-to-end delivery from discovery, research, and validation through production deployment and optimization CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION & PRODUCT INFLUENCE - Partner with TELUS Digital Product, Engineering, and Research teams to leverage platform capabilities and inform product roadmap based on client research in