Technical Program Manager, AI Delivery for Public Sector & Defence
Job Fit Check
Base Career helps you apply smarter for this job.
Key skills for this role
About the Role
Cohere seeks a Technical Program Manager to lead AI delivery for Canadian public sector and defence accounts. You will own end-to-end program delivery, navigate government procurement and security requirements, and coordinate cross-functional teams.
Key Skills for This Role
Responsibilities
- Own end to end technical program delivery for Canadian public sector and defence customers
- Serve as primary technical program point of contact for government customers
- Translate complex government requirements into actionable engineering plans
- Navigate government procurement processes, RFP responses, and contractual obligations
- Provide clear communication across engineering, customer stakeholders, and government leadership
- Create and manage project schedules accounting for government timelines and security reviews
- Ensure on time delivery of AI solutions meeting government grade standards
Requirements
- 6+ years as customer facing Technical or Engineering Program Manager in AI/ML consulting or enterprise software delivery
- Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management
- Experience working with government, defence, or heavily regulated customers
- Proven track record managing complex, multi stakeholder technical programs with compliance requirements
- Bachelor's degree in relevant field
- Active Top Secret clearance strongly preferred
- Bilingual (English/French) proficiency
Full Job Posting
Why This Role?
- We're seeking an experienced Program Manager to join Cohere's customer facing Program Management team.
- Focus on Canadian public sector and defence accounts.
- You will be the critical bridge between our AI capabilities and government needs.
What You'll Do
- Own end to end technical program delivery for Canadian public sector and defence customers.
- Serve as primary technical program point of contact for government customers.
- Translate complex government requirements into actionable engineering plans.
- Navigate government procurement processes, RFP responses, and contractual obligations.
- Provide clear communication across engineering, customer stakeholders, and government leadership.
- Create and manage project schedules accounting for government timelines and security reviews.
- Identify and manage dependencies across government departments and internal teams.
- Ensure on time delivery of AI solutions meeting government grade standards.
Required Experience
- 6+ years as customer facing Technical or Engineering Program Manager in AI/ML consulting or enterprise software delivery.
- Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management.
- Experience working with government, defence, or heavily regulated customers.
- Proven track record managing complex, multi stakeholder technical programs.
- Bachelor's degree in 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 modern AI: LLMs, agentic systems, MCP, RAG, fine tuning, evals, and responsible AI.
- Comfortable discussing API integrations, model inference, data pipelines, and ML operations.
Government & Defence Acumen
- Deep understanding of how government organizations procure and deploy technology.
- Familiarity with Canadian government requirements: data sovereignty, privacy laws, accessibility standards, official languages, 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).
- Bilingual (English/French) proficiency.
- Background in Canadian defence, intelligence, or critical infrastructure sectors.
- Experience with GC Cloud services or Protected B/C environments.
- Project management certification (PMP, PgMP) or government specific methodologies.
Security Clearance Requirements
- This role requires eligibility for Canadian government security clearance.
- Strong preference for candidates with active Top Secret clearance.
- Candidates with Secret clearance eligible for TS upgrade will be considered.
- Candidates without clearance but willing to undergo TS process will be considered.
- Obtaining TS clearance can take 12 18 months.
Apply for this job in 1 click
Skip the repetitive application forms
Install the Base Career Chrome Extension and autofill job applications across major job boards with your profile.
Trusted by over 500,000 job seekers on Base Career
More from this employer
More jobs at Cohere
Technical Program Manager, Product Engineering
Montreal, CAN
Cohere is seeking a Technical Program Manager to be the operating backbone of a high-visibility program expanding their AI platform into a portfolio of new products. This role involves building program infrastructure, dr
Product & Technology Communications Manager
Toronto, CAN
Cohere seeks a Product & Technology Communications Manager to craft narratives that explain its AI technology to enterprise, developer, and media audiences. You will develop communications strategies, lead product launch
Forward Deployed Engineer, Agentic Platform
Ottawa, CAN
Cohere is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to design, build, and deploy agentic workflows powered by LLMs for enterprise customers. You will work closely with clients to translate business problems into AI solutions,
Forward Deployed Engineer, Agentic Platform (West Coast)
Vancouver, CAN
Cohere is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to design, build, and deploy agentic workflows powered by LLMs for enterprise customers. You will work closely with clients to translate business problems into production-gra
Head of Sales Enablement
Montreal, CAN
Cohere is seeking a Head of Sales Enablement to design and launch a sales enablement function, develop strategies, and lead a team. The role requires 10+ years of experience in sales enablement, enterprise sales methodol
Director of Product, North
Montreal, CAN
Cohere is seeking a Director of Product for North, its agentic AI platform, to own the product vision, strategy, and execution. This senior leadership role involves setting the direction for the platform, building and le
Product Manager, Integrations
Montreal, CAN
Cohere is seeking a Product Manager to own the integration ecosystem for North, its agentic AI platform. You will define strategy, prioritize integrations, and build platform capabilities to drive customer adoption and r
Product Manager, Integrations
Toronto, CAN
Cohere is seeking a Product Manager for Integrations on the North platform, responsible for owning the integrations surface end-to-end and building platform capabilities. The role involves defining the integration ecosys
Technical Program Manager, Product Engineering
Montreal, CAN
Product & Technology Communications Manager
Toronto, CAN
Forward Deployed Engineer, Agentic Platform
Ottawa, CAN
Forward Deployed Engineer, Agentic Platform (West Coast)
Vancouver, CAN
Head of Sales Enablement
Montreal, CAN
Director of Product, North
Montreal, CAN
Product Manager, Integrations
Montreal, CAN
Product Manager, Integrations
Toronto, CAN