Senior Engineer, Applied AI

General Information: Job Title: Senior Engineer, Applied AI

Location: Toronto, ON (Onsite/Hybrid)

Job Type: Full-Time

Hiring Timeline: Immediate

Reporting Line: Head of R&D

Existing Vacancy: Yes

Salary Range: 135K - 170K CAD per year (negotiable)

About Fulfillment IQ (FIQ): Fulfillment IQ is a supply chain engineering and transformation company that helps brands, retailers, and 3PLs design, build, and scale high-performance logistics operations.

We work at the intersection of strategy, operations, and technology where we solve complex, real-world problems across warehouse design, automation, order management, transportation, and end-to-end supply chain execution.

Our teams combine deep domain expertise with strong technical capability, delivering outcomes through consulting, systems implementation, and proprietary platforms that accelerate time-to-value and reduce delivery risk.

If you enjoy working in complex environments, partnering closely with clients, and seeing your work make a tangible impact on how global commerce moves, this is the place where your skills and judgment truly come to life.

Role Overview: This is a high-impact, senior engineering role, where engineers are expected to operate with significant ownership and minimal oversight. The role focuses on building production-ready AI systems in an environment where speed, correctness, and architectural decisions have long-term implications.

Ideal Candidate's Profile: A seasoned AI engineer (ninja-level) with hands-on experience in developing and deploying real LLM systems, who excels in environments with significant ownership responsibilities and values impactful work more than structured, low-risk settings.

Individuals driven by ownership, autonomy, and the opportunity to build from the ground up (rather than being a small cog in a large organization) will thrive here.

Responsibilities & Expectations: Key Responsibilities:

Design and build production-grade LLM systems (RAG, agents, APIs)

Architect systems that minimize rework in fast-evolving environments

Own end-to-end delivery of critical AI features

Define and implement evaluation frameworks

Optimize systems for cost, latency, and reliability

Collaborate across teams where needed

Provide technical guidance where applicable (especially for less experienced engineers on adjacent teams)

Must-Haves (non-negotiables):

Strong backend/software engineering foundation (Python, APIs, system design)

Proven experience shipping LLM-powered features to production (non-negotiable)

Deep expertise in:

RAG systems (advanced retrieval + evaluation)

LLM evaluation methodologies (golden sets, regression testing)

Prompt engineering at API level

Agent architectures (ReAct, tool calling, planning loops)

Strong understanding of trade-offs (cost, latency, scalability)

Ability to work independently in ambiguous, fast-moving environments

Nice-to-Have:

Fine-tuning experience (LoRA, SFT, DPO)

Inference stack experience (vLLM, TGI, llama.cpp)

Observability tooling (Langfuse, LangSmith)

Prior experience in early-stage or high-ownership teams

Public work (GitHub, blogs, talks) demonstrating depth

Education:

Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science or a related discipline

Technical Skills:

Advanced Python and backend engineering

LLM systems (RAG, agents, prompting, evaluation)

API design and system architecture

Docker, Git, CI/CD

Understanding of inference systems and scaling

Soft Skills:

High ownership and accountability

Ability to operate in ambiguity ("build while flying")

Strong decision-making and trade-off analysis

Clear communication with cross-functional teams

What Success Looks Like in the First 90 Days: By the end of Month 1:

Deeply understand Crosstalk/Zync architecture and ongoing projects

Contribute meaningfully to ongoing systems (not just onboarding tasks)

Identify gaps or risks in current implementations

By the end of Month 2:

Own and deliver a critical feature or system component end-to-end

Improve an existing system (performance, evals, or architecture) By the end of Month 3:

Act as a trusted senior engineer on the team

Drive architectural decisions or improvements

Deliver measurable impact (system reliability, quality, or efficiency)

Operate with minimal oversight in high-stakes projects

Why You'll Love Working Here: At Fulfillment IQ, we don't just build supply chain solutions. We build careers, friendships, and unforgettable experiences.

We believe in giving our senior technical leaders real ownership, real influence,