Ethics and Governance AI Specialist

As an equal opportunity employer, we are looking to build a diverse workforce that reflects the diversity of our clients and the customers we serve. Learn more about working for WCB at Careers - WCB Alberta

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Ethics and Governance AI Specialist
Business Technology Solutions/Machine Learning and Analysis

Edmonton, Calgary, Alberta

Permanent, Full-Time

People are at the heart of everything we do. 

If you value service, care, excellence, and fairness, you'll fit right in. You'll play an important role in making a difference that creates a safer, healthier and stronger Alberta by putting people first. We work together every day to help minimize the impact of workplace injuries and illnesses on Alberta workers and employers.

As the independent operator and administrator of the province's Workers' Compensation Act, WCB-Alberta provides protection for over two million workers and nearly 200,000 Alberta employers. Our employees are inspired to make a positive impact on the lives of injured workers and businesses throughout the province.

How you'll make a difference: 

The primary purpose of this role is to lead the ethical oversight and governance of AI and machine learning systems used across the organization. This includes ensuring all AI initiatives from conception through deployment adhere to principles of fairness, transparency, accountability, privacy, and regulatory compliance.

The Ethics and Governance AI Specialist will steward the implementation of the organization's AI Ethics and Bias Governance Framework, conducting assessments, audits and reviews to safeguard against unintended harm or discrimination in automated decision-making.

Your responsibilities:

• Lead the implementation of responsible AI standards across projects involving high-impact or unstructured data, ensuring ethical oversight from conception through deployment of AI systems.
• Enforce Ethical AI Governance Frameworks, including fairness, transparency, accountability, privacy, and bias mitigation protocols, at all stages of AI system design and implementation.
• Conduct independent and applied research to advance ethical AI practices within the organization, leveraging relevant academic literature, regulatory standards, and industry developments to inform internal frameworks and business processes.
• Communicate AI governance insights effectively to stakeholders—translating complex ethical, legal, and technical concepts into actionable strategies and policy recommendations through clear presentations and written reports.
• Collaborate with the Team Lead to support recruitment, interviews, and onboarding of new team members focused on AI risk management, ethics, or data governance.
• Mentor and supervise interns or Data Scientists, establishing ethical project goals, monitoring progress, addressing questions related to responsible AI practices, and delivering performance feedback that supports professional growth in ethical AI oversight.
• Ethics and Governance AI Strategy: Develop and maintain frameworks, policies, and operational standards for ethical AI use, aligned with public-sector values and Canadian regulations.
• Bias and Fairness Audits: Conduct and oversee audits to detect and mitigate bias in AI systems used in case triage, claim scoring, or benefit recommendations.
• Algorithmic Impact Assessments (AIA): Lead assessments in accordance with federal guidelines (e.g., Canada's Directive on Automated Decision-Making), assigning risk levels and ensuring documentation.
• Transparency and Explainability: Ensure that AI and LLM-enabled decisions are understandable to affected individuals. Apply appropriate explainable-AI (XAI) techniques—including attention-based interpretation, gradient-based attribution, and other LLM explainability methods—and provide clear, plain-language summaries to support transparency and accountability.
• Privacy and Compliance: Ensure AI systems comply with FOIP, PIPEDA, and organizational privacy standards. Champion privacy-by-design principles and support use of anonymization or privacy-preserving techniques.
• Human Oversight & Accountability: Establish human-in-the-loop processes for critical decisions, and mechanisms for recourse or appeal where needed.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with legal, compliance, IT, and analytics teams to integrate responsible AI into projects and policies.
• Training and Advocacy: Lead internal training on AI ethics and build organization-wide awareness of ethical governance AI practices.
• Monitoring & Continuous Improvement: Track AI system performance, fairness metrics, and ethical risks over time, and update guidelines and controls accordingly.

Your experience and skills:

• Education: Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, AI Ethics, Technology Policy, or a related field.
• 7+ years in data science or machine learning roles.
• Minimum 3 years in AI governance, risk management, or fairness-related roles.
• Experience conducting bias audits, impact assessments, or privacy evaluations.
• Familiarity with explainability tools for both traditional ML models (e.g., SHAP, LIME, Fairlearn, AIF360) and LLMs, including attention-based visualization tools, gradient-based attribution (Integrated Gradients, GradientShap), and modern LLM interpretability frameworks.
• Working knowledge of Python, R, or equivalent tools for model inspection or audit.
• Understanding of privacy-enhancing technologies and Canadian data protection laws.
• Public Sector Awareness:
• Familiarity with ethical and legal frameworks for AI in regulated or government settings.
• Understanding of accessibility, human rights, and inclusion principles in service delivery.

What we offer:

We offer a competitive salary, a comprehensive benefits package, flexible work schedules and hybrid work opportunities (combination of work from physical office and primary home residence) that foster a healthy work-life balance. Take the next great step in your career and help us change lives. For more information, please see our Employee Handbook

Salary:  $98,323.00 to $122,867.00 per annum (Salary Grade 13)

Successful candidate must reside in Alberta and be able to work in person from our Edmonton downtown as required. Final candidates are required to undergo a security clearance as a condition of employment.

We are committed to providing equal opportunity to all qualified persons, without regard to race, colour, religion or national origin, gender (or gender identity or expression), age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability.  Equal opportunity is provided in employment, promotions and wages.

Closing Date:  December 5, 2025

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.