Forward Deployed Engineer, Sovereign AI

Cohere · Ottawa · Engineering

Posted 2026-07-16

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ABOUT NORTH:

North https://cohere.com/north is Cohere's cutting-edge AI workspace platform, designed to revolutionize the way enterprises utilize AI. It offers a secure and customizable environment, allowing companies to deploy AI while maintaining control over sensitive data. North integrates seamlessly with existing workflows, providing a trusted platform that connects AI agents with workplace tools and applications.

WHY THIS ROLE?

Cohere’s team partners with Canadian public sector organisations to unlock transformative value through secure, ethical deployment of Generative AI (GenAI) solutions. We work collaboratively to address complex societal challenges while maintaining the highest standards of data security and compliance. You will work directly with public sector customers to quickly understand their greatest problems and design and implement solutions using Cohere's stack.

This role offers a unique opportunity to shape how enterprises harness the power of AI in real-world applications. As a bridge between our core North product and our clients’ engineering teams, you’ll be at the forefront of solving complex problems and securely integrating AI into critical sectors.

We are seeking engineers with diverse skill sets, including backend, infrastructure, agent development, and deployments, who deeply care about customers and want to work at the cutting edge of Agentic AI.

Location: Ottawa (proximity to government customers), 20-40% travel anticipated.

Security Clearance: Eligibility for Active Top Secret clearance is needed for this position, candidates eligible and willing to obtain clearance will also be considered.

More information about Canadian Security Clearance can be found here https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/industrial-security/security-requirements-contracting/personnel-security-screening/processes/security-clearance-request.html.

In this role, you will:

- Build and ship features for North, our AI workspace platform

- Develop autonomous agents that talk to sensitive enterprise data

- Experiment at a high velocity and with a high level of quality to engage our customers and ultimately deliver solutions that exceed their expectations

- Work across the entire product lifecycle from conceptualization through production

- Lead end-to-end deployment of North in private cloud and on-premises environments, including planning, configuration, testing, and rollout

You may be a good fit if:

- You have experience with and enjoy working directly with customers

- You have shipped (lots of) Python in production

- You have built and deployed highly performant client-side or server-side RAG/agentic applications

- You have strong coding abilities and are comfortable working across the stack. You’re able to read and understand, and even fix issues outside of the main code base

- You excel in fast-paced environments and can execute while priorities and objectives are a moving target

FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES AT COHERE ENJOY THESE PERKS:

- A weekly lunch stipend of $75/£75 or equivalent in your local currency for lunch.

- Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget for mental health.

- RRSP matching, 401K, Pension Scheme.

- 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months, for either parent.

- Annual enrichment benefits:

Arts & culture, fitness/wellness, quality time, and a workspace improvement credit.

Education & learning stipend for conferences, courses, and coaching.

- 6 weeks of paid vacation (30 working days!)

- Budget for traveling to other offices if you are remote, plus an annual company offsite.

HOW AND WHERE WE WORK:

- Cohere is remote-friendly. We have offices in Toronto, San Francisco, New York City, London, Paris, Montreal, and more coming soon.

- For those in the office: a daily lunch program, plenty of snacks, and regular community and social events.

- For those not near an office: a co-working benefit so you can work alongside others in your city.

- Everyone receives a $500 home office stipend to set up your workspace properly.

If any of the above doesn’t line up exactly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply.

We strive to create an inclusive work environment for all; we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please submit an Accommodations Request Form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12a6IrLdF3kI2nonKSr4tiFuz18rLQbaeYV-JM9L4o9Q/edit, and we will work together to meet your needs.

We may use AI-enabled tools to screen and assess applicants against the criteria for this position. This helps our recruiters identify potentially qualified candidates, but it doesn't limit the applications our recruiters may review or consider.

Beware of Scams: Cohere will never ask for payment or third-party services (e.g., CV writing) as part of our hiring process. All legitimate roles are listed on the Cohere careers page and LinkedIn only, with all communications from Cohere employees coming from an @cohere.com or @cw.cohere email alias. If jobs are viewed on other sites then please verify these through our official careers https://cohere.com/careers page.

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