The Lead Data AI Architect is responsible for translating business strategy into secure, scalable data and AI architectures.

This role assesses business requirements, defines and approves technical specifications and architecture decisions, and guides delivery teams in building modern data platforms, analytics solutions, and AI/ML/GenAI products.

The Lead Data AI Architect is a senior domain expert who sets standards, patterns, and governance for data and AI across the organization.
**Position Responsibilities:**
Lead end-to-end architecture for modern data and AI solutions (enterprise data lake, data warehouse, streaming, analytics, ML, and GenAI) that support multiple business functions.

Define and evangelize reference architectures and reusable patterns for data, ML, and GenAI (including MLOps/LLMOps/AIOps), and guide delivery teams on implementation.

Stay current with emerging technologies and practices across data engineering, machine learning, and Generative AI (e.g., RAG, vector search, model fine-tuning, and orchestration).

Evaluate and integrate Azure-native and partner technologies that enhance data processing, storage, analytics, and AI model lifecycle management (CI/CD, testing, monitoring, and cost controls).

Ensure interoperability, data consistency, and responsible AI through strong API/data standards, metadata management, security-by-design, privacy, and model governance.

Conduct discovery to understand current-state data and AI landscapes, including platforms, pipelines, models, and key use cases.

Ensure solution architectures align with business strategy, enterprise technology standards, and data/responsible AI governance requirements.

Document and formalize an approved inventory of data and AI capabilities, tools, and controls, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives.

Expand and govern a catalogue of reusable patterns for data, ML, and GenAI to promote consistency, efficiency, and adherence to best practices.

Create and continuously refine target data and AI reference architectures utilizing Azure services to achieve optimal performance, scalability, security, and cost efficiency.

Identify and recommend opportunities to improve platform reliability, observability, data quality, model performance, and cost optimization.

Partner with engineering, product, data science, security, and risk teams to enable adoption of data/AI patterns, and provide architecture guidance through delivery.

Define and maintain architecture documentation standards, ensuring accessibility, version control, and compliance.

Maintain a centralized repository for data and AI architecture artifacts, including standards, reusable patterns, and governance decisions.
**Required Qualifications:**
10+ years of experience in data/analytics architecture, with 3+ years designing AI/ML solutions in production (GenAI experience strongly preferred).

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Data/AI, or a related field.





Master's degree preferred.

Proven experience architecting on Azure across data and AI services (e.g., Data Lake/Databricks/Synapse/Fabric as applicable; Azure AI services), ideally within financial services and/or insurance.

Strong understanding of data governance, data modeling, integration, metadata management, and privacy/security controls; able to extend these practices to AI/GenAI governance.

Strong architecture leadership skills: drive decisions, manage trade-offs, and influence across teams while maintaining delivery focus.

Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate complex data/AI concepts for technical and non-technical audiences.

Experience with modern engineering practices (IaC, CI/CD), and with MLOps/LLMOps concepts such as model/prompt versioning, evaluation, monitoring, and deployment patterns.

Relevant certifications in Azure (Architecture/Data/AI) are a plus.
**Preferred Qualifications:**
Experience with Generative AI solution patterns (e.g., RAG, vector databases/search, prompt orchestration) and practical evaluation/guardrails.

Strong understanding of relational and dimensional modeling, plus experience with lakehouse patterns and data product/domain-oriented design.

Knowledge of data warehousing, streaming, and governance tooling (catalog/lineage), and familiarity with model risk management or responsible AI practices.
**When you join our team:**
We'll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.

We'll recognize and support you in a flexible workplace where well-being and inclusion are more than just words.

As part of our global team, we'll support you in shaping the future you want to see.
#LI-Hybrid
The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.
**マニュライフとジョン・ハンコックについて**
マニュライフ・ファイナンシャル・コーポレーションは、「あなたの未来に、わかりやすさを」を提供する、国際的な大手金融サービスプロバイダーです。当社について詳しくは、
https://www.manulife.co.jp/ lをご覧ください。
**マニュライフは機会均等を是とする雇用主です**




マニュライフ/ジョン・ハンコックでは、多様性を受け入れます。私たちは、サービス提供先であるお客さまと同様に、多様な人材を引きつけ、育成し、定着させ、文化や個人の力を受け入れる包括的な職場環境を促進するよう努めています。当社は公正な採用、定着、昇進、報酬に努めています。当社のすべての慣行およびプログラムは、人種、祖先、出身地、肌の色、民族的出自、市民権、宗教または宗教的信念、信条、性別（妊娠および妊娠関連の状態を含む）、性的指向、遺伝的特徴、退役軍人としての地位、性自認、性に関する表明、年齢、婚姻状況、家族状況、障害、または適用法で保護されるその他の要因に対する一切の差別を行うことなく管理されます。
雇用への平等なアクセスを提供するために、障壁を取り除くことが当社の優先事項です。人事担当者は、応募者が応募プロセス中に合理的配慮を要求する場合に協力します。配慮要求のプロセス中に共有されるすべての情報は、適用される法律およびマニュライフ/ジョン・ハンコックのポリシーに準拠した方法で保存および使用されます。申請プロセスにおいて合理的配慮を要求するには、 [email protected] までご連絡をお願いします。
**Referenced Salary Location**
Toronto, Ontario
**Working Arrangement**
ハイブリッド勤務
**Salary range is expected to be between**
$113,260.00 CAD - $210,340.00 CAD
Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance.

The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training.

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact
[email protected]
for the salary range for your location.

Manulife offers eligible employees a wide array of customizable benefits, including health, dental, mental health, vision, short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D; insurance coverage, adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits, and employee/family assistance plans.

We also offer eligible employees various retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources.

Our generous paid time off program in Canada includes holidays, vacation, personal, and sick days, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence.

If you are applying for this role in the U.S., please contact
[email protected]
for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.

We use data and analytics technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and automated processing tools, to analyze and process the information you provide to us or third parties in the application process.

For more information, please refer to our personal information collection statement (https://careers.manulife.com/global/en/talentacquisitionprivacystatement) .

📌 Lead Data AI Architect (Toronto)
🏢 Manulife
📍 Toronto