Head of AI

Position Title: Head of AI
Position Type: Regular - Full-Time
Position Location: Toronto HQ
Grade: Grade 07
Requisition ID: 32923
Our Head of AI will lead the strategy, creation and execution of AI Lab, identify areas of AI infusion to support McCain's existing digital transformation priorities.
This leader will design, develop, and implement AI-driven initiatives to enhance operations, drive growth, enhance customer experience, and enhance business decision-making across McCain. This role focuses on leveraging AI including machine learning, Gen AI, and emerging technologies to drive innovation to transform our business.
Key Responsibilities:
AI Strategy & Vision

• Develop and execute a comprehensive AI strategy aligned with the company's business goals.

• Identify emerging AI trends and assess their potential impact on McCain's operations.

• Collaborate with executives to reimagine value chain, process, business capabilities, leveraging Agentic AI and assessing their potential applications within our existing digital transformation priorities.

• Identify opportunities to integrate AI into existing value chain to enhance functionality, user experience, and market competitiveness.

• Build productivity tools and adoption of AI to enhance productivity of every McCainer and empower them to do more.

Leadership & Team Management

• Build and lead a high-performing AI Product Management team, collaborating with product owners, platform engineers, data engineers, data scientists, functional and domain experts.

• Foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation within the team.

• Mentor and develop junior AI product team members, ensuring technical excellence and professional growth.

• AI Evangelism: be the advocate and evangelist on what is possible with AI across McCain enterprise wide.

• Partner with Engineering Directors to run AI based hackathons and other initiatives to drive AI first culture in Digital Technology.

Collaboration & Cross-Functional Support

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including global and regional business functions, engineering, data science, and other technology functions to ensure seamless integration of AI solutions into new and existing systems.

• Engage with external partners, vendors, and academic institutions for cutting-edge AI research and development.

AI Product Development

• Lead the end-to-end AI product development lifecycle, from ideation to launch, ensuring timely delivery and positive ROI.

• Design and deploy AI models and agents to help the organization improve revenue efficiency, new market share across value chains and domains of Agriculture, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Commercial, and corporate functions.

• Create positive digital workforce experience through advanced analytics, predictive modeling, and AI agent recommendation systems.

• Conduct persona research and gather user feedback to identify unmet needs and areas for product and process enhancements, using AI toolkits.

AI Platform and Engineering

• Own the AI Architectural and platform decisions that allows McCain data and AI engineers to scale AI agent development.

• Work with Digital Technology Engineering & Ops Leaders to collaboratively define AI tools for Software Engineering, DevSecOps and IT Operations including AI Ops.

• Define strategy of Buy vs Build of AI Agents especially for packaged softwares like SAP, SFDC which are infusing AI agents into their platforms.

AI Governance

• Partner with Legal, Privacy and CISO to ensure all AI initiatives comply with data privacy regulations and ethical standards.

• Establish governance frameworks for AI systems and machine learning models to ensure ethical and responsible use.

• Implement monitoring and validation mechanisms for AI models to maintain accuracy and fairness.

• Collaborate with AI and data science teams to integrate governance practices into the AI lifecycle, from development to deployment.

• Ensure transparency and accountability in AI algorithms and decision-making processes.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor or master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, AI, or a related field.

• Extensive experience in product management, with a strong focus on AI and machine learning technologies ideally in CPG, Retail or Connected devices platform companies

• 10+ years of experience in product development in AI and Data products, with 5+ years in a people leadership capacity.

• Proven track record deploying AI solutions within the CPG / retail industry or similar sectors, from concept to market.

• Deep understanding of B2B innovation and R&D, marketing, and consumer behavior / engagement.

• Strong understanding of AI/ML algorithms, frameworks, and tools.

Soft Skills:

• Strategic thinker with strong problem-solving capabilities.

• Excellent communication skills for conveying complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

• Proven leadership and team-building abilities.

• Experience working in a fast-paced, agile environment.

• Disruptive and growth mindset, yet collaborative with humility and pragmatism.

• Passion for end user experience and empathy. Ability to research and understand unarticulated business pain points and needs

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Define and track KPIs to measure the success and impact of AI initiatives on product performance.

• Successful deployment and adoption of new data products.

• Continuously optimize product features and performance based on data-driven insights and user feedback.

Compensation Package : $165,000.00 - $220,000.00 CAD annually + bonus eligibility + Long Term Incentive eligibility
The above reflects the target compensation range for the position at the time of posting. Hiring compensation will be determined based on experience, skill set, education/training, and other organizational needs.
Benefits : At McCain, we're on a mission to create a winning culture that puts employee safety and wellbeing at the heart of what we do, every day. We understand and appreciate that each person's needs are unique and ensure our benefits & wellbeing programs reflect that. Employees are eligible for the following benefits: health coverage (medical, dental, vision, prescription drug), retirement savings benefits, and leave support including medical, family and bereavement. Wellbeing programs include vacation and holidays, company-supported volunteering time, and mental health resources. Coverages are aligned to country, provincial and state governing plans and can vary by work level, location and nature of the role. Additional benefit details available during the application process.
Your well-being matters to us, and we're here to provide you with the necessary resources to support you in being your best self at work - and at home.
McCain Foods is an equal opportunity employer. We see value in ensuring we have a diverse, antiracist, inclusive, merit-based, and equitable workplace. As a global family-owned company we are proud to reflect the diverse communities around the world in which we live and work. We recognize that diversity drives our creativity, resilience, and success and makes our business stronger.
McCain is an accessible employer. If you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process (including alternate formats of materials or accessible meeting rooms), please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.
Your privacy is important to us. By submitting personal data or information to us, you agree this will be handled in accordance with the Global Employee Privacy Policy
Job Family: Information Technology
Division: Global Digital Technology
Department: Global Data and Analytics
Location(s): CA - Canada : Ontario : Toronto
Company: McCain Foods (Canada)