Manager of Research Engineering in Toronto

Are you excited about the future of AI technology? Are you passionate about delivering value and maximizing the impact of R&D investment? Thomson Reuters Labs is seeking a hands‑on engineering manager to guide the delivery of cutting‑edge AI solutions from concept to production. At Thomson Reuters Labs, we experiment, we build, we deliver. We support the organization and our customers through applied research in information retrieval and natural language processing. We work closely with product and domain experts to identify compelling solutions at the intersection of user need and technical feasibility. Our team is responsible for AI innovation across Thomson Reuters’ Legal solutions including Westlaw and CoCounsel.

As Manager of Research Engineering, you are both a technical leader and a people manager. You will help shape the technical direction for production services, build deep partnerships across the enterprise, and take ownership of recruiting, career growth, and mentorship for Labs engineers. You will provide technical guidance on complex, high‑impact projects in close collaboration with the research arm of Labs, and champion the adoption of industry best practices around well‑managed software delivery.

About the Role

• Foster a culture of innovation, growth, and continuous improvement
• Own the delivery of business‑critical features for high‑value, customer‑facing applications
• Promote efficient collaboration between scientists and engineers on a project basis
• Operate with urgency and manage change at a rapid pace
• Mentor and develop team members, helping build a pipeline of future leaders and prepare the team for organizational scaling.
• Drive the technical roadmap of the team, in partnership with product, science, and the technical lead, prioritizing initiatives that enhance product value while managing technical debt effectively
• Contribute to the long‑term technology strategy aligned with organizational goals, preparing the team for scalable growth

Other responsibilities include:

• Leadership:
• Help champion a bold vision for your customers and products
• Help align cross‑functional stakeholders to strategy, vision, and roadmap
• Work through influence toward results across cross‑functional teams
• Promote the adoption of advanced engineering practices within your team to foster innovation and efficiency, and contribute to broader adoption across research and product development teams
• People Management:
• Demonstrate strong people leadership, helping build a pipeline of future leaders
• Ensure the team delivers on expectations, communicating clear goals that support impactful work against team OKRs
• Mentor, coach, and develop team members, helping prepare the team for organizational scaling
• Set goals around talent development, diversity and inclusion, and demonstrate progress
• Sphere of Influence:
• Lead a cross‑functional project team spanning research and engineering
• Maintain a balanced strategic and tactical focus
• Operate as an excellent cross‑functional influencer, bridging the gap between applied science and production engineering

About You

You're a fit for the role of Manager of Research Engineering if your background includes:

• Required:
• A bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, or the equivalent. Master’s or PhD in a relevant specialization preferred.
• Minimum of 7 years’ software development experience, with demonstrated ability to successfully manage software development teams in an agile environment
• 1+ years in a people leadership and product development leadership role
• Experience spearheading technical development in a cross‑functional setting, with responsibility for ML applications; close partnership with Applied Scientists, R&D groups, or similar.
• A portfolio showcasing significant contributions to technology innovation.
• Excellent project management, organization, and communication skills.
• Experience contributing to and overseeing large‑scale rollouts and infrastructure initiatives.
• Expertise in several of the following areas: robust Python development, MLOps, containerization, cloud infrastructure (AWS and Azure).
• Preferred:
• Experience in strategic planning, organizational development, and team scaling
• Experience in one or more of the following areas: advanced search and recommendation technology, orchestration of ML pipelines for real‑time inference, microservices architecture, model monitoring and governance
• Experience performing software development with any of the following frontend technologies including React / Typescript / Tailwind.

What’s in it For You?

• Hybrid Work Model: We’ve adopted a flexible hybrid working environment (2‑3 days a week in the office depending on the role) for our office‑based roles while delivering a seamless experience that is digitally and physically connected.
• Flexibility & Work‑Life Balance: Flex My Way is a set of supportive workplace policies designed to help manage personal and professional responsibilities, whether caring for family, giving back to the community, or finding time to refresh and reset.
• Career Development and Growth: By fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development, we prepare our talent to tackle tomorrow’s challenges and deliver real‑world solutions.
• Industry Competitive Benefits: Flexible vacation, two company‑wide Mental Health Days off, access to the Headspace app, retirement savings, tuition reimbursement, employee incentive programs, resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.
• Culture: Globally recognized, award‑winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work‑life balance, and more.
• Social Impact: Make an impact in your community with our Social Impact Institute.
• Making a Real‑World Impact: We are one of the few companies globally that helps its customers pursue justice, truth and transparency.