Who We Are

Welcome to TELUS Digital - where innovation drives impact at a global scale. As an award-winning digital product consultancy and the digital division of TELUS, one of Canada’s largest telecommunications providers, we design and deliver transformative customer experiences through cutting-edge technology, agile thinking, and a people-first culture. With a global team across North America, South America, Central America, Europe, and APAC, we offer end-to-end expertise across eight core service areas: Digital Product Consulting, Digital Marketing Services, Data & AI, Strategy Consulting, Enterprise Technology, Enterprise Applications, Cloud Engineering, and QA & Test Engineering. From mobile apps and websites to voice UI, chatbots, AI, customer service, and in-store solutions, TELUS Digital enables seamless, trusted, and digitally powered experiences that meet customers wherever they are. All backed by the secure infrastructure and scale of our multi-billion-dollar parent company.

Location and Flexibility

This role can operate remotely within the US (we are prioritizing candidates based on the US West Coast) OR be based out of one of our major US office locations - Charlottesville, VA, Durham, NC, Columbus, OH, or Boston, MA.

The Opportunity

The Director, Forward Deployed Researcher is a strategic leader, advanced AI research specialist, and manager who directly oversees and engages in the highest-value client implementations. This role is responsible for driving frontier AI research into production, setting the strategic technical direction for enterprise clients, and managing a team of Forward Deployed Researchers and Engineers. This role operates at the critical intersection of cutting-edge research, software engineering, executive-level strategic consulting, and team management.

As a Forward Deployed Researcher, Director, you will embed directly within Fortune 500 and highly regulated client organizations to advance frontier AI implementations, shape AI strategy, deliver bespoke production systems, and build world-class technical teams. Unlike traditional research leaders who remain in labs or remote environments, you will be embedded within client teams, walking the halls of banks, healthcare organizations, and tech companies to understand their unique challenges, conduct applied research, and lead the delivery of transformative AI solutions grounded in both frontier techniques and practical enterprise constraints.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic AI Research & Executive Consulting: Act as a trusted technical and research advisor to client executive leadership (CTOs, Heads of AI, VPs of Engineering, Board Members) on overall AI strategy, roadmap, and competitive positioning.
• Team Leadership & Capability Building: Manage, mentor, and scale a team of Forward Deployed Researchers and Engineers embedded at high-value client organizations.
• Client-Embedded Research & Production Delivery: Lead high-impact, applied AI research initiatives to address the client’s most complex and ambiguous challenges during 3-6 month+ onsite engagements.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Product Influence: Partner with TELUS Digital Product, Engineering, and Research teams to leverage platform capabilities and inform product roadmap based on client research insights.
• Technical Excellence & Innovation: Stay at the frontier of AI models, frameworks, and deployment patterns; maintain hands-on expertise in cutting-edge areas.

Competencies

10+ years of hands-on software engineering and AI/ML experience with production systems; 4+ years in senior leadership or management roles managing technical teams of at least 5+ professionals.

What Success Looks Like

First 90 Days: Successfully embedded at assigned client account(s); built trust and credibility with the client's technical and executive leadership.

Work Environment

Embedded at client locations (Fortune 500 enterprises, banks, healthcare organizations, AI-native companies).

Travel Expectations

60-80% travel to client sites; extended onsite engagements (weeks to months).

Why This Role Matters

In AI, the gap between research and production is where most organizations fail. Directors of Forward Deployed Research are the bridge between possibility and production.

What We Offer

Executive leadership role overseeing cutting-edge AI research and implementations with Fortune 500 enterprises; opportunity to build and scale a world-class Forward Deployed team.

Equal Opportunity Employer

At TELUS Digital, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace.