Staff AI Application Engineer

Job Description

What is the opportunity?

Join RBC as a hands-on technical lead building production-grade GenAI and Agentic AI applications for Cyber, Risk, Regulatory, Control & Security domains. This is an individual contributor role with no direct reports. You'll build the backend services that power autonomous and semi-autonomous AI agents, and work closely with AI Engineers to turn LangChain/LangGraph prototypes into production applications deployed on OpenShift through our CI/CD pipeline. If you want to write Python backend code, ship to production, and work at the intersection of software engineering and agentic AI in a regulated environment, this role is for you.

What will you do?

• Build and deploy backend services for Agentic AI applications using Python Django (preferred) or FastAPI, with Celery for async task processing and long-running agent workflows.

• Work with AI Engineers to productionize their agents and proof-of-concepts, turning LangChain/LangGraph prototypes into well-tested backend applications that run reliably in production.

• Deploy and operate applications on OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) and Kubernetes, using the Helios CI/CD pipeline to ship frequently.

• Build and maintain RESTful APIs that serve AI-powered applications, including authentication (OAuth2/JWT), rate limiting, input validation, and security controls appropriate for a regulated bank.

• Integrate AI capabilities into backend services: RAG pipelines, MCP (Model Context Protocol), A2A (Agent-to-Agent Protocol), multi-agent systems, and LLM-powered workflows. Profile and optimize AI application performance, including LLM token cost management, caching strategies, latency reduction, efficient agent orchestration, and production observability using OpenTelemetry, Langfuse, or LangSmith.

• Write unit and integration tests for backend services and agent workflows, and participate in code reviews to set the quality bar for the team.

• Mentor other engineers on backend and productionization best practices, collaborate with product owners, data scientists, and business stakeholders, and contribute to secure coding and AI safety guardrails for a regulated financial services environment.

What do you need to succeed?
 

Must-Have:

• 5+ years of software engineering experience with strong Python proficiency, including at least 2 years building backend services with Django, FastAPI, or a comparable framework.

• Hands-on experience with Celery or similar async task processing for managing long-running or distributed workloads.

• Strong understanding of API security, including authentication/authorization (OAuth2, JWT), rate limiting, input validation, and secure API design patterns.

• Experience deploying and operating containerized applications on Kubernetes or OpenShift, and working with CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or equivalent).

• Familiarity with GenAI application patterns such as RAG, Agents, Agent orchestration, MCP, A2A, and multi-agent systems. Some hands-on experience with LangChain, LangGraph, or similar frameworks is preferred.

• Experience with AI observability and traceability tools (OpenTelemetry, Langfuse, or LangSmith), and proficiency with agentic coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Devin, or similar).

Nice to Have

• Experience with PostgreSQL, Redis, or vector databases (pgvector, FAISS, Milvus).

• Familiarity with Vue.js or React for occasional cross-stack work.

• Exposure to LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Cohere, Llama), prompt/context engineering, and LLM cost optimization techniques such as token tracking, prompt compression, caching, and model routing.

• Familiarity with monitoring stacks (Grafana, Prometheus) and secure coding practices (SAST/DAST).

What’s In For You?

We thrive on the challenge to be our best, progressive thinking to keep growing, and working together to deliver trusted advice to help our clients thrive and communities prosper. We care about each other, reaching our potential, making a difference to our communities, and achieving success that is mutual.

• A comprehensive Total Rewards Program including bonuses and flexible benefits, competitive compensation, commissions, and stock where applicable.

• Leaders who support your development through coaching and managing opportunities

• Ability to make a difference and lasting impact

• Work in a dynamic, collaborative, progressive, and high-performing team

• Opportunities to take on progressively greater accountabilities.  

• Access to a variety of job opportunities across business and geographies.

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Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the application deadline date above

Our Employment Opportunities

At RBC, we are guided by living shared values of Client First, Integrity, Collaboration, Respect and Excellence and winning together as One RBC. We believe an inclusive workplace that has diverse perspectives is core to our continued growth as one of the largest and most successful banks in the world. Maintaining a workplace where our employees feel supported to perform at their best, effectively collaborate, drive innovation, and grow professionally helps to bring our Purpose to life and create value for our clients and communities. RBC strives to deliver this through policies and programs intended to foster a workplace based on respect, belonging and opportunity for all.

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RBC is presently inviting candidates to apply for this existing vacancy. Applying to this posting allows you to express your interest in this current career opportunity at RBC. Qualified applicants may be contacted to review their resume in more detail.