AI Solutions Architect

Help shape the future of AI at Strathcona County. In this role, you will design secure, practical, and well-managed AI capabilities that improve decision-making, staff productivity, and service delivery.

The AI Solutions Architect is the County's senior technical expert for AI design and delivery. You will plan, design, implement, and oversee enterprise AI capabilities that support business needs across the organization. This includes technologies built on Microsoft platforms, cloud AI services, and AI models hosted on County infrastructure.

This is both a hands-on and leadership role. You will develop AI solutions, establish County-wide architecture standards and reusable design patterns, and review solutions delivered by ITS staff and vendors.

You will help turn innovative ideas into practical business solutions that deliver measurable value while managing privacy, security, and Responsible AI risks.

This posting is for 1 temporary full-time position up to 24 months

Key Responsibilities

• Translate organizational objectives into scalable AI solution architectures spanning Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio agents, Power Platform automations, Azure AI/Foundry services, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) patterns, and internal AI models hosted on County infrastructure
• Design, build, configure, and deploy AI solutions personally where appropriate, with accountability for quality, security, and architectural integrity of delivered work
• Own the full lifecycle of AI solutions enhancement, optimization, monitoring, retraining, and decommissioning so solutions remain effective, supported, and aligned with evolving business needs
• Define and maintain County-wide AI architecture patterns, reference designs, integration approaches, and reuse frameworks that enable consistent and scalable AI delivery
• Ensure AI solutions comply with County policies, FOIP, records retention, security and privacy standards, and Responsible AI principles
• Partner with security and governance teams to design controls, logging, evaluation, and red-teaming practices for AI systems, addressing AI-specific risks including prompt injection, data leakage, hallucination, and model misuse
• Work with departments to identify, assess, and prioritize high-value AI opportunities; facilitate discovery sessions, solution workshops, and architecture reviews to define requirements, evaluate feasibility, and align stakeholders on solution approaches that deliver measurable organizational value
• Support change management and adoption by ensuring AI solutions are usable, explainable, and aligned with staff workflows and operational practices
• Stay current with the AI landscape including LLMs, agentic AI, automation, evaluation tooling, and emerging Microsoft and open-source capabilities, with particular attention to public-sector applicability and risk
• Proactively identify opportunities for reuse, automation, and efficiency across existing platforms and solutions, driving continuous improvement in service delivery
• Provide technical and architectural leadership to ITS staff, AI Solution Developers, vendors, and partners delivering AI solutions

Qualifications and Skills:

• Degree in Computing Science, Business Administration, or another related discipline with a minimum of 7 years of experience in an IT environment or an Information Technology or Business Diploma with a minimum of 9 years of directly related IT experience
• ITIL Foundations certifications would be considered assets
• Experience working with Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio, Power Platform, and Azure AI services to design and deliver AI-enabled solutions is an asset
• Proven experience leading and overseeing the design and delivery of complex enterprise solutions, including AI and automation, with accountability for solution quality and architectural integrity
• Demonstrated ability to act as a technical authority, reviewing and guiding solution designs produced by other developers or vendors
• Experience providing senior level technical advisory services in complex, multi stakeholder environments, supporting informed decision-making
• Assets:
  • Experience designing and supporting AI solutions using internal, on-premises, or hybrid infrastructure environments  
  • Knowledge of Responsible AI principles, privacy and security practices, and public-sector compliance requirements, including FOIP and records management considerations
  • Experience supporting user adoption and change management for new technology solutions, ensuring alignment with business processes and staff workflows
  • Skills in SQL, or other database query languages for data extraction, transformation and reporting
  • Familiarity with Microsoft family technologies that support web UI, mobile components, payment services, and client server Technologies, and N-Tier development, including API usage, development and support
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, along with strong presentation and customer service skills
• Advanced ability to build and maintain relationships, communicate and collaborate with stakeholders, find common ground, communicate progress and risks, and help others thrive in a continually changing environment

Conditions of Employment

• Submission of a Satisfactory Criminal Record Check  
• Occasional overtime as required
   

Who We Are:
Strathcona County is a specialized municipality located in the heart of Alberta.  Our vision is to become Canada’s most livable community, where our workplace culture and identity are supported by our people plan and values of integrity, respect, safety, collaboration, and accountability.  

Why Join Strathcona County: (depending on position)

• Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package, which includes:
• Extended health and dental coverage    
• Health and wellness spending account    
• Life and disability insurance
• Retirement and pension programs  
• Earned day off program
• Employee and family assistance program
• Commitment to employee development, through internal and external training and development opportunities
• Well-being programs and a safety culture focused on physical and psychological health in the workplace

Equivalencies of education and experience may be considered. This role may be eligible to participate in our hybrid work program.  

This competition may be used to fill future vacancies for similar positions within the next 6 months.  

Strathcona County is committed to an inclusive, respectful, and equitable workplace that represents the community we serve. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds who can contribute diverse perspectives and experiences.
We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.