About the role
Being part of Air Canada is to become part of an iconic Canadian symbol, recently ranked the best Airline in North America. Let your career take flight by joining our diverse and vibrant team at the leading edge of passenger aviation.
The Managing Director (MD) of Data & AI is a critical executive leadership role reporting to the Chief Digital Officer, accountable for defining and operationalizing Air Canada’s enterprise data and AI strategy. This leader will shape how data is collected, governed, enriched, and activated to enable smarter decision-making, operational excellence, commercial impact, and personalized customer experiences. As a strategic thought partner to the business, the Managing Director of Data & AI will architect and scale enterprise data platforms, AI capabilities, and operating models that drive measurable business value.
This role will lead and integrate five distinct but interconnected functions: Data Engineering & Architecture, Data & AI Strategy & Governance, Data Science & AI, Data Product Management, and Data Platforms. The leader must also build a strong internal talent engine while managing key partnerships across hyperscalers, data vendors, and the broader AI ecosystem. They will promote a culture of responsible data use, ethical AI, and continuous innovation, ensuring that the organization remains competitive and resilient in an increasingly data-driven world. The successful candidate is a systems thinker and business translator with a track record of delivering enterprise-scale AI solutions and modern data platforms.
A key objective of this role is to build world-class in-house capabilities in data product management, data engineering, and applied AI, reducing dependency on third-party vendors while enhancing speed, accountability, and innovation. This leader will define the organizational structure, talent strategy, and operating model needed to enable a scalable, high-performing data function aligned with our shift toward a product and platform operating model.
We are entering a transformative era where data and AI will define the winners and losers in every industry. Generative and agentic AI represent the next leap in how enterprises operate, serve customers, and generate value. For Air Canada, this role is not only technical, but it is also strategic. The Managing Director (MD) of Data & AI will be instrumental in shaping the airline’s future, helping us reimagine what’s possible in travel. This role is a mission-critical position at the forefront of innovation, competitiveness, and digital reinvention.
This position may be located in Montreal or Toronto.
Responsibilities:
Data & AI Strategy & Governance
- Define and lead the execution of Air Canada’s enterprise Data & AI strategy, ensuring alignment with corporate priorities, customer needs, regulatory requirements, and emerging technologies such as GenAI and agentic platforms.
- Develop a multi-year transformation roadmap for data and AI, prioritizing high-impact, high-ROI initiatives across customer experience, operational performance, commercial optimization, and safety.
- Establish and lead the enterprise Data & AI Governance program, including policies, frameworks, and standards for data stewardship, data quality, metadata, privacy, and ethical AI usage.
- Collaborate with Legal, Privacy, Cyber security, and Risk to ensure the trustworthy, compliant, and secure use of data and AI across the organization.
- Champion a data-driven culture, embedding the use of analytics and AI into decision-making at all levels.
Data Engineering & Architecture
- Lead the design and build of scalable, cloud-native data platforms using technologies such as Databricks, Snowflake, and modern xOps tooling.
- Drive the consolidation and modernization of data ecosystems—streamlining ingestion, processing, storage, access, and integration across structured and unstructured data.
- Architect resilient, cost-effective data pipelines and feature stores to support AI workloads, including ML, RAG (retrieval-augmented generation), and other real-time or agentic use cases.
- Ensure data platforms are high-performing, reliable, and optimized for speed, scale, and cost efficiency in collaboration with IT Ops and Infrastructure teams.
Data Science & AI
- Oversee the development, deployment, and operationalization of ML models and GenAI solutions, including robust MLOps capabilities for versioning, monitoring, and retraining.
- Guide AI use case development across customer personalization, pricing optimization, operational forecasting, crew planning, and disruption management.
- Establish and manage AI Centers of Excellence and cross-functional squads to accelerate experimentation, productionization, and business value realization.
- Ensure that all AI initiatives adhere to responsible AI principles and deliver sustained value without bias, drift, or performance degradation.
Data Product Management
- Establish a product mindset in the data organization by creating a portfolio of reusable, high-value data products tailored to internal business units.
- Define ownership, KPIs, SLAs, and roadmaps for key data assets such as customer 360, operations performance dashboards, and commercial intelligence feeds.
- Collaborate closely with business units, product managers, and analysts to ensure the right data products exist to support self-service insights, automation, and personalization.
Data Platforms
- Build and lead the evolution of modern data and AI platforms, including integration of vector databases, semantic layers, real-time data APIs, and knowledge graphs to power next-gen agentic capabilities.
- Define build-buy-partner strategies for enabling the enterprise with flexible, extensible platforms that minimize vendor lock-in and maximize innovation velocity.
- Work closely with hyperscalers and ecosystem vendors to optimize cost, performance, and roadmap alignment with Air Canada’s strategic direction.
Leadership & Organizational Development
- Attract, develop, and retain top talent across data engineering, data science, data product management, and AI platform engineering.
- Define talent architecture including chapter structures, career paths, and skills frameworks to support a modern, scalable Data & AI organization.
- Create a culture of accountability, innovation, and measurable impact while fostering collaboration across digital, commercial, operations, and finance teams.
Stakeholder & Ecosystem Engagement
- Serve as the executive point of contact for data and AI with senior leaders across the organization and with key external partners.
- Lead strategic vendor engagements and build an ecosystem of partnerships across hyperscalers, AI startups, academic institutions, and open-source communities.
- Evangelize the impact of data and AI through storytelling, strategic communication, and outcome-based metrics.
Qualifications
- 15+ years of experience in technology and data & AI, with at least 10 years at the executive level.
- A relevant University degree/technical certification, and/or relevant experience.
- MBA or technology-relevant post-graduate degree preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to lead, inspire, and mentor a diverse and talented team of technology professionals.
- Advanced knowledge of data platforms, governance, analytics, and AI technologies.
- Strong background in advanced statistical and data science, as well as management of business-focused analytics teams
- Experience with big data, machine learning, generative ai, agentic ai, and data visualization tools
- Proven knowledge of standard concepts, practices, and procedures within the airline industry with strong collaboration cross-functional teams from tech, design, and business
- Exceptional leadership, stakeholder management, and communication skills, with the ability to influence at all levels, including C-level executives.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with the ability to navigate complexity and ambiguity.
- Experience leading operating model redesigns, cost optimization efforts, and talent strategy initiatives.
- Demonstrated ability to influence Boards and C-suites and lead change in matrixed, federated organizations.
- Experience in leading Data and AI technologies and tools outcomes at executive levels.
Conditions of Employment:
- Candidates must be eligible to work in the country of interest, at the time any offer of employment is made and seeking any required work permits/visas or other authorizations which may be required is the sole responsibility of the candidates applying for this position.
Linguistic Requirements
Based on equal qualifications, preference will be given to bilingual candidates.
Diversity and Inclusion
Air Canada is strongly committed to Diversity and Inclusion and aims to create a healthy, accessible and rewarding work environment which highlights employees’ unique contributions to our company’s success.
As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome applications from all to help us build a diverse workforce which reflects the diversity of our customers, and communities, in which we live and serve.
Air Canada thanks all candidates for their interest; however only those selected to continue in the process will be contacted.
About Air Canada
Canada's largest airline, the country’s flag carrier and a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network celebrating its 25thanniversary in 2022, Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 51 airports in Canada, 51 in the United States and 86 internationally. It is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking from Skytrax, which in 2021 gave Air Canada awards for the Best Airline Staff in North America, Best Airline Staff in Canada, Best Business Class Lounge in North America, and an excellence award for its management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
**
Air Canada est la plus importante société aérienne du Canada, le transporteur national du pays et un membre cofondateur du réseau Star Alliance — le plus vaste regroupement mondial de sociétés aériennes, qui célèbre son 25e anniversaire en 2022. Les lignes passagers régulières d’Air Canada relient sans escale 51 aéroports au Canada, 51 aux États-Unis et 86 sur le reste du globe. En Amérique du Nord, Air Canada constitue le seul transporteur aérien d’envergure internationale offrant une gamme complète de services à détenir la cote quatre étoiles de Skytrax qui, en 2021, lui a décerné les prix Meilleur personnel au sol et à bord en Amérique du Nord, Meilleur personnel au sol et à bord au Canada, Meilleur salon de classe affaires en Amérique du Nord ainsi qu’un Prix d’excellence pour sa gestion de la pandémie de la COVID-19.
About the role
Being part of Air Canada is to become part of an iconic Canadian symbol, recently ranked the best Airline in North America. Let your career take flight by joining our diverse and vibrant team at the leading edge of passenger aviation.
The Managing Director (MD) of Data & AI is a critical executive leadership role reporting to the Chief Digital Officer, accountable for defining and operationalizing Air Canada’s enterprise data and AI strategy. This leader will shape how data is collected, governed, enriched, and activated to enable smarter decision-making, operational excellence, commercial impact, and personalized customer experiences. As a strategic thought partner to the business, the Managing Director of Data & AI will architect and scale enterprise data platforms, AI capabilities, and operating models that drive measurable business value.
This role will lead and integrate five distinct but interconnected functions: Data Engineering & Architecture, Data & AI Strategy & Governance, Data Science & AI, Data Product Management, and Data Platforms. The leader must also build a strong internal talent engine while managing key partnerships across hyperscalers, data vendors, and the broader AI ecosystem. They will promote a culture of responsible data use, ethical AI, and continuous innovation, ensuring that the organization remains competitive and resilient in an increasingly data-driven world. The successful candidate is a systems thinker and business translator with a track record of delivering enterprise-scale AI solutions and modern data platforms.
A key objective of this role is to build world-class in-house capabilities in data product management, data engineering, and applied AI, reducing dependency on third-party vendors while enhancing speed, accountability, and innovation. This leader will define the organizational structure, talent strategy, and operating model needed to enable a scalable, high-performing data function aligned with our shift toward a product and platform operating model.
We are entering a transformative era where data and AI will define the winners and losers in every industry. Generative and agentic AI represent the next leap in how enterprises operate, serve customers, and generate value. For Air Canada, this role is not only technical, but it is also strategic. The Managing Director (MD) of Data & AI will be instrumental in shaping the airline’s future, helping us reimagine what’s possible in travel. This role is a mission-critical position at the forefront of innovation, competitiveness, and digital reinvention.
This position may be located in Montreal or Toronto.
Responsibilities:
Data & AI Strategy & Governance
- Define and lead the execution of Air Canada’s enterprise Data & AI strategy, ensuring alignment with corporate priorities, customer needs, regulatory requirements, and emerging technologies such as GenAI and agentic platforms.
- Develop a multi-year transformation roadmap for data and AI, prioritizing high-impact, high-ROI initiatives across customer experience, operational performance, commercial optimization, and safety.
- Establish and lead the enterprise Data & AI Governance program, including policies, frameworks, and standards for data stewardship, data quality, metadata, privacy, and ethical AI usage.
- Collaborate with Legal, Privacy, Cyber security, and Risk to ensure the trustworthy, compliant, and secure use of data and AI across the organization.
- Champion a data-driven culture, embedding the use of analytics and AI into decision-making at all levels.
Data Engineering & Architecture
- Lead the design and build of scalable, cloud-native data platforms using technologies such as Databricks, Snowflake, and modern xOps tooling.
- Drive the consolidation and modernization of data ecosystems—streamlining ingestion, processing, storage, access, and integration across structured and unstructured data.
- Architect resilient, cost-effective data pipelines and feature stores to support AI workloads, including ML, RAG (retrieval-augmented generation), and other real-time or agentic use cases.
- Ensure data platforms are high-performing, reliable, and optimized for speed, scale, and cost efficiency in collaboration with IT Ops and Infrastructure teams.
Data Science & AI
- Oversee the development, deployment, and operationalization of ML models and GenAI solutions, including robust MLOps capabilities for versioning, monitoring, and retraining.
- Guide AI use case development across customer personalization, pricing optimization, operational forecasting, crew planning, and disruption management.
- Establish and manage AI Centers of Excellence and cross-functional squads to accelerate experimentation, productionization, and business value realization.
- Ensure that all AI initiatives adhere to responsible AI principles and deliver sustained value without bias, drift, or performance degradation.
Data Product Management
- Establish a product mindset in the data organization by creating a portfolio of reusable, high-value data products tailored to internal business units.
- Define ownership, KPIs, SLAs, and roadmaps for key data assets such as customer 360, operations performance dashboards, and commercial intelligence feeds.
- Collaborate closely with business units, product managers, and analysts to ensure the right data products exist to support self-service insights, automation, and personalization.
Data Platforms
- Build and lead the evolution of modern data and AI platforms, including integration of vector databases, semantic layers, real-time data APIs, and knowledge graphs to power next-gen agentic capabilities.
- Define build-buy-partner strategies for enabling the enterprise with flexible, extensible platforms that minimize vendor lock-in and maximize innovation velocity.
- Work closely with hyperscalers and ecosystem vendors to optimize cost, performance, and roadmap alignment with Air Canada’s strategic direction.
Leadership & Organizational Development
- Attract, develop, and retain top talent across data engineering, data science, data product management, and AI platform engineering.
- Define talent architecture including chapter structures, career paths, and skills frameworks to support a modern, scalable Data & AI organization.
- Create a culture of accountability, innovation, and measurable impact while fostering collaboration across digital, commercial, operations, and finance teams.
Stakeholder & Ecosystem Engagement
- Serve as the executive point of contact for data and AI with senior leaders across the organization and with key external partners.
- Lead strategic vendor engagements and build an ecosystem of partnerships across hyperscalers, AI startups, academic institutions, and open-source communities.
- Evangelize the impact of data and AI through storytelling, strategic communication, and outcome-based metrics.
Qualifications
- 15+ years of experience in technology and data & AI, with at least 10 years at the executive level.
- A relevant University degree/technical certification, and/or relevant experience.
- MBA or technology-relevant post-graduate degree preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to lead, inspire, and mentor a diverse and talented team of technology professionals.
- Advanced knowledge of data platforms, governance, analytics, and AI technologies.
- Strong background in advanced statistical and data science, as well as management of business-focused analytics teams
- Experience with big data, machine learning, generative ai, agentic ai, and data visualization tools
- Proven knowledge of standard concepts, practices, and procedures within the airline industry with strong collaboration cross-functional teams from tech, design, and business
- Exceptional leadership, stakeholder management, and communication skills, with the ability to influence at all levels, including C-level executives.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with the ability to navigate complexity and ambiguity.
- Experience leading operating model redesigns, cost optimization efforts, and talent strategy initiatives.
- Demonstrated ability to influence Boards and C-suites and lead change in matrixed, federated organizations.
- Experience in leading Data and AI technologies and tools outcomes at executive levels.
Conditions of Employment:
- Candidates must be eligible to work in the country of interest, at the time any offer of employment is made and seeking any required work permits/visas or other authorizations which may be required is the sole responsibility of the candidates applying for this position.
Linguistic Requirements
Based on equal qualifications, preference will be given to bilingual candidates.
Diversity and Inclusion
Air Canada is strongly committed to Diversity and Inclusion and aims to create a healthy, accessible and rewarding work environment which highlights employees’ unique contributions to our company’s success.
As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome applications from all to help us build a diverse workforce which reflects the diversity of our customers, and communities, in which we live and serve.
Air Canada thanks all candidates for their interest; however only those selected to continue in the process will be contacted.
About Air Canada
Canada's largest airline, the country’s flag carrier and a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network celebrating its 25thanniversary in 2022, Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 51 airports in Canada, 51 in the United States and 86 internationally. It is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking from Skytrax, which in 2021 gave Air Canada awards for the Best Airline Staff in North America, Best Airline Staff in Canada, Best Business Class Lounge in North America, and an excellence award for its management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
**
Air Canada est la plus importante société aérienne du Canada, le transporteur national du pays et un membre cofondateur du réseau Star Alliance — le plus vaste regroupement mondial de sociétés aériennes, qui célèbre son 25e anniversaire en 2022. Les lignes passagers régulières d’Air Canada relient sans escale 51 aéroports au Canada, 51 aux États-Unis et 86 sur le reste du globe. En Amérique du Nord, Air Canada constitue le seul transporteur aérien d’envergure internationale offrant une gamme complète de services à détenir la cote quatre étoiles de Skytrax qui, en 2021, lui a décerné les prix Meilleur personnel au sol et à bord en Amérique du Nord, Meilleur personnel au sol et à bord au Canada, Meilleur salon de classe affaires en Amérique du Nord ainsi qu’un Prix d’excellence pour sa gestion de la pandémie de la COVID-19.