---
title: 'AI Platform Engineer (Senior / Principal) at RAVL'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/ai-platform-engineer-senior-principal-ravl-toronto-vjr20cvktck1'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-15'
---

# AI Platform Engineer (Senior / Principal) at RAVL

- **Company:** RAVL
- **Location:** Toronto, Canada
- **Employment:** contract
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-07-21
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-15
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/ravl_io/fdc5c73f-ebea-4eb7-8d02-b9e13ad740d2

## Job description

RAVL helps technologists accelerate their careers. At RAVL, we connect strategy with execution, care deeply about the people we work with, and measure success by the lasting impact we leave behind. Our purpose is to build a team that puts real, sustainable business outcomes at the core of everything we do. We're here to leave our clients better than we found them—and to create a place where our people are proud to Build. Better.

## About the Role

We're looking for a Senior / Principal AI Platform Engineer to build the secure, scalable platform capabilities that enable enterprise AI delivery across our clients' organizations. This is a platform engineering role first, with an AI specialization. You'll build and operate the shared infrastructure, services, and runtime capabilities that allow engineering teams to securely deploy, govern, observe, and scale AI-powered applications in highly regulated financial services environments. Rather than building individual business applications or developer tooling, you'll focus on the production AI platform itself—creating reusable services, operational excellence, and platform capabilities that other engineering teams depend on every day. As a Senior or Principal engineer, you'll influence platform architecture, establish engineering standards, and help shape RAVL's AI platform strategy.

What does success look like in this role?

- Build the GCP side of the platform: GKE, Cloud Run, Terraform (Google provider) and Config Connector, Cloud Build and Cloud Deploy, Artifact Registry, and the Cloud Operations suite.
- Stand up the AI runtime on Vertex AI (pipelines, model registry, endpoints, Feature Store) as paved-road services.
- Design, build, and operate reusable cloud platform capabilities using Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, containers, Kubernetes, identity services, and cloud networking.
- Develop shared AI platform services including model gateways, API gateways, inference routing, vector and retrieval services, evaluation pipelines, and policy enforcement capabilities.
- Build highly reliable platform services with clear Service Level Objectives (SLOs), observability, tracing, monitoring, automated recovery, and operational excellence.
- Design secure platform foundations that incorporate identity, secrets management, network security, data boundaries, auditability, governance, and controlled access to AI models and enterprise tools.
- Treat the platform as a product by creating reusable APIs, templates, documentation, paved roads, and self-service capabilities that accelerate adoption across engineering teams.
- Optimize platform performance, scalability, and cost through intelligent routing, caching, quotas, lifecycle management, versioning, and cloud resource optimization.
- Establish operational standards for AI platform reliability, incident response, capacity planning, and continuous improvement.
- Mentor engineers, lead architecture discussions, and contribute reusable capabilities that strengthen both client platforms and RAVL's AI engineering practice.
- Partner with engineering, infrastructure, security, architecture, and client stakeholders to deliver scalable AI platform capabilities aligned with enterprise governance requirements.

Sounds great, but do my skills fit?

We're looking for platform engineers with deep cloud infrastructure expertise and practical experience building modern AI-enabled platforms.

Required

- Strong GCP platform engineering: GKE, IAM and Workload Identity, Shared VPC, and IaC with the Google Terraform provider.
- Vertex AI MLOps depth and SLOs and telemetry via Cloud Monitoring, in a dual-cloud (GCP and Azure) estate.
- Strong experience designing and operating cloud platforms using Infrastructure as Code, Kubernetes, containers, and modern cloud-native architecture.
- Deep experience building CI/CD pipelines, cloud networking, identity and access management, observability platforms, and site reliability engineering practices.
- Experience designing highly available distributed systems with strong operational practices including SLOs, monitoring, tracing, incident response, and capacity planning.
- Working knowledge of large language models, AI inference, agent architectures, and how to expose AI capabilities safely as reusable platform services.
- Experience implementing secure data governance practices including privacy, lineage, lifecycle management, access controls, and scalable data processing.
- Strong understanding of enterprise security, governance, cloud operations, and cost optimization within regulated environments.
- Experience collaborating across engineering, platform, infrastructure, security, and architecture teams to deliver scalable shared services.
- For Senior and Principal candidates, demonstrated experience leading platform architecture, establishing engineering standards, mentoring engineers, and driving adoption of enterprise platform capabilities.

## Nice to Have Skills

- Experience with Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Vertex AI, or other managed AI platforms.
- Experience with service mesh technologies, API management platforms, GPU infrastructure, model serving frameworks, or vector databases.
- Experience implementing policy-as-code, multi-tenant platform architectures, software supply chain security, or advanced FinOps practices.
- Experience operating enterprise Kubernetes platforms at scale.
- Cloud architecture, Kubernetes (CKA/CKAD), or related certifications.
- Experience working within banking, insurance, wealth management, or other regulated industries.

Mindset Traits

- You enjoy building platforms that enable others to move faster and safer.
- You think in systems and design for long-term scalability, resilience, and operational excellence.
- You balance engineering quality, security, reliability, and cost when making architectural decisions.
- You communicate effectively across engineering, infrastructure, security, and executive stakeholders.
- You enjoy solving complex platform challenges through thoughtful engineering and automation.
- You mentor others and create reusable capabilities that raise the bar across engineering teams.
- You're excited about shaping the future of enterprise AI infrastructure and platform engineering.

Why join RAVL?

- Work alongside experienced consultants solving meaningful, enterprise-scale challenges.
- Help build the AI platforms that power the next generation of enterprise software delivery.
- Flexible, client-aligned hybrid work model—autonomy with accountability, adapting to client delivery needs.
- Variable bonus & RRSP contributions tied to performance and delivery impact.
- 4 weeks paid time off (plus public holidays).
- Paid professional development days and continuous learning opportunities.
- Comprehensive health & dental coverage, including mental health support.
- Commitment to lifelong learning through mentorship, certifications, and continuous improvement.

## Compensation & Hiring Process

This is a current permanent opportunity. The salary range for this role is $120,000–$170,000 CAD, reflecting expected base pay. Total compensation may also include additional pay such as bonuses or incentives, depending on the position, and final offers are based on experience, skills, and qualifications. As part of our hiring process, we may use technology, including AI-based tools, to help summarize and assess applications. These tools assist our team and do not replace human review or decision-making.

## Equal Opportunity & Accessibility

RAVL is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and accessible workplace. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals and provide accommodations throughout the hiring process upon request.

## About RAVL

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: RAVL is a boutique advisory and engineering firm that helps North American financial services institutions build better technology through full-stack product development, AI modernization, cloud platform engineering, and DevSecOps.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Partnership; venture-backed with a 2025 round led by MML Capital Partners)
- **Headquarters**: Toronto, Ontario, Canada (East York; 6 Annesley Avenue, M4G 2T6), with a presence in the United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Founded by four partners; leadership includes Rick Davidson (Chief Executive Officer), Dominic Wallace (Chief Technology Officer), Sean Quinn (Chairman), and Ryan Kehl (Partner)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: IT Services and IT Consulting; specialized in Financial Services technology (FSI)
- **Target customers**: Enterprise financial services institutions in North America (banks, insurers, capital markets firms), plus organizations undertaking legacy modernization, cloud transformation, and AI adoption
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "To be a true partner to our clients by building better technology that drives meaningful, long-lasting business outcomes." (Byline: "RAVL Builds. Better.")

## Products & Services
RAVL operates across three core delivery models plus an AI-focused methodology:

- **Advise (Strategize & Solution)**: Architecture design, business/technology capability mapping, business casing, cost optimization, customer journey mapping, governance, operating models, process improvement, technical assessments/root-cause analysis, technology selection, and technology strategy & roadmaps.
- **Build (Engineer & Deliver)**: Solutions architecture, cloud engineering, DevSecOps, platform engineering, Site Reliability Engineering, application development, AI & Machine Learning, and Infrastructure as Code.
- **BuildX (Sustain. Upskill. Empower.)**: Outcome-based delivery where clients can hire a subset of the RAVL team to extend the engagement. Combines cloud/platform engineering, software engineering, mentorship, and hands-on learning journeys.
- **AI / Leap Left (AI-first SDLC)**: RAVL's approach to AI-first software development lifecycle — aligning people, workflows, governance, and engineering systems to accelerate delivery while managing everything surrounding code creation.

Technical specialties include: full-stack digital product development, AI systems modernization (legacy-to-modern platform transformation), microservices & APIs, DevSecOps & developer experience, cloud platforms & tooling, and site reliability engineering.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding — venture round announced 2025-01-24, with 1 investor, led by MML Capital Partners; specific amount not publicly disclosed
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: MML Capital Partners (lead investor)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Headcount grew ~45.9% YoY (+34 employees, from ~54 to 88)
  - Monthly headcount growth at time of data: +3.8%
  - LinkedIn followers grew +32.9% yearly, to ~4,140
  - 22 active job postings (quarterly job posting trend: +57.1%)
  - Acquired New Helio, expanding capabilities
  - Workforce distributed across Canada (86) and the United States (2), with deep hiring from top consultancies and financial institutions (CGI, Capco, TD, Scotiabank, McKinsey & Company, Slalom)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep FSI domain fluency**: Decades of combined experience from North America's leading financial services institutions and top global consulting/engineering firms (McKinsey, Capco, TD, Scotiabank, etc.)
- **"Build. Better." execution bias**: Strategy work that is designed for real-world execution rather than slide-deck deliverables
- **End-to-end ownership**: Covers everything from advisory/strategy through build, cloud/platform engineering, DevSecOps, SRE, and AI modernization — not just code delivery
- **BuildX talent model**: A differentiated engagement model where clients can hire the team, enabling continuity and knowledge transfer rather than the traditional consultancy "hand-off"
- **Leap Left AI-first SDLC methodology**: A proprietary approach to AI-first software delivery that addresses the non-coding constraints (people, workflows, governance) around modern engineering
- **High employee satisfaction**: 4.8/5.0 employer rating (15 reviews) with culture rated 4.9 and career development rated 4.8 — a differentiator when attracting technologists

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling its AI-powered modernization and Leap Left methodology across financial services clients
- Continuing to build national (Canadian) and US presence through strategic hiring — particularly in technical roles (50 of ~88 employees are technical) and senior consulting talent
- Growing through selective acquisitions (e.g., New Helio) to expand advisory/engineering capacity
- Strengthening the BuildX model to deepen long-term client partnerships and talent development
- Building a "Talent Pool" pipeline for future hires, indicating proactive workforce planning around continued growth

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Rated 4.8/5.0 overall on employer review platforms — with Culture at 4.9, Career Development at 4.8, Work-Life Balance at 4.6, and Compensation at 4.6
- **Work model**: Hybrid workspace (combination of remote and on-site work) at the Toronto HQ
- **Growth environment**: 45.9% YoY headcount growth, 22 open positions, and heavy investment in mentorship and hands-on learning journeys (BuildX)
- **Engineering-led**: Technical staff make up ~46% of the workforce — engineers are core to the business, not an adjunct
- **Compensation benchmarks** (publicly listed salaries): Associate Engineer ~CAD 54,691/year; Consultant ~CAD 120,749/year; Principal Consultant ~CAD 223,802/year
- **Notable perk**: AI tools are used to support parts of the hiring process (resume review, response analysis), yet final decisions are human-driven — reflecting their AI-first but human-judgment approach
- **Impact**: Opportunity to work on mission-critical modernization and AI transformation projects for North America's leading financial institutions

## Sources
1. [ravl.io](https://www.ravl.io/)
2. [jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/ravl_io)
3. [ca.linkedin.com](https://ca.linkedin.com/company/ravl-io)
4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/ravl)
5. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/ravl)

## Other roles at RAVL

- [Senior Front End Developer, React and NextJS](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-front-end-developer-react-and-nextjs-ravl-toronto-dpv8rn72ema5) — Toronto, Canada
- [AI Solutions Engineer (Senior / Principal)](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-solutions-engineer-senior-principal-ravl-toronto-cbdndn4541wx) — Toronto, Canada
- [AI Solutions Architect (Senior and Principal)](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-solutions-architect-senior-and-principal-ravl-toronto-akvrxw40mna2) — Toronto, Canada
- [Python Automation Developer, Network Security](https://feeny.ai/job/python-automation-developer-network-security-ravl-toronto-bj7n3d592md1) — Toronto, Canada
- [Financial Operations Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/financial-operations-analyst-ravl-toronto-59jmg8bp2baq) — Toronto, Canada
- [Senior Disaster Recovery Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-disaster-recovery-specialist-ravl-toronto-rsandvhnjdez) — Toronto, Canada
- [Senior Platform Engineer, AI](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-platform-engineer-ai-ravl-toronto-6x7vq4g00yyd) — Toronto, Canada
- [Principal Platform Engineer, AI](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-platform-engineer-ai-ravl-toronto-8crxc37zqkv3) — Toronto, Canada
- [Platform Engineer, Machine Learning](https://feeny.ai/job/platform-engineer-machine-learning-ravl-toronto-35hwaapw5q0x) — Toronto, Canada
- [Principal Platform Engineer, Machine Learning](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-platform-engineer-machine-learning-ravl-toronto-ekw0ym1tqf94) — Toronto, Canada