Associate Software Engineer Jobs in Kitchener, ON

Step into a role where AI isn't an addon - it's the foundation.

We are seeking a Senior FullStack AI Engineer to help shape how modern AIdriven software is built, deployed, and scaled. In this role, you will work at the intersection of cloud engineering and intelligent application development, contributing to systems that incorporate reasoning engines, autonomous AI agents, and nextgeneration user experiences.

If you are motivated by experimentation with emerging AI frameworks, productionizing agentbased workflows, and building systems that continuously learn and adapt, this role offers an opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

This position provides the opportunity to influence how intelligent, AIpowered software is designed and delivered at scale. You will collaborate with crossfunctional teams to build secure, reliable, and cloudnative systems that enhance real user experiences. In addition, you will contribute to architectural direction, mentor others through technical leadership, and help promote responsible AI practices across the organization.

Position Responsibilities:

• Design and build intelligent, cloudnative applications that integrate modern software engineering principles with emerging AI capabilities.
• Develop APIs, microservices, and distributed systems that support AIdriven features, autonomous workflows, and realtime inference.
• Prototype, evaluate, and productionize AI capabilities, including retrievalaugmented pipelines and multiagent collaboration patterns.
• Leverage AIassisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude Code) to enhance development efficiency and code quality.
• Contribute to the design of scalable AI system architectures, including prompt pipelines, vector storage, model orchestration, and inference services.
• Ensure solutions meet established standards for security, governance, resiliency, compliance, and responsible AI usage.
• Support DevOps practices, including CI/CD automation, environment consistency, and repeatable deployment processes.
• Collaborate with product, AI, cloud, and engineering teams to deliver impactful and accessible user experiences.
• Adapt to evolving priorities in a dynamic environment focused on innovation and continuous learning.

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, preferably within enterprise or regulated environments.
• Strong proficiency in one or more modern programming languages (e.g., Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Go, Rust) with backend or fullstack experience.
• Handson experience with cloud platforms (Azure preferred), including compute, networking, storage, identity, and serverless technologies (equivalent experience in AWS or GCP is also considered).
• Working knowledge of Kubernetes, microservices architecture, and distributed system design.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Observability as Code (OaC), and tools such as Terraform.
• Familiarity with AI and orchestration frameworks (e.g., Microsoft Agent Framework, LangChain/LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, Autogen).
• Understanding of LLM integration patterns, including retrieval systems, embeddings, vector search, prompt engineering, and evaluation methods.
• Experience using AIenabled development tools to enhance productivity and collaboration.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines using tools such as GitHub Actions.
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical challenges, particularly in distributed or AIdriven systems.

When you join our team:

• We'll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.
• We'll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words.
• As part of our distributed team, we'll support you in shaping the future you want to see.

The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.

About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. To learn more about us, visit https://www.manulife.com/en/about/our-story.html.

Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer

At Manulife/John Hancock, we embrace our diversity. We strive to attract, develop and retain a workforce that is as diverse as the customers we serve and to foster an inclusive work environment that embraces the strength of cultures and individuals. We are committed to fair recruitment, retention, advancement and compensation, and we administer all of our practices and programs without discrimination on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion or religious beliefs, creed, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions), sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or any other ground protected by applicable law.

It is our priority to remove barriers to provide equal access to employment. A Human Resources representative will work with applicants who request a reasonable accommodation during the application process. All information shared during the accommodation request process will be stored and used in a manner that is consistent with applicable laws and Manulife/John Hancock policies. To request a reasonable accommodation in the application process, contact hr@manulife.com.

Referenced Salary Location

Salary range is expected to be between

Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance. The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training. If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact hr@manulife.com for the salary range for your location.

Manulife offers eligible employees a wide array of customizable benefits, including health, dental, mental health, vision, short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance coverage, adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits, and employee/family assistance plans. We also offer eligible employees various retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our generous paid time off program in Canada includes holidays, vacation, personal, and sick days, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence. If you are applying for this role in the U.S., please contact hr@manulife.com for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.

We use data and analytics technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and automated processing tools, to analyze and process the information you provide to us or third parties in the application process. For more information, please refer to our personal information collection statement.