Director, Engineering - Vehicle Acquisition & AI Adoption

Get started on an exciting career at Element!

Element employees make a difference in the lives of others every day. We are re-defining the fleet management industry to be people first, then business - delivering on our promise of a superior client experience. This takes hard work and innovation, and we need more like-minded people on our team.

About the Role

We're looking for a strategic and technically hands-on leader to join our team as Director, Engineering - Vehicle Acquisition & AI Adoption. In this role, you will be responsible for ensuring stability, performance, and continuous modernization of technology solutions supporting the vehicle acquisition function. This role drives measurable improvements in operational efficiency, system reliability, and business cycle times while enabling scalable engineering practices. In parallel, this role leads the structured adoption of AI-enabled tools and practices within the Technology Transformation & Operational Excellence department, improving engineering productivity, accelerating delivery, and enhancing solution quality across development and support teams.

What You'll Do
 

• Lead the assessment, stabilization, and continuous improvement of applications supporting vehicle acquisition processes to ensure reliable and efficient operations.
• Define and execute a multi-year technology roadmap to modernize legacy systems into scalable, maintainable, and performant solutions aligned with business needs.
• Establish and enforce software development lifecycle (SDLC) standards, engineering best practices, and governance frameworks to improve quality, consistency, and delivery outcomes.
• Partner closely with business stakeholders to identify opportunities to reduce cycle times, streamline workflows, and enhance end-to-end acquisition processes.
• Analyze system performance, incident trends, and operational metrics to proactively identify risks and implement improvements that enhance service levels and user experience.
• Lead the evaluation, recommendation, and implementation of AI/ML tools and platforms within the Technology Transformation & Operational Excellence department to enhance software development, testing, and operational efficiency.
• Drive adoption of AI-enabled practices across development and support teams in the department to improve productivity, scalability, and quality of outputs.
• Inspire, lead, and grow the IT Vehicle Acquisition team by providing technical guidance and support to professionals managing legacy and modern integrated core systems.
• Provide technical leadership to the internal IT team, including balanced assignment of engineering tasks, prompt resolution of technical concerns, and fostering a collaborative focus on engineering excellence.
• Support software engineering initiatives in SAP-based finance and other peer technology departments.

Basic Qualifications
 

• Bachelor's degree required in Computer Engineering or related fields.
• 20+ years of progressive hands-on experience in software development and application support within multi-platform open source environments.
• At least 10+ years of proven experience in leading large, cross-functional and cross-platform technical teams.
• Proven experience in successful execution of large technology transformation programs.
• Skills in assessing current systems and identifying opportunities for improvement and modernization.
• Experience enabling AI/ML tools within software engineering or IT operations environments.

Preferred Qualifications
 

• Experience in Fleet management business or financial application.
• Certifications on AWS, solution architecture, or AI technologies.
• Proven experience developing framework upgrades and modernization strategies, including rehosting, replatforming, and refactoring.
• Relevant experience collaborating with vendor IT teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience with mainframe, web, and cloud technologies, including system modernization and migration.

Location: Toronto

The hiring base salary range for this position is $162,700 - $233,100 annually. Actual compensation within this range will be dependent upon the individual's knowledge, skills, experience, equity with other team members, and alignment with market data. Please note that the disclosed salary range is solely for candidates hired to perform work within this geographic location. Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location.

What's in it for You
• A culture of innovation, empowerment, decision-making, and accountability
• Comprehensive health and welfare benefits that serve the needs of you and your family and foster a culture of wellness (for qualified roles)
• Additional benefits and amenities, including paid time-off programs (vacation, sick leave, and holidays) (for qualified roles)

Applicants will be required to undergo a background check only if and after a conditional offer of employment has been extended.

Element Fleet Management and its wholly owned subsidiaries are an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, genetic information, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental disability, veteran status, military obligations or any other characteristic protected by federal, state and local laws. Disability-related accommodations during the application and interview process are available upon request. Should you require an accommodation with our hiring process please send an email to talentacquisition@elementcorp.com or call (800) 665-9744. Element Fleet Management also uses AI-assisted tools to help screen and assess applications. These tools analyze information you provide (for example, your rēsumē and screening responses) to identify job-related skills, qualifications, and experience. AI outputs do not by themselves determine whether you advance or receive an offer - they assist recruiters and hiring managers. Final hiring decisions are made by people.