Senior Manager, Application Engineering
Who we are
At Heart & Stroke our mission is to promote health, save lives and enhance recovery. We are committed to a culture that exemplifies our core values: champion health, practice humility, embrace change, drive impact, learn and grow and be heartfelt as we work together to beat heart disease and stroke.
We believe in equity, diversity and inclusion ― it’s embedded in our values and core mission work to support all people in Canada to lead healthier lives. We are committed to applying this principle to cultivate a welcoming environment that embraces diversity among our employees. Candidates from diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to, Indigenous peoples, racialized communities, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, women, and people living with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
To learn more about our mission, values, commitment to EDI, and the difference Heart & Stroke makes in the lives of people in Canada at every age, please visit our website.
The opportunity
Please note Heart & Stroke offers a hybrid work option. Candidates can work from anywhere in Canada.
The Application Engineering Manager plays a significant role in increasing capacity and business initiatives by leading the design, delivery, and technical evolution of bespoke application capabilities that support enterprise-wide mission, fundraising, and operational needs. The team is comprised of software developers, a business system analyst and a technical product engineer. This role will also be responsible of leading the Technical Product Engineering for the rapid prototyping of new AI initiatives.
This role leads and owns the end-to-end architecture and engineering execution lifecycle, from discovery and design through development, testing, deployment, and operational support. The senior manager ensures all solutions are scalable, secure, maintainable, and aligned with enterprise architecture standards and business objectives.
This role combines hands-on technical expertise with leadership responsibilities, leading the team through complex projects and working closely with Platform, Quality Engineering and Data teams, Security, and Infrastructure & Operations to deliver technical solutions. The Senior Manager serves as a bridge, collaborating closely with product, fundraising, mission, marketing, and project management.
This role sits at the intersection of business and technology. Business teams own outcomes, priorities, and requirements; this role owns the application engineering strategy required to deliver them. That includes technical leadership as to application selection, architecture, integration, scalability, engineering standards, delivery execution, and ongoing application operations.
In practice, this role is accountable for technical delivery outcomes and is a critical enabler of business outcomes by ensuring enterprise application solutions are well-designed, secure, scalable, maintainable, and fit for purpose. Owns application engineering delivery outcomes and influences enterprise application standards, delivery practices, and cross‑project trade‑offs in partnership with the Director.
The Senior Manager, Application Engineering brings a strong blend of technical leadership, software architecture and engineering expertise, and system integration experience, along with the ability to work cross functionally with internal and external stakeholders.
How you will make an impact every day
Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration
Work closely with enterprise partners; business, product, Fundraising, Marketing and Mission stakeholders, and Project Managers to clarify application priorities, business outcomes, dependencies, project scope, delivery sequencing and elicit requirements, and identify project delivery timelines across application platforms
Elicit business requirements, and service objectives into application technology approaches, clearly articulating risks, trade-off, constraint, and key performance indicators (KPIs), and implementation considerations, from internal stakeholders to clarify and ensure effective solution design. Responsible of decision making around solution and technology project feasibility.
Provide clear communication of application delivery project status, risks, dependencies, and decision points to technology leadership and business stakeholders
Working with the Director, Applications and Platform Engineering, build alignment across business and end to end technology teams to support cohesive delivery across applications, platforms, data, security, infrastructure and operations
Communicate technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders and bridge any gaps to ensure seamless delivery
Application Strategy, Planning & Prioritization
Lead technology planning and technical roadmap development across enterprise bespoke applications, including leading technical due diligence, architecture evaluation, integration planning, and technical selection, in close collaboration with the Director and business stakeholders
Prioritize and sequence application work across multiple concurrent initiatives, balancing business value, technical risk, architectural integrity, delivery capacity, and operational sustainability.
Apply application engineering leadership, architecture, and delivery patterns to assess and structure initiatives
Manage application engineering capacity across concurrent initiatives, advising technology leadership on sequencing, trade-offs, and delivery feasibility
Provide leadership for major application modernization and migration initiatives, including planning, dependency management, risk resolution, and technical transition.
Project Intake, Solution Design & Execution
Lead and contribute to the intake process, ensuring clarity and completeness of business requirements
Lead end-to-end bespoke application solution design and work estimation to inform and support prioritization across multiple concurrent initiatives, with support from the Director, Applications & Platform Engineering
Assign and manage execution activities across the team to ensure scope, timelines and budget are met while surfacing risks and trade-offs with recommendations
Ensure effective transition to operations post deployment or launch leading the collaboration with the Infrastructure and Operations team
Architectural Leadership & Vendor Engagement
Drive end-to-end solution architecture and delivery of solutions for custom applications and system integrations
Align technical decisions with business objectives and architectural standards and make technical trade-offs within standards and guardrails set by the Director.
Drive and manage technical design reviews, code reviews and solution assessments to ensure alignment with enterprise architecture and platform constraints
Manage vendors selection and technical oversight, delivery quality, adherence to architecture, development and security standards
Ensure vendors provide documentation and knowledge transfer to enable a smooth transition to operations
Engineering Delivery Leadership
Establish governance practices for enterprise application change management, configuration, versioning, release management, and operational transition working closely with the Director to ensure alignment with emerging portfolio standards.
Prioritize, assign and manage execution activities across the team and perform execution activities, as required, to ensure business outcomes, scope, timelines and budget are met
Provides hands‑on engagement in complex solution design, architectural spikes, critical delivery phases, and high‑risk initiatives while maintaining overall leadership accountability.
Lead end-to-end solution development of bespoke applications and integrations tailored to business needs, using modern frameworks and engineering best practices.
Ensure code quality through standards, peer reviews, automated testing, and CI/CD pipelines.
Embed security and compliance into development workflows.
Contribute to internal application solution design standards, integration standards, API governance, and patterns (REST, event driven, messaging).
- Forecast and effectively manage technology application budget including year one operational costs, working within the budgetary guardrails set by the Director.
- Support the Director, as required, on new technical solution analysis
AI Prototyping & Proof-of-Concept Engineering
Lead the technology strategy for AI embedded technology products.
Support software engineers in solution design, production readiness, and the integration of AI prototypes and proof-of-concepts
Operational Excellence
Work with Infrastructure & Operations and business requirements partners to identify non-functional requirements, including operability, availability, performance, reliability, and security
Identify solution designs that implement these requirements in an efficient and well architected manner
Drive continuous improvement through agile ceremonies, including sprint planning and retrospectives
Ensure technical documentation is completed/updated for all delivered solutions.
Support issue management escalation (level 3) and drive continuous improvement.
Support disaster recovery and high-availability strategies.
Talent Management
Lead talent development, ensuring high standards, competence and that staff is well supported in fulfilling their accountabilities, developing their skills and achieving their career potential.
Develop and maintain solid succession planning and leadership development plans.
Providing clear direction on business goals and priorities; ensure optimal deployment of resources to achieve business goals.
Build and develop cohesive lateral relationships cross functionally.
Establish performance plan and objectives and review on an ongoing basis; provide coaching and feedback as per the performance management process
As required, recruit skilled talent in support of current and future Foundation needs, following Foundation policies, interviewing methodology and assessment guidelines.
Familiarize and comply with all Heart & Stroke policies, ensuring accurate administration of employee-related information (e.g., absence records, vacation, titles, etc.).
Foster collaboration with cross-functional partners in Product, Business, Data and Application Engineering, Security, and Infrastructure & Operations.
Who we need
Education
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and progressive professional experience.
Experience
Minimum 5+ years of technical leadership experience leading teams of developers, engineers and analysts including coaching and driving delivery accountability
7+ years of experience in application engineering, architecture and technical solution design, with demonstrated ownership of end-to-end delivery across complex environments
Strong experience with Azure, API/microservices, and modern code frameworks (e.g., React, Node.js, JavaScript, Python)
Experience working in cross-functional environments, translating business requirements into scaleable technical solutions and influencing delivery across multiple stakeholder groups
Experience working with external vendors and delivery partners, including managing scope, quality, timelines, and knowledge transfer to internal teams
Skills
Demonstrated application of security-by-design principles across architecture, development, and delivery
Strong application architecture and integration expertise including hands-on experience with APIs, event-driven systems, and end-to-end solution design.
Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (Azure preferred, or GCP) and modern application engineering practices
Experience with modern development stacks (e.g., React, Node.js, JavaScript, Python), CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, Git-based workflows, and Agile delivery
Demonstrated application of security-by-design principles across architecture, development, and delivery
Technology solution design, implementation, and troubleshooting
Proven experience with custom application engineering delivery operations and reliability management
Experience applying AI-enabled capabilities within application or engineering contexts, with appropriate guardrails for quality, security, and operational fit
Excellent stakeholder communication and collaboration including ability to elicit business requirements and translate into scalable technical solutions
Experience leading engineering teams with a hands-on approach, including coaching technical leads and building leadership capacity within the team
Strong vendor and partner management experience, including delivery oversight, quality assurance, and knowledge transfer to internal teams
Solution estimation and budget management skills – engineering project execution.
Ability to prioritize and work on multiple tasks across multiple stakeholders
Performs well under pressure. Shows diplomacy, tact, and good judgment when conflict arises.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills in application diagnostics, issue isolation, and resolution across integrated systems
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts, trade-offs and risks clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership
What we offer
At Heart & Stroke, we make it a priority to foster a culture of caring by implementing practices and programs that foster respect, compassion, trust and attentiveness to our own and others’ health and well-being.
This role offers a hiring range of $95,000 to $130,000, aligned with our compensation framework and your professional background. We believe that time off is integral to the personal health and wellness of our employees. We offer a generous paid time-off package including vacation days, personal days, wellness days, and paid company-wide closure between December 25 and January 1. We also provide competitive health, medical, dental and vision benefits, life insurance, disability benefits, an employee assistance program (EAP) and a defined contribution pension plan with employer matching. Our employees also enjoy a flexible hybrid working model and reimbursement for mobile phones and home office setup, as well as opportunities for professional development.
Apply now
If you want to join the fight to beat heart disease and stroke, please apply by sending your resume by May 26, 2026. Applicants must be currently residing in Canada and legally entitled to work in Canada.
Only those candidates that qualify will be selected for an interview. At this time, all interviews are being conducted via phone and/or video call ― we look forward to “virtually” meeting you!
Accommodation
We are committed to fostering an inclusive, barrier-free and accessible environment. If you have been contacted for an interview and require accommodation to participate in the recruitment and selection process, please let us know and we will do our best to address your needs.