Director, AI Centre of Excellence

About this opportunity:

Reporting to the Vice-President, Business Transformation, the Director, AI Centre of Excellence is the enterprise operational leader responsible for advancing and scaling Cenovus’s AI capability. The Director leads the AI Centre of Excellence at the centre of Cenovus’s Hub and Spoke operating model. Building on the strong foundation already established, this role translates enterprise priorities into an AI program that delivers measurable business value and helps Cenovus leverage AI effectively at scale.

This role will act as a change leader who understands AI and knows how to turn emerging technology into practical business outcomes while building the teams, operating models and foundation required to sustain them. The role will be adept at operating in ambiguity, making prioritization decisions under competing demands, and influencing executives, technical teams and business leaders toward a common outcome.

This is an opportunity to shape how Cenovus uses AI across the enterprise, scale its impact consistently and responsibly, and help position the company for sustained competitive advantage. Success in this role means delivering measurable business value through AI, enabling business areas to become increasingly self-sufficient, and establishing confidence that AI is being used responsibly across Cenovus.

What you’ll do:

• Lead the AI Centre of Excellence, including a multidisciplinary team of AI, delivery and business enablement professionals.
• Lead the next phase of Cenovus’s Hub and Spoke operating model, enabling business areas to develop their own AI capabilities while using common enterprise services, standards and components.
• Own the enterprise AI strategy, roadmap and portfolio, including intake, prioritization, capacity allocation, delivery oversight and executive reporting.
• Partner with the business to identify, characterize and capture value from AI initiatives.
• Build enterprise AI capability through spoke enablement, communities of practice, reusable delivery approaches and the consistent scaling of proven solutions.
• Partner with D&IT and other enabling functions to establish sustainable governance, standards, operating practices and delivery models that enable responsible AI adoption at scale.
• Influence and align executives, business leaders, enabling functions, external partners and the Board of Directors around enterprise AI priorities and outcomes.
• Lead enterprise AI prioritization and trade-off decisions across value, risk, governance, adoption and capacity constraints.

Who you are:

• Legally authorized to work in Canada.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, engineering, computer science, data science, information systems or another relevant discipline. Equivalent combination of education and directly applicable experience may be considered.
• Minimum 20 years of industry experience, with 10 years of progressive leadership experience demonstrating increasing organizational scope and accountability to senior stakeholders.
• Minimum 5 years of experience working at the intersection of technology and business outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional enterprise programs involving executive stakeholders and teams outside the candidate’s direct authority.
• Strong knowledge of enterprise AI technologies, vendors and emerging trends.
• Sufficient AI literacy to evaluate proposals, challenge assumptions and lead informed decisions. No specific AI or technical certification is required.
• Working knowledge of responsible AI, risk-based governance, human oversight, transparency, model evaluation and model lifecycle management.
• Demonstrated change leadership and organizational transformation capability, including the ability to drive adoption and address barriers to sustained use.
• Strong portfolio and program management capability, including intake, prioritization, capacity management, delivery oversight and value characterization.
• Sufficient understanding of enterprise data, architecture, cybersecurity and technology operations to work effectively with D&IT and other technical functions.
• Strong business and financial acumen, with a demonstrated focus on measurable outcomes and value creation.

The following experience would be considered an asset:

• Designing, establishing or scaling a Centre of Excellence or Hub and Spoke operating model.
• Leading an enterprise AI, data, digital or transformation capability.
• Managing external technical delivery partners and AI vendors.
• Communicating program performance and strategic recommendations to executives or a Board.
• Working in the energy sector or another asset-intensive industry. Enterprise AI and transformation leadership experience is more important than direct industry experience.

We acknowledge the value of transferrable skills and may consider equivalent combinations of experience and education should you not meet a specific requirement.

Note: The application deadline for this position is 11:59 PM MT November 3, 2026.

Cenovus was ranked one of Canada’s Best Employers in 2025. We’re committed to being an employer of choice in our industry by offering a competitive total rewards package and employee programs and rewarding career development opportunities.

If you require accessibility assistance to complete the on-line application or otherwise apply for an open position with Cenovus, its subsidiaries and affiliates, please email [email protected].

Who we are:

Ranked as one of Canada’s Best Employers in 2025, Cenovus is an integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary. We’re committed to maximizing value by developing our assets in a safe, responsible and cost-efficient manner. We operate in Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region. Our operations include oil sands projects in northern Alberta, thermal and conventional crude oil and natural gas projects across Western Canada, crude oil production offshore Newfoundland and Labrador and natural gas and liquids production offshore China and Indonesia. Cenovus’s downstream operations include upgrading, refining and marketing operations in Canada and the United States.

Find Cenovus on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. 

The Cenovus experience

Total rewards

We’re committed to being an employer of choice through competitive compensation and our comprehensive total rewards package, including:

• Paid vacation (including a flex day program for eligible staff)
• Health & dental benefits
• Substantial mental health coverage
• Life insurance
• Disability benefits
• Employee family assistance
• Virtual healthcare coverage

Our development philosophy

We foster a culture of continuous learning and development to support employees as they build meaningful careers. We offer a variety of employee development initiatives, including:

• Internal course offerings
• Education assistance for additional development
• Opportunities to work on special projects
• Leadership development programs for emerging and established leaders

We actively promote internal job movement, recognizing the value of gaining new perspectives, building connections across teams, and applying expertise in new ways. As a fully integrated energy company, we believe that sharing knowledge across our business and operations creates stronger outcomes—for employees and for the company as a whole.

Our culture

• Our purpose: We energize the world to make people’s lives better.
• Our values:
  • Protect what matters
  • Do it right
  • Make it better
  • Do it together

• Cenovus Cares: We believe in the power of purpose-driven work. Our Employee Giving and Volunteering Program, Cenovus Cares, connects our people to our purpose, inspiring action and elevating impact year-round.
  • Support causes you care about with volunteer opportunities in and outside of work.
  • Earn donation grants while volunteering (up to $1,000 per event).
  • Receive donation matching up to $10,000 annually.

• Staff resource groups: We have various staff resource groups to help ensure our people feel a sense of belonging and can grow and do their best work. These voluntary groups are employee-led and all groups are open to all staff in all locations.

Equal opportunity employer

We believe a workplace where everyone has merit-based opportunities to grow, achieve career aspirations and feel a sense of belonging benefits our people, our company and the regions where we live and work. We embrace and encourage different perspectives and approaches, which help us make better business decisions. We believe that through this approach, we can solve challenges, seize opportunities and unlock innovative solutions.

To achieve an unbiased and respectful workplace, individuals are evaluated based on qualifications, merit and abilities, and we encourage applications from all qualified candidates. We also acknowledge the value of transferrable skills and may consider equivalent combinations of experience and education should you not meet a specific requirement.

For more information about working at Cenovus, visit cenovus.com.

The requirements of this posting may be modified to support business needs. Title and compensation administration will be based on the skills and capabilities of the successful incumbent.

Interested in this opportunity? Click the Apply link.

If you are a CURRENT EMPLOYEE, please apply by going to our Internal Career Site.