Manager, sr&ed (software engineer)

At KPMG in Canada, our people bring their unique perspectives to Canada’s most important challenges. Here, you can build momentum that reaches beyond our business, develop skills for the future, and take ownership of your career with support at every stage. Join a firm where your career can make a difference.

KPMG’s Tax Incentives Practice works at the intersection of deep technical work and Canada’s SR&ED program. We partner with engineering and R&D teams to turn real experimental development into clear, defensible claims. As the complexity of software, systems, and multidisciplinary engineering work continues to rise, we are looking for a Manager with strong technical depth and a passion for understanding complex technologies.

This is an opportunity for someone who enjoys moving beyond high-level project summaries and standard descriptions of technological uncertainty. We are looking for an individual who is genuinely curious about how things work, enjoys collaborating with engineers, reconstructing experimental development efforts, understanding architecture, and writing narratives that accurately reflect the underlying scientific and engineering work.

• Lead SR&ED engagements for software, systems, and technology organizations, with a focus on producing high-quality technical documentation.
• Work directly with CTOs, principal engineers, and R&D leads to identify and document experimental development activities, including technological uncertainties, investigations, outcomes, and learnings.
• Review and enhance technical narratives to ensure they clearly articulate technological uncertainty, systematic investigation, and advancement.
• Coach team members on technical interviewing techniques, identifying meaningful technical details, reconstructing experimental work, and developing strong technical documentation.
• Advise clients on the eligibility of complex work involving architecture, integrations, algorithms, data systems, and multidisciplinary engineering challenges.
• Build trusted relationships with technical stakeholders through thoughtful collaboration and technical credibility.
• Stay current on both SR&ED policy and emerging technical domains so advice remains relevant and grounded in practical experience.

• A degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a closely related technical field.
• Hands-on experience building software with AI coding agents and tools (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex, MCP, custom skills/subagents, automation agents, and multi-agent workflows) beyond prompt writing, combined with strong system-level technical fluency to understand and evaluate architectures, technology stacks, and design decisions as explained by CTOs and development teams.
• Strong intellectual curiosity about engineering, science, and how complex systems behave under uncertainty, with an interest in understanding both successes and challenges encountered during development.
• The ability and patience to translate complex technical work into clear, precise, and defensible written narratives.
• Experience with SR&ED or similar innovation incentive programs is preferred, but not required for candidates who bring strong technical depth and a demonstrated commitment to rigorous documentation.
• Comfort leading client discussions with senior engineering leaders and supporting the development of junior team members.
• The ability to manage multiple engagements while maintaining a high standard of technical quality and depth.

Keys to Your Success

KPMG professionals are expected to approach their work with integrity, curiosity, collaboration and a commitment to quality.

For this role, success will also depend on your ability to:

• Think technically: Understand systems at the architectural level and identify the engineering constraints that materially affected development.
• Ask effective questions: Conduct persistent technical interviews that move beyond features and business objectives to uncover the underlying technological challenges.
• Think in systems: Understand how architecture, data, infrastructure, software components and operational constraints interact.
• Exercise judgment: Distinguish between routine engineering and work involving genuine technological uncertainty and experimental development.
• Learn quickly: Develop sufficient understanding of unfamiliar technologies to engage credibly with experienced technical teams.
• Work AI-natively: Use modern AI development tools as part of your normal technical workflow and continuously identify opportunities to improve how work is performed.
• Take ownership: Identify information gaps, technical risks and next steps and proactively work with clients and engagement teams to address them.
• Communicate clearly: Explain complex technical matters accurately and concisely without unnecessary technical or SR&ED terminology.

Who Will Thrive in This Role

• You will thrive in this role if you enjoy understanding how complex technology works and are motivated to get beneath the surface description of a development project.
• You are comfortable discussing architecture and engineering decisions with CTOs, architects and development teams, while continuing to ask questions until you understand the technical constraints that drove the work.
• You are intellectually curious and able to move from:

Feature → Implementation → Technical Obstacle → Underlying Constraint → Investigation → Technological Advancement

• You are also an active user of modern AI development tools and are interested in how coding agents, automation and agentic workflows can improve the way technical work is performed.
• Previous SR&ED experience is valuable, but deep SR&ED experience is not required. The successful candidate will bring the technical foundation, curiosity, judgment and learning agility required to develop strong SR&ED expertise within KPMG.
• This role provides an opportunity to work at the intersection of software engineering, artificial intelligence, technical consulting and SR&ED, while working directly with organizations developing some of Canada’s most complex and innovative technologies.

KPMG BC Region Pay Range Information 

The expected base salary range for this position is $85,000 to $128,500 and may be eligible for bonus awards. The determination of an applicant’s base salary within this range is based on the individual’s location, skills & competencies, and unique qualifications. In addition, KPMG offers a comprehensive and competitive Total Rewards program. 

Providing you with the support you need to be at your best 

#LI-Hybrid 

Integrity, we do what is right | Excellence, we never stop learning and improving | Courage, we think and act boldly | Together, we respect each other and draw strength from our differences | For Better, we do what matters

KPMG in Canada is a proud equal opportunities employer and we are committed to creating a respectful, inclusive and barrier-free workplace that allows all of our people to reach their full potential. A diverse workforce is key to our success and we believe in bringing your whole self to work. We welcome all qualified candidates to apply and hope you will choose KPMG in Canada as your employer of choice.

Adjustments and accommodations throughout the recruitment process

At KPMG, we are committed to fostering an inclusive recruitment process where all candidates can be themselves and excel. We aim to provide a positive experience and are prepared to offer adjustments or accommodations to help you perform at your best. Adjustments (informal requests), such as extra preparation time or the option for micro breaks during interviews, and accommodations (formal requests), such as accessible communication supports or technology aids, are tailored to individual needs and role requirements. You will have an opportunity to request an adjustment or accommodation at any point throughout the recruitment process. If you require support, please contact KPMG’s Employee Relations Service team by calling 1-888-466-4778.

AI Usage

We embrace the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the candidate experience and streamline our recruitment processes. AI tools may help with organizing applications or surfacing relevant qualifications. However, no hiring decisions are made using AI. Every hiring decision is made by our hiring managers and recruitment professionals, who are equipped with training that empowers them to use these tools responsibly. AI technologies used in our recruitment process undergo detailed risk assessments, including security and privacy requirements, that align with KPMG’s Trusted AI framework.

We believe technology should empower human judgment, not replace it. It’s one of the many ways we’re delivering on our vision of being a technology-first, people-driven firm.