First of all, you should refine your French before moving here. It's more or less a necessity. It's possible to get a good job here without speaking French, but it's harder.
What type of work are you looking for?
With a Masters you could get a job teaching in one of the many CEGEPs here, in which case your French is a non-issue, but they are fairly coveted jobs from what I understand try: dawson.qc.ca., johnabbott.qc.ca and vanier.qc.ca for job opportunities. .
Keep an eye on the University websites (www.mcgill.ca, www.concordia.ca) and check their career sites - you can get fairly good Admin jobs there without requiring a large degree of French. They're very stable and well-paying.
Getting a job here without specific qualifications and without french will be tough, so I would recommend just applying for jobs from where you are, and if you get interviews either arrange to do them over the phone or by taking a week-trip up here. Or come here for a month, sublet a room, and just search, search, search.
Neighbourhoods - depends on what you want - prices vary, as do apartment styles, noise-levels, accessibility, future development, etc.. NDG (around Vendome and Villa Maria metros) is pretty English, central, reasonably cheap and fairly residential. It has a lot of Concordia students and young families. By no means a happening place, it's pretty good if you're just moving here and looking for a sane, quiet, cheap life.
Mile End is also a great neighbourhood and if you like to party, is very close to the Plateau where 80?f English Montreal's nightlife is. It's gotten very gentrified in the past 10 years, so is more expensive than it used to be, but it's still reasonably priced, especially if you're coming from an American city. Anything between Mont-Royal and Jean Talon might be ok for you.
Verdun and St Henri are still very French and working-class, but they're becoming gentrified quickly, so if you're looking to get cheap rent with good future potential, and quick access to downtown, these two neighbourhoods area good bet.
websites for job search:
http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/Intro_eng.aspx www.monster.ca
montreal.craigslist.org
montrealgazette.com for jobs too
information about immigrating to Canada/Quebec can be found here:
http://www.ci.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp It's worthwhile to know that if you are planning to immigrate to Montreal, you have to be accepted by Quebec and the Federal Government.
These are the criteria that QC looks for:
http://www.ci.gc.ca/english/immigrate/quebec/index.asp This self-assessment quiz will give you a good idea if you're even eligible
http://www.ci.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assess/index.asp good luck!