Role Summary
We are seeking a strategic and technically strong Director of AI to lead our research and implementation efforts at the intersection of generative AI and cybersecurity. Reporting directly to the CTO, you will define and execute the end-to-end AI strategy — from identifying cutting-edge research opportunities to prototyping advanced capabilities and integrating them into production systems. This is a unique opportunity to lead AI innovation within a well-funded, high-growth startup.
You will have full ownership of AI research direction, evaluation frameworks, and prototype development, while also building and managing a growing AI team. Your impact will be measured by the innovation you drive and the value your AI solutions add to the product. This role is ideal for a senior AI professional with deep expertise in LLMs and agent systems, strong product thinking, and the ambition to architect foundational AI systems in a mission-critical domain.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead AI Strategy & Research: Own and execute the technical roadmap for AI, staying ahead of research trends to introduce transformative techniques in cybersecurity.
- Prototype Development: Design and implement end-to-end AI prototypes, working as a technical product manager to drive innovation from concept to production.
- Evaluation Frameworks: Build rigorous systems to evaluate model performance, agent behavior, fine-tuning quality, and real-world product impact.
- Technical Guidance: Partner with engineering teams to review architectures, influence implementation, and ensure scalability and performance of AI solutions.
- Team Leadership: Recruit, manage, and mentor a high-performing AI team; establish strong technical standards and operational processes.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with engineering leadership to ensure research leads to impactful product features and customer value.
- Stay at the Research Frontier: Continuously track developments in LLMs, agent frameworks, and broader AI trends relevant to enterprise and security use cases.
Qualifications
- AI/ML Experience: 7+ years in AI/ML, with 3+ years focused on LLMs, generative models, or agent-based systems.
- Hands-On Technical Expertise: Deep familiarity with modern transformer architectures, fine-tuning methods, and agent frameworks.
- Proven Leadership: Experience leading AI research or development at a top-tier organization or research lab, with a track record of delivering innovations that reach production.
- Research-to-Product Execution: Ability to bridge advanced research with practical product implementations — from academic papers to scalable prototypes.
- Product-Minded Thinking: Strategic mindset for applying AI to real-world problems; strong understanding of measuring and optimizing system performance.
- Strong Engineering Background: Solid understanding of software engineering principles and scalable AI system architecture.
- Team Building: Experience managing and mentoring AI researchers and engineers, with a focus on building collaborative, high-impact teams.
- NLP & Agents Focus: Extensive background in natural language processing and agent systems, with hands-on work using tools such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar.
Preferred (Not Required)
- Experience applying AI to cybersecurity or enterprise software challenges
- Background in high-growth AI startups
- Advanced academic qualifications (e.g., PhD) with publications in top AI venues
- Experience in AI safety, evaluation design, or responsible AI practices
- Expertise in custom AI benchmarking and evaluation frameworks
Why This Role?
- Lead AI Innovation: Own and drive technical strategy at a company redefining how generative AI can secure digital environments.
- Research-to-Impact Pipeline: See your research directly influence product features with measurable real-world impact.
- Expert Team Collaboration: Work alongside experienced leaders in AI and cybersecurity, enabling both technical depth and rapid execution.
- Shape the Future of AI in Security: Define best practices and set the foundation for how generative AI transforms an entire industry.
- High-Growth Opportunity: Take on a senior leadership role at a fast-moving startup with strong funding and significant ownership potential.
London, United Kingdom – Remote options may be available.
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