Head of Advanced AI Engineering

Head of Advanced AI Engineering

Salary: £137,848 – £209,440

Location: London, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh or Leeds

Hours: Full‑time – 35 hours, Hybrid working model (at least two days per week or 40% of time at an office site).

Job Summary

Lead and manage the new Advanced AI Engineering team within the Data & AI Unit of the Chief Technology Office, reporting to the Group Director of Data & AI Architecture. Drive the adoption of Agentic AI, shape the Group’s AI strategy, and oversee the development of AI‑powered products and services.

Responsibilities

• Lead applied research and development engineers to evaluate emerging AI technologies.
• Build, deliver and iterate on minimum viable products (MVPs) and enable their transition into production at scale.
• Ensure the delivery of high‑quality conversational AI solutions across channels, with an emphasis on safety, reliability, auditability and explainability.
• Shape technical direction and drive applied research and prototyping for AI innovation.
• Collaborate closely with senior leaders, platform, CIO and engineering teams to align AI initiatives with business strategy.
• Act as a trusted advisor to executive leadership, influencing business strategy and technology decisions.
• Manage governance and risk related to reliability, security, safety, and explainability in a regulated environment.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading research and development and/or software engineering teams in complex enterprise environments.
• Recognised expertise in GenAI and Agentic AI technologies, with a track record of delivering AI systems to production.
• Deep expertise in software engineering, application development and solution architecture, backed by hands‑on experience.
• Experience with AI‑SDLC tooling (e.g. GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor) to accelerate engineering productivity.
• Background in regulated environments, managing reliability, security, safety and explainability risks.
• Experience acting as a trusted advisor to executive leadership and influencing business strategy.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work with cross‑functional teams.

Benefits

• Generous pension contribution of up to 15%.
• Annual bonus award, subject to Group performance.
• Share schemes, including free shares.
• 30 days’ holiday, plus bank holidays.
• Well‑being initiatives and generous parental leave policies.

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