AI Accelerator Lead — Hybrid, Strategy & Prototyping

Key Recruitment; Southampton; Hybrid; GBP 79,000 - 92,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Pension contribution

Hybrid 50/50 working

Learning & development

Wellbeing support

Job summary

Key Recruitment in Southampton is seeking an AI Accelerator Lead to establish a strategic AI initiative. Hybrid 50/50, salary £79,079–£92,258, guiding rapid prototyping and cross-functional collaboration to turn AI concepts into production-ready solutions in geospatial contexts.

You will lead programme design, mentor teams, vet techniques like LLMs, agentic systems, and orchestration, and work with product, data, and tech partners to ensure responsible AI governance and measurable impact.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in AI/ML engineering, software development and leadership.
• Strong understanding of modern AI techniques (LLMs, agentic systems, orchestration).
• Ability to write production-grade code and define engineering practices.
• Programme design, stakeholder engagement and impact evaluation experience.
• Passion for responsible AI adoption and governance.

Responsibilities

• Programme Leadership: design and run the AI Accelerator as a high-impact programme.
• Exploration & Innovation: identify high-value AI applications and assess risks.
• Technical Delivery: lead prototypes, write production-grade code, guide transitions to production.
• Capability Building: mentor participants and curate learning resources.
• Stakeholder Engagement: align initiatives with priorities and ethical standards.
• Communicating Impact: report outcomes to senior stakeholders and influence roadmap.

Skills

AI leadership

Software development

Technical leadership

LLMs

Agentic systems

Orchestration frameworks

Mentoring

Stakeholder engagement

Responsible AI

Job description

Key Recruitment in Southampton is seeking an AI Accelerator Lead to establish a strategic AI initiative. Hybrid 50/50, salary £79,079–£92,258, guiding rapid prototyping and cross-functional collaboration to turn AI concepts into production-ready solutions in geospatial contexts.

You will lead programme design, mentor teams, vet techniques like LLMs, agentic systems, and orchestration, and work with product, data, and tech partners to ensure responsible AI governance and measurable impact.