AI Architecture Lead – Retail Tech Consulting

Smart Sourcer Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Smart Sourcer Limited seeks an Engineering Manager (Consulting) to guide enterprise engineering teams, shape architecture, and embed modern AI engineering practices in global retail clients. You will lead across omnichannel platforms, supply chains, and store operations, driving AI adoption while keeping a hands-off coding approach.

You’ll influence senior stakeholders, define roadmaps, and champion safe, scalable AI-enabled architectures across large retail organisations worldwide.

Qualifications

• Experience as an engineer progressing to Tech Lead/Engineering Manager in large-scale environments.
• Retail tech experience preferred (e-commerce, POS, OMS, ERP, supply chain).
• Strong architectural capability across cloud-native, distributed systems and enterprise platforms.
• Practical experience delivering AI/ML systems into production (MLOps, monitoring, safety).
• Familiarity with agentic coding systems (Claude Code, PI, MCP tools).
• Ability to understand engineering work at a deep level without hands-on coding.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural design and technical strategy for AI-enabled platforms and enterprise systems across retail domains (e-commerce, fulfilment, merchandising, supply chain, store operations).
• Introduce AI engineering practices including model lifecycle management, evaluation frameworks, data pipelines, CI/CD for ML, observability, safety and governance.
• Guide teams in adopting agentic coding systems (Claude Code, PI, MCP tools) and integrating them into real workflows, repos and delivery processes.
• Act as a fractional Engineering Manager for client teams: shaping delivery, improving engineering discipline, and unblocking complex technical decisions.
• Review designs, challenge assumptions, and ensure solutions are buildable, scalable and safe.
• Coach engineering squads on modern practices: cloud-native architecture, distributed systems, event-driven patterns, scalable ML deployment.
• Translate ambiguous business goals into clear technical direction, actionable roadmaps and architectural patterns.
• Partner with CTOs, Heads of Engineering, Architecture and programme leadership to raise engineering maturity and accelerate AI adoption across retail technology estates.

Skills

Retail tech

Architectural design

AI engineering

Agentic coding

Tools

Claude Code

PI

MCP tools

Job description

Smart Sourcer Limited seeks an Engineering Manager (Consulting) to guide enterprise engineering teams, shape architecture, and embed modern AI engineering practices in global retail clients. You will lead across omnichannel platforms, supply chains, and store operations, driving AI adoption while keeping a hands-off coding approach.

You’ll influence senior stakeholders, define roadmaps, and champion safe, scalable AI-enabled architectures across large retail organisations worldwide.