AI Architecture Lead: Shape Strategy & Production Solutions

MRJ Recruitment; Manchester; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

MRJ Recruitment invites an experienced AI Architect to define how AI fits into the organisation's technology landscape and to turn high‑value opportunities into production‑ready solutions. You will shape architectural direction, set standards, and stay close to delivery to prove what works.

This role spans across technology, data, security, product and operations to design AI‑enabled products, services and workflows while balancing pace, cost and maintainability.

Qualifications

• Designing and delivering complex cloud‑based solutions.
• Practical experience with modern AI solution patterns (LLM apps, RAG, agents, orchestration).
• Strong understanding of integration architecture, APIs, event‑driven systems, identity, data platforms and enterprise security.
• Judgement to choose simple, scalable architectures with a clear path to growth.
• Experience moving new tech from prototype to production.

Responsibilities

• Define the target architecture and technical roadmap for the organisation's AI capability.
• Translate business problems into clear solution designs, architectural options and delivery increments.
• Design end-to-end AI solutions spanning data, models, retrieval, agents, applications, APIs, integrations and cloud services.
• Establish reference architectures, reusable patterns and guardrails for generative AI, RAG, intelligent automation and agentic workflows.
• Lead technical discovery and rapid proofs of value, then shape the route from prototype to production.
• Set expectations for security, privacy, observability, resilience, evaluation, human oversight and responsible AI.
• Assess model, platform and vendor options, including build-versus-buy decisions, commercial implications and lock‑in risk.
• Partner with engineering and delivery teams through implementation, resolving design decisions without creating unnecessary governance.
• Communicate complex architecture clearly to executives, delivery teams and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Help build the team, engineering culture and technical capability needed to scale AI across the business.

Skills

Cloud‑based design

LLM patterns

RAG

Agents

Orchestration

Security & privacy

Communication to execs

Hands-on engineering

Job description

MRJ Recruitment invites an experienced AI Architect to define how AI fits into the organisation's technology landscape and to turn high‑value opportunities into production‑ready solutions. You will shape architectural direction, set standards, and stay close to delivery to prove what works.

This role spans across technology, data, security, product and operations to design AI‑enabled products, services and workflows while balancing pace, cost and maintainability.