AI Architecture Lead: Systems, Governance & Cost

The Citation Group; Preston; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Citation seeks an AI Architect to own AI architecture for the AI/Data area. You will advance patterns, guardrails, and decision records, working with Delivery, Product, Security, and Infrastructure.

You will align hosting and model choices with a formal framework and drive architectural governance across live builds. This senior role requires hands-on experience with production AI systems, and the ability to influence decisions beyond your immediate team.

Qualifications

• Senior-level software/data/platform architect with 6+ years’ hands-on experience in production AI systems.
• Strong ability to define and govern AI architecture patterns and standards.
• Experience evaluating open-weight vs. closed models with cost and risk considerations.

Responsibilities

• Own AI architectural patterns and standards across the AI/Data domain.
• Assess third-party SOWs architecturally before commitments.
• Define model routing, prompt construction and guardrail design.
• Ensure token spend and hosting choices align with a formal decision framework.
• Involve Security and Compliance early in AI initiatives.
• Escalate decisions to Architecture Review Board as needed.

Tools

Llama

Mistral

Qwen

OpenAI API

Anthropic API

Job description

Citation seeks an AI Architect to own AI architecture for the AI/Data area. You will advance patterns, guardrails, and decision records, working with Delivery, Product, Security, and Infrastructure.

You will align hosting and model choices with a formal framework and drive architectural governance across live builds. This senior role requires hands-on experience with production AI systems, and the ability to influence decisions beyond your immediate team.