AI Delivery Lead

The Citation Group; Wilmslow; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

The Citation Group is seeking an experienced Transformation Lead to steer our AI platform rollout. You will align engineering teams, manage dependencies, and shape how we adopt new tools and ways of working.

You will measure progress with concrete metrics, report honestly when things are off track, and ensure delivered changes improve speed, quality and value for our customers.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading the delivery of AI or major technology change across several engineering teams.
• Strong portfolio, dependency and risk management.
• A track record of changing how teams work, not just what they deliver.

Responsibilities

• Own the roadmap across the AI platform, agent tooling and team adoption, and keep it current.
• Help teams take up new tools and ways of working through sessions and hands-on support.
• Track measures like time to production, adoption and cost per change.
• Use AI as a natural part of planning, analysis, and reporting.

Skills

AI delivery

Program leadership

Risk management

Cross-team collaboration

CI/CD & DevOps

Job description

We are The Citation Group - a collective of businesses dedicated to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises across a range of essential services. We know that running a business means juggling a lot. Our mission is to ease these pressures by providing expertise, guidance, and solutions that enable business leaders to focus on what they do best. From HR and Health & Safety to Cybersecurity, E-Learning, and ISO compliance, we've got you covered.

Citation Group has achieved strong growth through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, continually broadening our expertise, services, and reach to create a one-stop shop that supports businesses across the UK, Canada and Australia.

Role Purpose

We are changing how our engineering teams build software, with AI agents at the centre. That means a new AI platform, new ways of working for every team, and new measures to prove it is working, all landing at the same time.

You will make sure it lands. Sitting in our AI team, you will own the plan across this transformation, keep the pieces moving together, and help teams genuinely adopt new ways of working. This is not a reporting role. You will be judged on what changes, not on what gets scheduled.

The right person has led real change across engineering teams, is comfortable in technical conversations, and cares more about outcomes than activity.

Key Responsibilities

Own the Transformation Plan

• Own the roadmap across the AI platform, agent tooling and team adoption, and keep it current.
• Manage dependencies, risks and milestones across several teams, and make trade-offs visible early.
• Report progress honestly, including when something is off track and what you are doing about it.

Drive Adoption

• Help teams take up new tools and ways of working through sessions, office hours and hands-on support.
• Work closely with engineering managers and agile coaches to remove what is getting in the way.
• Turn what works in one team into a pattern every team can use.

Measure What Matters

• Track the measures that show the change is working, such as time from starting work to production, adoption and cost per change.
• Use data rather than anecdote to decide where to focus next.
• Make progress visible to teams and leaders in a way that drives action.

AI-Native Practice

• Use AI as a natural part of how you plan, analyse, report and communicate.
• Bring a critical eye to AI-generated output, and take responsibility for what you share.

Required Experience and Skills

Delivery

• Proven experience leading the delivery of AI or major technology change across several engineering teams.
• Strong portfolio, dependency and risk management.
• A track record of changing how teams work, not just what they deliver.

Technical Fluency

• Comfortable discussing AI agents, platforms and engineering measures with engineers.
• Understanding of modern delivery practice, including CI/CD and DevOps.

Behavioural

• Outcome-focused: you measure success by what changes.
• Collaborative: you bring people with you rather than mandating.
• Honest and calm: you surface problems early and keep momentum under pressure.
• Curious: you keep learning as the technology moves.

Nice to Have

• Delivery of agentic AI in production.
• Experience with engineering metrics such as cycle time and deployment frequency.
• Experience in private-equity-backed or multi-business organisations.
• Experience in B2B SaaS or Citation domains such as HR, Health and Safety or Compliance.

About Citation Group

The Citation Group provides mission-critical compliance, HR and health & safety services and software to over 120,000 businesses across the UK, Australia and Canada.

Professionals with personality - serious about what we do, brilliant to work with. Backed by Hg, KKR and HarbourVest.