AI Engineering Manager

Lebara Media Services Private Ltd; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A telecommunications firm in Greater London seeks a Lead AI Engineer to oversee and scale a high-performing AI engineering team. This role involves managing delivery from ideation to production deployment while ensuring technical excellence and collaboration with various stakeholders. Candidates should have strong hands-on coding skills, practical AI operations experience, and a proven record in leadership. The position offers an exciting opportunity to innovate within AI technologies and contribute to transformative projects in telecommunications.

Qualifications

• Hands-on coding skills and active involvement in AI development.
• Practical experience in AI operations and MLOps.
• Proven track record in people management and delivery leadership.

Responsibilities

• Build, manage, and mentor a team of AI Engineers and researchers.
• Co-own the AI roadmap alongside the AI Solution Architect.
• Coordinate across organizational stakeholders including Data Governance.
• Maintain high standards in AI delivery and operations.

Skills

Hands-on coding skills

Practical experience in AI operations

Knowledge of digital technologies

Proven track record in people management

Exposure to AI initiatives

Solid understanding of software engineering

ROI-focused mindset

Familiarity with cloud platforms

Job description

Lead and scale a high-performing AI engineering team while driving end-to-end delivery of AI solutions from ideation through production deployment in the telecommunications sector.

Responsibilities:

Team Leadership & Development

• Build, manage, and mentor a team of AI Engineers and researchers through hiring, onboarding, and regular 1:1s
• Foster technical excellence by documenting and championing engineering best practices
• Conduct daily/weekly/monthly delivery ceremonies including stand-ups and sprint planning

Strategic Delivery & Roadmap Ownership

• Co‑own and execute the AI roadmap alongside the AI Solution Architect
• Manage the AI engineering backlog, prioritizing initiatives in collaboration with the Solution Architect
• Translate business requirements into actionable AI backlogs with product managers
• Own complete AI delivery lifecycle from concept to production deployment

Stakeholder Management & Governance

• Coordinate across organizational stakeholders including Data Governance, Security, and country business teams
• Manage delivery expectations by clearly defining experiments, rollouts, and solution iterations
• Ensure compliance with internal and external governance frameworks and regulations
• Advocate for AI trends and technological advancements relevant to telecommunications

Quality & Performance Management

• Maintain high standards in AI delivery and operations
• Track team progress and solution performance using relevant KPIs and metrics
• Adhere to AI development and delivery engineering lifecycle standards

Skills & Requirements:

• Hands‑on coding skills and active involvement in AI development
• Practical experience in AI operations and MLOps
• Knowledge of digital and data technologies including web/mobile applications and DataLake architectures

Leadership Excellence:

• Proven track record in people management and delivery leadership

AI Project Experience:

• Hands‑on exposure to AI initiatives including GenAI, voice bots, AI agents, and similar technologies

Technical Foundation:

• Solid understanding of software engineering fundamentals and principles

Business Acumen:

• ROI‑focused mindset for evaluating and delivering AI solutions

Cloud & AI Expertise:

• Working knowledge of cloud platforms and familiarity with AI tools, frameworks, and concepts including LLMs, RAG, prompt engineering, and Python programming