AI Solutions Lead

FIRST; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private Medical Insurance

Annual Leave

Volunteer Day

Sick Pay

Parental Leave

Wellness Stipend

Headspace Access

Life Insurance

EAP

Cycle to Work

Season Ticket Loan

Phone Allowance

Pension Enhancements

Discretionary Bonus

Job summary

FIRST is seeking an AI Solutions Lead to design and build working AI solutions, then scale successful prototypes across the company. You will bridge business, product, and technology, turning ambiguous problems into practical technical briefs and leading a growing technical team.

You will work within FIONA, FIRST's AI studio, collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders to drive rapid, governance-conscious delivery and hands-on execution.

Qualifications

• 5-8 years of relevant experience in AI/product roles.
• Experience blending hands-on building with business analysis.
• Proven ability to translate ambiguous problems into technical briefs.

Responsibilities

• Bridge business, product, and technology: run discovery workshops and translate ambiguous, multi-stakeholder problems into clear, actionable technical briefs.
• Build and design AI solutions and tools: use agentic workflows and AI coding tools to go from concept to a working proof of concept, hands-on, with lean resourcing.
• Scale what works: take AI solutions that prove out and drive their adoption across other teams and use cases at FIRST, rather than leaving them as one-off builds.
• Own solution design for AI Innovation Studio initiatives, staying close enough to the build to keep designs practical and buildable rather than theoretical.
• Contribute to foundational data/AI governance (e.g., responsible use, data-rights clarity) relevant to what gets built.
• Prioritize speed and pragmatic delivery over exhaustive engineering polish, consistent with FIONA's early-phase, momentum-building mandate.
• As the Studio grows, take on direct management of technical staff.

Skills

Python

Business analysis

Communication

Cross-functional

Mentoring

AI tooling

Discovery workshops

Tools

Claude

ChatGPT Codex

Copilot

Cursor

Job description

Building a Brand Starts with a Story

FIRST is a leading global brand experience agency providing Content, Creative, Digital Technology, Management & Delivery, and Data & Insights services. For 30 years, we have utilized three flexible delivery models: Embedded teams, Corporate Campus operations, and a Full-Service Agency.

Managing over 37,000 events & projects annually across 110 countries, FIRST serves 130+ brands, specializing in Fortune 500 companies within the Financial Services, Technology, Healthcare, Media, and Professional Services sectors. FIRST is part of the broader Encore family of companies. Encore is a global leader in event production and technology.

Consistently recognized for excellence, recent honors include 2026 Chief Marketer Agency of the Year, the Ad Net Zero Award for sustainability, and more.

Learn more at www.firstagency.com

What You Would Get To Do

FIONA, FIRST's Innovation and AI unit, exists to establish the company as an intelligence-driven partner. The AI Solutions Lead is a hands‑on builder role within FIONA's new AI Innovation Studio: someone who designs and personally builds working AI solutions, then scales what works across the company. The role bridges business, product, and technology by turning ambiguous problems into working prototypes using modern AI‑assisted development, then driving adoption so proven solutions spread beyond their first use case. As FIONA continues to grow, this role is expected to take on direct line management of technical staff.

Your Contributions

• Bridge business, product, and technology: run discovery workshops and translate ambiguous, multi-stakeholder problems into clear, actionable technical briefs.
• Build and design AI solutions and tools: use agentic workflows and AI coding tools to go from concept to a working proof of concept, hands‑on, with lean resourcing.
• Scale what works: take AI solutions that prove out and drive their adoption across other teams and use cases at FIRST, rather than leaving them as one‑off builds.
• Own solution design for AI Innovation Studio initiatives, staying close enough to the build to keep designs practical and buildable rather than theoretical.
• Contribute to foundational data/AI governance (e.g., responsible use, data‑rights clarity) relevant to what gets built.
• Prioritize speed and pragmatic delivery over exhaustive engineering polish, consistent with FIONA's early‑phase, momentum‑building mandate.
• As the Studio grows, take on direct management of technical staff.

What We Are Looking For

• 5-8 years of relevant experience
• AI Agentic & Coding Tools (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT Codex, etc)
• Database and cloud technologies
• Python
• 5+ years in a role blending hands‑on technical building with business analysis or solution design, comfortably running discovery workshops and working directly with cross‑functional or client stakeholders.
• Strong, demonstrable fluency with agentic workflows and AI coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor).
• A track record of personally building and shipping working AI or data prototypes, not just specifying them for someone else to build.
• Working knowledge of data governance practices.
• Evidence of mentoring, informal leadership, or leading workstreams. Formal line‑management experience is not required now, but this role is expected to take on direct reports as the team scales.
• Strong communication skills — able to translate technical work for both technical and non‑technical audiences.

At FIRST, we believe that the passion, creativity, and commitment of our teams drive our success. That's why we offer a range of benefits and perks to support your personal and professional growth

• Private Medical Insurance with BUPA from day one
• 28 Days Annual Leave PLUS Bank Holidays
• Personal Volunteer Day
• 20 Days of Sick Pay each Year
• Enhanced Parental Leave (Maternity & Paternity)
• Wellness Stipend
• Complimentary access to Headspace, Rocket Lawyer & Maven
• Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Season Ticket Loan
• Mobile Phone Allowance
• Pension Scheme Enhancements
• Discretionary Bonus Structure
• Global Opportunities: With a presence in 7 countries worldwide, including headquarters in London, New York, and Singapore, you may have the opportunity to work on exciting projects across different locations.

FIRST is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. FIRST is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. We stand firm: FIRST will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. If any candidate feels that they are unable to meet the requirements of the role, please get in touch to discuss adjustments or other suitable roles.