AI Tech Lead: Generative AI & Enterprise ML Leader

Thales Group; Reading; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Thales Group in Reading is seeking an experienced AI Technical Lead to steer the design, delivery and governance of enterprise AI initiatives. You will collaborate with Agile teams, define architectures for Generative AI, RAG, and ML platforms, and ensure solutions are scalable, secure and compliant.

The role requires mentoring engineers, leading POCs, and embedding responsible AI practices while coordinating with security, legal and compliance functions.

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science or related discipline.
• Relevant cloud certifications (Microsoft Azure preferred).
• AI, Machine Learning or Data certifications advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical implementation of the organisation's AI strategy.
• Define AI engineering standards, patterns and best practices.
• Act as the technical authority for AI-related projects and programmes.
• Mentor and develop engineers, architects and technical specialists.
• Design scalable AI and machine learning solutions.
• Establish patterns for integrating AI services into enterprise applications.
• Ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, security and compliance requirements.
• Lead technical design reviews and architecture governance activities.
• Collaborate with Agile delivery teams to embed AI capabilities into products and services.
• Establish CI/CD pipelines and MLOps practices.
• Drive technical quality, performance and operational resilience.
• Design and implement solutions using Large Language Models (LLMs).
• Develop Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures.
• Implement prompt engineering and AI orchestration frameworks.
• Evaluate AI model performance, accuracy and cost optimisation.
• Ensure effective use of Microsoft Copilot, Azure OpenAI and other enterprise AI services where appropriate.
• Ensure responsible AI principles are embedded in all solutions.
• Implement monitoring, auditability and model governance controls.
• Assess risks relating to bias, security, privacy and ethical use of AI.
• Work with legal, security and compliance teams to maintain regulatory adherence.
• Support AI governance boards and decision-making forums.
• Stakeholder Management Engage with senior business stakeholders to understand challenges and opportunities.
• Translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Present AI roadmaps, technical options and recommendations to leadership audiences.
• Build strong relationships across technology, data and operational teams.

Skills

Software engineering

AI solutions

Azure OpenAI

Python

APIs & microservices

Cloud-native architecture

DevOps & CI/CD

Kubernetes

MLOps

Education

CS/Software Engineering degree

Microsoft Azure certifications

AI/ML/Data certifications advantageous

Tools

LangChain

Semantic Kernel

Kubernetes

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Thales Group in Reading is seeking an experienced AI Technical Lead to steer the design, delivery and governance of enterprise AI initiatives. You will collaborate with Agile teams, define architectures for Generative AI, RAG, and ML platforms, and ensure solutions are scalable, secure and compliant.

The role requires mentoring engineers, leading POCs, and embedding responsible AI practices while coordinating with security, legal and compliance functions.