AI Transformation Lead

St Clare's School; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognita, a global group of international schools, seeks an AI Transformation Lead in London to own the delivery of the AI strategy. You will lead an AI Adoption Lead and AI Engineers, direct delivery partners, and be accountable to the Group Head of Data Services and senior leadership.

This is a hands-on leadership role with international travel. Reporting to the Group Head of Data Services, you will be based in London three days a week, with some international travel.

Qualifications

• Proven live AI delivery with measurable value.
• Understanding agentic architecture and guardrails.
• Ability to lead a small team of engineering/adoption specialists.

Responsibilities

• Own delivery of the AI strategy and outcomes.
• Lead an AI Adoption Lead and AI Engineers.
• Direct delivery partners and report to senior leadership.
• Collaborate with Head of Data Services and Data teams.

Skills

Live delivery

AI architecture

Leadership

Tools

Orchestration

Job description

AI Transformation Lead | London | Cognita Salary: £90,000–£110,000

Cognita is a global group of international schools. We have chosen our enterprise AI platform, set our guardrails and started rolling out. We now need one accountable leader to turn the strategy into delivered, adopted and measured results.

This is a hands‑on leadership role, not a project management or advisory one. You will own delivery of the AI strategy, lead an AI Adoption Lead and AI Engineers, direct our delivery partners, and answer for the outcomes to the Group's senior leadership. You will work closely with our Head of Data Services and Data teams.

What this role needs

• 1. Proof of live delivery: You have taken AI into live operations and can show the adoption and the value you measured. Pilots, demos and strategy decks do not count. You also know what not to build, and insist on a named owner and a value case before anything starts.
• 2. Technical credibility: You understand agentic architecture well enough to explain and defend the choices: orchestration, tool and MCP integration, context and memory, evaluation, guardrails and human‑in‑the‑loop. You do not need to be our deepest engineer. You do need to know why a design was chosen, what the alternatives were, and where it will fail.
• 3. Leadership of change: You can bring a non‑technical organisation with you, influence senior leaders, and lead a small team of engineering and adoption specialists, whether you have done that formally or by influence.

Is this you?

You are probably a good fit if you are a senior AI engineer or technical lead ready to lead, or an AI Lead, Head of AI or Digital Transformation Lead who has built or directly led generative AI or agentic solutions into live use.

This is probably not the role for you if you come from AI strategy consulting or advisory, vendor‑side solutions or pre‑sales, delivery or programme management without hands‑on understanding of how the solutions work, data science without people leadership, AI policy or ethics specialism, or AI training and evangelism. These are valuable skills, but not what this role needs.

In your application, please tell us about one AI solution you took into live use: its architecture, one design decision you made and why, one thing you would change, and how you measured the result.

Reporting to the Group Head of Data Services. Based in the London office typically three days a week, with some international travel to schools and offices.

The Closing Date for Applications is Sunday 15th November

Cognita Schools is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to safer recruitment checks, including an enhanced DBS check. Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is available on the school website. Details on Recruitment of Ex‑Offenders is included within the Application Guidance.

We are an equal opportunities employer committed to diversity and treating all employees with dignity and respect regardless of background.

Early applications are encouraged, we reserve the right to interview and appoint prior to closing date for the right applicant.

We understand the value of AI tools and recognise the benefits they can offer to people who may need support with their writing. However, please be aware that we are increasingly rejecting CVs, expressions of interest and applications where the use of AI has resulted in content that feels generic, lacks personality or is indistinguishable from other submissions.

By using your own words, experiences and ideas to demonstrate your motivation for applying and your alignment with the role, you will give yourself the best opportunity to stand out in a highly competitive field.