Director of AI

iO Associates; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Direct access to founders and senior leadership

Significant autonomy and ownership

Opportunity to build a team as the function scales

Job summary

iO Associates is seeking a Director of AI in a hybrid role based in Bristol, UK. This position involves building and leading the AI capability in an advanced manufacturing environment, focusing on practical AI solutions and measurable impacts.

The ideal candidate will have a background in advanced manufacturing, robotics, or aerospace, and must be adept at both strategic planning and hands-on implementation. This is an opportunity to significantly influence the future of AI in industrial technology.

Join a pioneering business with strong funding and ambitious growth plans!

Qualifications

• Experience in advanced manufacturing or industrial automation.
• Demonstrable delivery of measurable operational improvements.
• Comfortable operating at both strategic and technical levels.

Responsibilities

• Own the AI roadmap and deploy practical AI solutions.
• Define the AI architecture, tooling, and long-term strategy.
• Identify opportunities and demonstrate commercial impact.

Skills

Applied AI / Machine Learning deployment

MLOps and scalable production deployment

Computer Vision and industrial AI applications

Data architecture and AI platform development

Leading technical initiatives from concept to implementation

Job description

Director of AI | UK Hybrid

Overview

A pioneering advanced manufacturing business is seeking a Director of Applied AI to build and lead its AI capability from the ground up. Having developed a unique, highly automated manufacturing platform and secured significant investment to support its next phase of growth, the business is now looking to leverage AI as a measurable driver of productivity, quality, and operational performance across its global manufacturing footprint. This is not an AI strategy role. It is a hands‑on leadership opportunity for someone who can identify opportunities, ship solutions, and demonstrate commercial impact quickly.

Opportunity

Reporting directly to senior leadership, you will own the AI roadmap and be responsible for deploying practical AI solutions across manufacturing, quality control, engineering design, tooling, and process optimisation. You'll inherit a rich operational dataset generated through highly automated manufacturing environments, but with the freedom to define the AI architecture, tooling, infrastructure, and long‑term strategy required to scale AI across the business. This is a genuine greenfield opportunity where success will be measured through tangible outcomes rather than presentations, proofs of concept, or research papers.

Examples of Focus Areas

• Predictive quality and automated defect detection
• Computer vision inspection systems
• Manufacturing process optimisation
• Engineering and design automation
• Tooling optimisation and intelligent tool path generation
• AI‑driven process control and operational efficiency
• Data‑driven decision making across the product lifecycle

Experience Needed

We're looking for builders: people who have successfully deployed AI and machine learning solutions into real‑world industrial environments and can demonstrate measurable business impact.

Likely coming from a background in:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Industrial Automation
• Robotics
• Aerospace
• Automotive
• Defence
• Hard‑Tech Engineering

You'll be comfortable operating at both strategic and technical levels, defining the roadmap whilst remaining close to delivery. Key experience includes:

• Applied AI / Machine Learning deployment in production environments
• MLOps and scalable production deployment
• Computer Vision and industrial AI applications
• Data architecture and AI platform development
• Leading technical initiatives from concept through to implementation
• Demonstrable delivery of measurable operational improvements

The Right Mindset

This environment will suit someone who thrives in fast‑moving, high‑growth businesses. You should be comfortable:

• Working with ambiguity
• Identifying low‑hanging fruit quickly
• Rapidly testing and validating ideas
• Building MVPs and iterating fast
• Measuring success through operational KPIs and business outcomes

The business is not looking for pure researchers, academic profiles, or AI leaders focused solely on long‑term strategy. They're looking for someone who can roll their sleeves up, work closely with engineering and manufacturing teams, and turn AI into a genuine competitive advantage.

Why Join?

• Opportunity to define an AI function from day one
• Direct access to founders and senior leadership
• Significant autonomy and ownership
• Strong funding trajectory and ambitious growth plans
• Ability to build a team around you as the function scales
• Real‑world application of AI within highly automated manufacturing environments
• Opportunity to influence the future of next‑generation industrial technology

If you're excited by applying AI to solve complex engineering and manufacturing challenges and want to see your work directly impact products, factories, and commercial performance, we'd love to hear from you.