Hands-On AI Leader - Director/Head, Manchester On-site

The Portfolio Group Inc.; Manchester; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private healthcare

Pension

Performance bonus

Premium benefits

Job summary

The Portfolio Group Inc. in Manchester is seeking a Head of AI / Director of AI to define the AI strategy and stay hands-on, building production AI solutions that drive real client value.

You will lead a cross-disciplinary team of engineers and subject matter experts, shaping governance, risk management and scalable AI delivery. You will work closely with senior leaders to translate AI opportunities into measurable client and business outcomes, driving growth while maintaining technical

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience taking ML and Generative AI solutions into production, including RAG architectures.
• Strong technical knowledge of LLMs, NLP, Python, SQL and frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Solid understanding of MLOps, DevOps, CI/CD and DevSecOps.
• Experience leading AI initiatives or technical teams at director/head/lead levels.
• Ability to articulate strategy to leadership and architecture to engineers with commercial judgment.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the organisation’s AI strategy and roadmap, reporting into the senior leadership team.
• Stay hands-on: architect, build and deploy AI solutions into production, and set the technical standard for the team.
• Identify and deliver AI opportunities across client services, professional delivery, internal operations, knowledge management and commercial growth.
• Work with Generative AI, LLMs, Machine Learning, RAG, vector search and knowledge graphs.
• Build and lead a cross-functional AI team, bringing together engineers and professional subject matter experts.
• Establish practical AI governance, covering security, privacy, compliance, accuracy, explainability and responsible AI.
• Partner with senior leaders to turn AI opportunities into measurable client and commercial outcomes.

Skills

Machine Learning

Generative AI

RAG architectures

LLMs

NLP

Python

SQL

PyTorch

TensorFlow

MLOps

DevOps

CI/CD

DevSecOps

Leadership

Strategy

Tools

Python

SQL

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

The Portfolio Group Inc. in Manchester is seeking a Head of AI / Director of AI to define the AI strategy and stay hands-on, building production AI solutions that drive real client value.

You will lead a cross-disciplinary team of engineers and subject matter experts, shaping governance, risk management and scalable AI delivery. You will work closely with senior leaders to translate AI opportunities into measurable client and business outcomes, driving growth while maintaining technical