Head of Advanced AI Engineering

Lloyds Banking Group; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous pension contribution of up to 15%

Annual bonus award

Share schemes including free shares

30 days holiday plus bank holidays

A range of wellbeing initiatives

Job summary

Lloyds Banking Group is seeking a Head of Advanced AI Engineering in Bristol. You will lead a new team focused on advancing AI technologies and creating innovative, AI-powered products and services.

Your role includes overseeing research and development activities and ensuring the delivery of high-quality AI systems that enhance customer engagement. You’ll benefit from a generous pension contribution, annual bonuses, and a range of wellbeing initiatives.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading research and development in complex enterprise environments.
• Recognised expertise in delivering AI systems to production.
• Deep expertise in software engineering and solution architecture.
• Hands-on experience with AI-SDLC tooling to accelerate engineering productivity.
• Experience managing reliability, security, and safety risks.
• Experience influencing business strategy as a trusted advisor.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Advanced AI Engineering team to drive AI technology strategy.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and deliver MVPs.
• Solve critical business and technology challenges in AI.

Skills

GenAI and Agentic AI technology

Software engineering

AI-SDLC tooling

Leading R&D and software engineering

Job description

JOB TITLE: Head of Advanced AI Engineering

LOCATION: Bristol

HOURS: Full-time - 35 hours

Working Pattern

Our work style is hybrid, involving spending at least two days per week, or 40% of our time, at one of our office sites. Colleagues with disabilities can be supported with workplace adjustments including hybrid working expectations in line with our Flexibility Works policy.

Responsibilities

We're looking for a Chief Engineer to lead our new Advanced AI Engineering team, reporting to the Group Director of Data & AI Architecture. This role sits at the forefront of Agentic AI adoption within the Data & AI Unit of the Chief Technology Office, where we define and lead the Group's Data and AI technology strategy and incubate new AI‑driven products and capabilities. You’ll be leading a team of applied research and development engineers to evaluate emerging AI technologies, build and deliver MVPs, and enable their transition into engineering at scale, with a focus on creating industry‑leading AI‑powered products and services that drive customer engagement and service excellence. Acting as a senior leader and thought partner at Platform, CIO and Group level, you will be accountable for solving critical business and technology challenges, ensuring the delivery of high‑quality conversational AI across channels with strong safety, reliability and auditability, while shaping technical direction, driving applied research and prototyping, and working closely with senior collaborators and engineering teams to align AI innovation with business strategy and ensure effective adoption at scale.

Why Join Us

We’re a pioneering, fast‑changing business that's shaping finance as a force for good. If you want a role where you can have an impact and do the best work of your career, this is the place for you.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading research and development and/or software engineering activities in complex enterprise environments.
• Recognised expertise in GenAI and Agentic AI technology, with experience creating novel solutions to real-world problems and successfully delivering AI systems to production.
• Deep expertise in software engineering, application development and solution architecture, grounded in hands‑on experience.
• Hands‑on experience using AI‑SDLC tooling (e.g. GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor) to accelerate individual and team engineering productivity.
• Experience of working in a regulated environment and managing reliability, security, safety and explainability risks.
• Experience of acting as a trusted advisor to executive leadership and influencing business strategy.

Benefits

We also offer a wide‑ranging benefits package, which includes:

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%
• An annual bonus award, subject to Group performance
• Share schemes including free shares
• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping and 30 days' holiday, with bank holidays on top
• A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies

EEO & Disability Policy

We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns. As a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for a fair and proportionate number of applicants with a disability, long‑term health or neurodivergent condition through the Disability Confident Scheme.