Head of Engineering - AI

PIE Recruitment; Haverhill; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Share scheme

Competitive salary

Job summary

PIE Recruitment is seeking a Head of Engineering for an innovative AI and creative technology business based in Haverhill, Suffolk. You will own day-to-day technical delivery of a multimodal AI avatar platform and lead the engineering team.

Reporting to the CTO, you will shape architecture, drive decisions, ensure production-grade systems, and grow the team as the product scales globally.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading engineering teams in fast-paced, product-led environments.
• Hands-on expertise with LLM integration and AI architectures.
• Strong cloud infra experience across Azure, AWS or GCP.
• Deep knowledge of API design, workflows, queuing systems and backend integrations.
• Experience delivering production-grade AI or real-time systems.

Responsibilities

• Own technical architecture of the platform.
• Document key architectural decisions.
• Evaluate and integrate emerging AI models.
• Define engineering standards.
• Escalate complex technical problems.
• Manage the engineering team and onboard new hires.
• Foster ownership and curiosity; scale with the CTO.
• Deliver client deployments and translate requirements.
• Maintain realistic timelines and risk management.
• Oversee active projects.
• Own cloud infrastructure and promote DevOps practices.
• Ensure production-grade enterprise integrations.
• Support security and compliance requirements.
• Act as technical decision maker in CTO absence.
• Represent technical team at board and client level.
• Contribute to business strategy and roadmap.
• Grow into CTO role as the business evolves.

Skills

Leadership

AI/ML architecture

LLM integration

Cloud platforms (Azure/AWS/GCP)

API design & integrations

Team management

Production-grade systems

Architectural decisions

Job description

Location: Haverhill (Suffolk) Office - ON SITE

Reporting to: Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Role Type: Full-time, Permanent

Package: Competitive salary and share scheme

ROLE OVERVIEW

This is a pivotal leadership role at the heart of one of the most innovative AI and creative technology businesses.

The product is a pioneering consumer engagement tool, deployed in retail, heritage, Leisure, travel and many other industries, not only wowing customers but plugging into work flows for un precedented value and possibilities.

The business has started to grow at pace, with live product in UK and international locations, we are helping to grow the team with highly talented individuals to be part of the future.

As Head of Engineering, you will be the founder / CTO's right hand: owning the day-to-day technical delivery of our multimodal AI avatar platform, leading the engineering team, and shaping the architectural decisions that define how we build and scale.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Proven experience leading engineering teams in a fast-paced, product-led environment, ideally in AI, SaaS, or deep-tech.
• Hands-on expertise with LLM integration and model-agnostic AI architectures.
• Strong cloud infrastructure skills across Azure, AWS or GCP.
• Deep knowledge of enterprise API design, workflow engines, queuing systems, and backend integrations.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Track record of shipping production-grade AI or real-time systems.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP & ARCHITECTURE

• Own technical architecture of the platform.
• Make and document key architectural decisions.
• Evaluate and integrate emerging AI models.
• Define engineering standards.
• Act as escalation point for complex technical problems.

TEAM MANAGEMENT & CULTURE

• Manage the engineering team.
• Hire, onboard and retain talent.
• Foster a culture of ownership and curiosity.
• Partner with the CTO as the team scales.

DELIVERY & PRODUCT EXECUTION

• Own technical delivery of client deployments.
• Translate requirements into technical solutions.
• Ensure realistic timelines and risk management.
• Maintain oversight of active projects.

PLATFORM & INFRASTRUCTURE

• Own cloud infrastructure.
• Champion DevOps and automation best practices.
• Ensure enterprise integrations meet production standards.
• Support compliance and security requirements.

DEPUTISING FOR THE CTO

• Act as technical decision maker in CTO absence.
• Represent technical team at board and client level.
• Contribute to business strategy and roadmap.
• Grow into CTO role as business evolves.

KPIs

• Strong team retention and development.
• Architecture readiness for growth.
• Security and compliance standards maintained.