Lead Technologist

London Luton Airport; Luton; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

London Luton Airport seeks a Lead Technologist to own the technical direction for its innovation product portfolio. You will drive real-time data processing, predictive analytics, and automated operations in a live operational environment, collaborating with data science, commercial, and operational teams.

You will lead architecture, deliver production ML/AI systems, and forge strong data integrations while mentoring engineers and shaping delivery roadmaps.

Qualifications

• Shipped production data/AI systems in high-stakes environments.
• Experience integrating legacy enterprise systems with modern data flows.
• Proven leadership, initiative, and clear proposal writing.
• Strong communication with operational and executive stakeholders.
• Ability to coach others and drive engineering standards.

Responsibilities

• Own technical direction for innovation product portfolio in live ops.
• Lead real-time data processing, ML/AI system delivery, and alerts.
• Ensure interoperability with enterprise systems and data reliability.
• Run discovery, scoping, and roadmaps with cross-functional teams.
• Mentor engineers, set standards, and promote quality and rigour.
• Balance experimentation with production-grade engineering.
• Draft technical business cases and support vendor relationships.
• Support recruitment and onboarding of technical staff.

Skills

Delivery leadership

System architecture

Stakeholder mgmt

Communication

Coaching & mentoring

Commercial awareness

Problem solving

Operational emphasis

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Azure

Pulumi IaC

Real-time processing

APIs & integrations

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

As Lead Technologist, you'll own the technical direction for our innovation product portfolio, leading development of operational intelligence systems, real-time monitoring tools, decision-support platforms and customer-facing experiences. Working embedded with operational, data science, and commercial stakeholders, you'll translate complex requirements into production-ready systems that drive efficiency, safety, and service quality in a live operational environment.

Key responsibilities and accountabilities:

• Drive technical architecture across the product pipeline - from real-time data processing and predictive analytics through to automated operations and intelligent alerting.
• Lead delivery of production ML/AI systems, working closely with data science and operational teams to deploy models that create measurable business value.
• Own integrations with operational and enterprise systems, ensuring reliable data flows and system interoperability across complex environments.
• Run technical discovery and proof-of-concept validation for new capabilities, scoping feasibility and defining delivery roadmaps with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Coach and develop internal technical capability, setting engineering standards and building a culture of quality, rigour, and continuous improvement.
• Balance rapid experimentation with production-grade engineering - shipping reliable, maintainable systems while operating in a high-stakes operational context.
• Create and pitch technical proposals, writing clear business cases that balance speed, risk, and value.
• Support recruitment and team growth, providing technical assessment, knowledge transfer, and structured onboarding.
• Manage vendor relationships and technical partnerships, ensuring integrations meet operational and security requirements.
• Contribute to delivering a great guest experience by performing your role with accuracy and efficiency. Recognising that every task whether guest facing or behind the scenes contributes to supporting the company’s overall LLA Way Strategy and service standards.
• Proactively and positively promote the LLA Way initiatives and projects with all employees and the wider airport community.

Our tech-stack:

You’ll be hands-on across technical architecture, proof-of-concept development, and production deployment. Meaningful experience with a subset of these technologies is essential:

• Azure (cloud services, serverless functions, managed services)
• Infrastructure as Code (Pulumi preferred, or similar tooling)
• Real-time data processing and event-driven architectures
• APIs & integrations (REST, GraphQL, third-party connectivity)
• CI/CD pipelines and automated deployment

Knowledge, skills, and experience required:

• Proven delivery track record - you've shipped production data/AI systems in operational, regulated, or high-stakes environments (transport, logistics, utilities, healthcare, or similar).
• Systems integration experience - comfortable working with legacy enterprise systems and managing complex data flows across multiple sources.
• Active leadership and initiative - you identify opportunities, shape strategy, and drive outcomes. You don't wait to be told what to do. This is not just a heads-down coding role.
• Outstanding communication - you translate complex technical concepts for operational teams, present to senior stakeholders, and write clear proposals that get buy-in. You're as comfortable in the boardroom as you are in the codebase.
• Stakeholder management - experience working embedded with non-technical teams (operations, safety, commercial) and building trust across the organisation. You understand their world and can bridge the gap between technical possibility and operational need.
• Coaching mindset - comfortable building capability in others, running technical workshops, and operating as both IC and team lead. You raise the bar for everyone around you.
• Commercial and operational awareness - you understand trade-offs between speed, risk, and business value. You bring a pragmatic lens to scope decisions and project economics.
• Proactive problem-solving - you anticipate blockers, see around corners, and shape solutions before issues escalates. You thrive in ambiguity and take ownership of outcomes.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment with evolving priorities while maintaining technical rigour and quality standards.