Public Sector Lead, Central Government

scaleai; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Scale AI is hiring for a senior public-sector sales leader in the UK. You will own the commercial plan for government accounts, shape and close multi-stakeholder deals, and align delivery with customer needs across HMRC, DWP, NHS and other departments.

You will leverage existing relationships, navigate frameworks and tenders, and develop a small team as Scale AI expands in the public sector. This role thrives in ambiguity and fast-moving environments.

Qualifications

• You've sold and delivered tech to UK civilian central government.
• You know at least one department well (HMRC, DWP, NHS) and how it buys.
• You understand public sector procurement: frameworks, tenders, and stakeholders.
• You've opened doors, run complex pursuits, and owned the result.
• You have relationships with senior people across departments.
• You thrive in ambiguity and fast-moving environments.
• You've led UK public sector work at big tech/consulting firms or within departments.

Responsibilities

• Own our commercial plan and pipeline for UK civilian central government.
• Find, shape, and close deals from first conversation through delivery.
• Leverage relationships across HMRC, DWP, and NHS.
• Navigate frameworks, tenders and teaming; know routes to market.
• Be credible to senior civil servants; translate needs into delivery.
• Stay close to product and delivery teams for alignment.
• Hire and lead a small team; shape the wider UK public sector plan.

Skills

Public sector sales

UK government procurement

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Strategic deal shaping

Job description

The UK is making a wholesale shift to AI. The government's AI Opportunities Action Plan set out to \"mainline AI into the veins\" of the country, and the focus has now moved to delivery: the Incubator for AI ( i.AI ) is shipping tools like the Humphrey suite into departments, a Sovereign AI Unit and AI Growth Zones are being stood up, and civilian departments are under real pressure to move from pilots to production. Scale can play a foundational role in building the reliable AI applications that shift depends on.

What you\'ll do

• Own our commercial plan and pipeline for UK civilian central government
• Find, shape, and close deals yourself, from the first conversation through to contract and into delivery
• Use the relationships you already have across departments like HMRC, DWP, and NHS
• Work the frameworks, tenders and teaming, and know which route to market is worth the effort and which isn't.
• Be a credible counterpart to senior civil servants, and turn what they need into work we can deliver
• Stay close to our product and delivery teams so what we sell is what we build
• Hire and lead a small team over time, and help shape the wider UK public sector plan with the UK Public Sector Lead

What we\'re looking for

• You\'ve sold and delivered technology or transformation work to UK civilian central government, either from a vendor or from inside government
• You know at least one major department well (e.g. HMRC, DWP, or NHS) and how it buys
• You understand public sector procurement: frameworks, tenders, and buying that runs through a lot of stakeholders
• You\'ve opened doors, run complex pursuits, and owned the result
• You have relationships with senior people across departments
• You do your best work when things are ambiguous and moving quickly
• People who tend to fit this have spent years leading UK public sector work at companies like Palantir, Google, AWS, Microsoft or Oracle, at consultancies and systems integrators like Accenture, Deloitte, EY, Bain or McKinsey, or in senior commercial or programme roles inside the departments themselves.

Nice to have

• Experience with AI or data-heavy platforms
• Regulated, mission-critical government programmes
• You\'ve built or run a small go to market team before

Why join

You\'d be building this market, not maintaining it. There\'s no playbook to inherit, which is rather the point. The deals you win, and the way you win them, will shape how Scale works with UK government for years. PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.

About Us:

At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world\'s most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world\'s leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst & Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.

We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we