Senior AI Architect: Platform Design & Governance

The Citation Group; West Midlands; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

The Citation Group seeks an AI Architect to own the AI/Data architecture within the delivery area, reporting to the Chief AI Officer. The role requires 6+ years of software, data, or platform engineering with substantial hands-on production AI experience, and no direct reports but influence across conversations and decisions.

This role will define architecture standards, model selection frameworks, data readiness, and governance for AI initiatives, ensuring security, cost awareness, and

Qualifications

• Senior — 6+ years in software, data, or platform engineering/architecture, with meaningful hands-on time on production AI systems.
• Hands-on experience with production AI systems, not just pilots.
• Line management not required, influence through architecture decisions.

Responsibilities

• Architectural standards and patterns: own design patterns for AI systems (retrieval/grounding, agent orchestration, prompts, routing) and write architecture decision records.
• Model selection framework: open-weight vs closed models, apply per workload with clear criteria.
• Data architecture readiness: assess data behind AI initiatives across systems (CRM/Atlas/Snowflake) for readiness.
• Design authority and governance: approve AI design elements of partner Statements of Work and architecture reviews.
• Proof of concept and technical validation: define scope and success criteria before spikes.
• Third-party delivery oversight: review proposals and designs with vendors to enforce standards.
• Production quality, observability, and cost: set monitoring, guardrails, incident response, and cost governance.
• Security/compliance and Responsible AI: involve Security, ensure data boundaries and bias checks.
• Internal enablement and horizon scanning: raise AI literacy and evaluate new tools against real needs.

Job description

The Citation Group seeks an AI Architect to own the AI/Data architecture within the delivery area, reporting to the Chief AI Officer. The role requires 6+ years of software, data, or platform engineering with substantial hands-on production AI experience, and no direct reports but influence across conversations and decisions.

This role will define architecture standards, model selection frameworks, data readiness, and governance for AI initiatives, ensuring security, cost awareness, and