Head of Artificial Intelligence

Loop Future; Coimbra; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Loop Future is seeking a Head of AI in Coimbra to build and lead the AI division, shape offerings, and grow a team. You will engage with customers, understand challenges, and deliver production AI solutions while overseeing discovery, pre-sales, and delivery.

Early on you will be hands-on and customer-facing, transitioning to scale the division with defined standards. You will hire and mentor AI engineers, work across sales, delivery, and operations, and travel as needed to client sites and our

Qualifications

• At least 8 years in software/data or related tech delivery with 2+ years hands-on AI engineering.
• Proven experience building and deploying AI solutions into production, including LLM apps and integrations.
• Experience leading technical teams and setting engineering standards; prior Head of AI experience not required.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve our AI offering from discovery to production delivery and managed services.
• Work with Sales and customers to uncover opportunities, run discovery workshops, and translate needs into AI solutions.
• Own technical proposals, pitches, and estimates considering delivery effort, integration, and costs.
• Personally build and deploy AI solutions including agentic workflows, retrieval systems, and enterprise integrations.
• Oversee AI delivery, ensuring quality, timelines and budgets while managing risks and escalations.
• Set standards for architecture, tooling, observability, security, governance, and responsible AI use.
• Hire, mentor, and develop AI engineers, consultants, and architects.
• Drive internal AI adoption across software delivery and business operations.

Skills

AI engineering

Team leadership

Pre-sales support

Client communication

English proficiency

Tools

Codex

Cursor

Claude

Job description

Location: Coimbra, Portugal | Hybrid preferred, ideally one office day per week.

Employment Type: Permanent

About Loop Future

Loop Future combines technology, innovation, and sustainability to create digital solutions that shape the future. By integrating software engineering, cloud solutions, Salesforce expertise, and intelligent sourcing, Loop Future connects people, systems, and industries – driving efficiency, growth, and global impact. We are headquartered in Portugal and supported by our international offices in the UK, Switzerland, and India. Our diverse and talented team delivers cutting‑edge digital experiences across TV & Media, Satellite & Space, Consultancy, Retail, and many other domains.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Head of AI to build and lead our AI division, with the autonomy to shape our offering and grow a team around it. Reporting to the Chief Services Officer, you’ll work directly with customers to understand their challenges, support winning new business, and personally build AI solutions that deliver value in production.

Initially, you’ll be hands‑on and customer‑facing, combining discovery, pre‑sales, and delivery. As the division grows, you’ll establish the standards and capabilities to scale, while also helping teams across Loop Future put AI to practical use. This is an opportunity for someone who enjoys building, thrives in a dynamic environment, and is equally comfortable shaping a proposal with a customer’s leadership team and sitting down to build the solution.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve our AI offering, from discovery and proof of concept through production delivery and managed services.
• Work with Sales and customers to uncover opportunities, run discovery workshops, and turn business needs into practical AI solutions.
• Own technical proposals, pitches, and estimates, considering delivery effort, integration, evaluation, running costs, and commercial viability.
• Personally build and deploy AI solutions, including agentic workflows, automation, retrieval and knowledge systems, and enterprise integrations.
• Oversee AI delivery, ensuring quality, timelines, and budgets are met while managing risks and technical escalations.
• Set standards for architecture, tooling, evaluation, observability, security, governance, and responsible AI use.
• Hire, mentor, and develop AI engineers, consultants, and architects, drawing on existing teams and building new capabilities as needed.
• Drive internal AI adoption across software delivery and business operations, creating reusable accelerators, tools, and playbooks.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of professional experience in software, data, or related technology delivery, including at least 2 years of hands‑on AI engineering.
• Proven experience building and deploying AI solutions into production, including LLM applications, agentic workflows, retrieval architectures, and integrations.
• Experience leading technical teams, setting engineering standards, and developing people; previous Head of AI experience is not required.
• Confidence in customer meetings: understanding needs quickly, asking insightful questions, and discussing potential solutions with senior stakeholders.
• Ability to support pre‑sales and translate customer requirements into scoped proposals and credible delivery estimates.
• A pragmatic engineering mindset, balancing innovation with reliability, maintainability, cost, and measurable business value.
• Strong ownership, initiative, and drive, with the ability to work through ambiguity and adapt in a fast‑paced environment.
• Fluent written and spoken English, willingness to travel, and availability for regular visits to our Coimbra office, ideally once a week with flexibility.

Nice to have

• Experience in consultancy or technology services, delivering projects for external customers under commercial constraints.
• Experience hiring and scaling teams, or developing AI capability within existing engineering teams.
• Familiarity with enterprise AI governance, security, data residency, intellectual property, and responsible use.
• Knowledge of cloud and model‑provider ecosystems, plus practical use of AI development tools such as Codex, Cursor, or Claude.
• Commercial awareness of project profitability, pricing, utilisation, and ongoing operating costs.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may not be able to respond to every applicant individually. However, all applications will be carefully considered against both the opportunity applied for and other relevant current or future opportunities across Loop Future. We appreciate your interest in joining us and the time taken to submit your application.