Director of Artificial Intelligence

Director of Forward Deployed AI Engineering, EMEA

Technical Leadership | Enterprise AI

London Hybrid

£160k - £200k plus bonus

We are partnering with one of Europe’s fastest-growing data and AI native consultancies to appoint a Director of Forward Deployed AI Engineering for EMEA.

The business works closely with the world’s leading frontier AI labs and data platforms, giving its engineers early access to emerging models, technical expertise and capabilities that are not yet available to the wider market. Its teams deploy production AI systems across complex, regulated organisations within Financial Services, Energy and Healthcare.

This is a player-coach leadership role reporting directly to the Chief AI Officer. You will build and lead a high-performing team of Forward Deployed AI Engineers, own the technical quality of strategic client engagements and define the standards, playbooks and delivery models that enable the practice to scale.

You won’t be managing from the sidelines. You’ll remain close enough to the technology to shape architectures, review production systems, unblock complex engineering challenges and work alongside the team when it matters—while also operating confidently with C-suite clients, commercial teams and senior technology partners.

The opportunity

• Hire, lead and develop an exceptional Forward Deployed AI Engineering team across EMEA
• Own the technical and operational standard of complex enterprise AI engagements
• Shape architectures for production-grade agentic AI, advanced RAG and multi-agent systems
• Turn successful deployments into repeatable patterns and scalable, long-term client partnerships
• Partner with Sales to scope opportunities, influence pipeline and expand strategic accounts
• Build vertical expertise across Financial Services, Energy and Healthcare
• Represent the business on joint engagements with leading frontier AI partners
• Establish a culture of technical excellence, knowledge sharing and continuous development

What we’re looking for

You will bring at least eight years of technical experience, including three or more years leading engineering or delivery teams within Forward Deployed Engineering, applied AI, technical consulting or solutions architecture.

Alongside this, you should have:

• Production experience delivering AI applications, including agentic systems, orchestration, advanced RAG and evaluation frameworks
• A track record of building teams from an early stage, including hiring and developing strong engineers
• Experience deploying technology within complex or regulated enterprise environments
• Strong Python capability and genuine credibility with production engineering teams
• The executive presence to influence senior stakeholders and simplify technical complexity
• Expertise within Financial Services, Energy or Healthcare
• A high-agency, entrepreneurial approach and experience building something from zero

Experience as a technical founder or CTO, working within a frontier AI partner ecosystem, developing MCP or enterprise tool integrations, or operating within a forward-deployed model would be particularly valuable.

This is a rare opportunity to define what outstanding Forward Deployed AI Engineering looks like across EMEA—building the team, shaping the practice and helping major enterprises move beyond AI experimentation into production.