Director of AI- Manchester
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Director of AI to join an award-winning international professional services organisation with a track record of significant year-on-year growth.
Our client is a market leader and global powerhouse in B2B consultancy services, delivering critical legal and professional support services and innovative solutions that help businesses navigate complexity, stay compliant and drive growth.
The organisation is investing significantly in AI and is looking for an exceptional leader to define and drive its AI strategy, from vision and roadmap through to implementation, governance and scale. This is more than a technology leadership role - it's a once-in-a-career opportunity to define how AI reshapes the delivery, accessibility and scalability of professional expertise, unlocking new opportunities for client value, operational efficiency and commercial growth. Above all, you'll bring the ability to move AI beyond experimentation, translating it into tangible business and client impact.
Reporting into the senior leadership team, the Director of AI will:
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Define and lead the organisation's enterprise AI strategy and roadmap.
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Identify opportunities to use AI across client services, professional delivery, internal operations, knowledge bases and commercial development.
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Lead the full lifecycle of AI initiatives, from strategy and architecture through to production and optimisation.
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Explore and deploy technologies including Generative AI, LLMs, Machine Learning, RAG, vector search and knowledge graphs.
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Build and lead cross-functional AI capability, bringing together technical specialists and professional subject matter experts.
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Establish robust AI governance, covering security, privacy, compliance, accuracy, explainability and responsible AI.
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Partner with senior leaders to translate AI opportunities into measurable business and client outcomes.
About You
This role calls for an AI leader who combines technical depth, strategic vision and commercial judgement. You are likely to demonstrate the following experience:
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Proven experience leading and delivering enterprise-scale AI strategies, ideally within professional services, consulting, legal, HR, compliance or another knowledge-intensive environment.
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Strong hands-on experience delivering Machine Learning and Generative AI solutions into production, including RAG architectures.
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Deep technical knowledge of LLMs, NLP, Python, SQL and AI/ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
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Strong understanding of MLOps, DevOps, CI/CD and DevSecOps.
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Experience establishing AI governance and responsible AI frameworks.
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The credibility to operate from board-level strategy through to technical architecture and delivery.
Why This Opportunity?
This is a rare chance to join a high-growth, multi-award-winning professional services organisation at a pivotal stage of its AI journey. You will have significant autonomy to shape the strategy, build the capability and influence how AI becomes embedded across the organisation - working closely with an ambitious leadership team and helping define its next phase of growth.
Competitive salary + performance bonus + private healthcare + pension + premium benefits.
If you're an AI leader looking for the opportunity to build, influence and transform rather than simply maintain, this could be the next career-defining move for you.
INDAMS
The Portfolio Group are acting on behalf of our client in recruiting for this position.
