Head of AI Operations

Requirements

• You do not need to be the deepest technical expert in the room, but you need to be close enough to the technology to set direction, challenge delivery and hire well.
• A demonstrable track record of delivering AI-led client servicing transformation in a complex, high-volume environment, with measurable results on deflection or automation at scale.
• Hands-on experience with conversational AI platforms in a client servicing context. Experience with tools such as Intercom, Zendesk, Genesys or Salesforce Service Cloud is a strong indicator.
• The ability to lead both technical engineers and non-technical operations teams through AI-led change, with credibility on both sides.
• Comfortable operating in a matrixed environment, with the influencing skills to secure resource and buy-in beyond your direct team.
• A track record of taking a contact centre or client servicing function from manual and reactive to AI-first, with outcomes you can speak to with precision.
• Commercial mindset. You measure success in client and business outcomes, not technology milestones.
• Strong stakeholder leadership, with the credibility and communication skills to operate at C-suite level.
• (Desirable) Working knowledge of agentic AI, including LLMs, RAG and MCP architectures, sufficient to set direction and challenge a technical delivery team.
• (Desirable) Experience with voice AI platforms such as ElevenLabs, Vapi, Retell or equivalent.
• (Desirable) Experience working in a regulated environment, including FCA, DORA or equivalent financial services regulatory frameworks.
• (Desirable) Exposure to KYC automation or payment processing automation, in addition to client experience.
• (Desirable) Experience scaling AI delivery across multiple geographies and operational teams.
• (Desirable) Background in a fintech scale-up or high-growth environment where capability had to be built without established infrastructure.

What the job involves

• Type: Permanent, full time.
• Reports to: Operations Director.
• This is a role for a builder. We are not looking for someone to oversee an AI agenda at arm's length. We want someone who has personally designed and delivered AI-powered client servicing, who understands the technology well enough to configure platforms, challenge engineers and make smart vendor decisions, and who can point to specific outcomes they have driven.
• The AI Operations function is responsible for designing, implementing and optimising AI-driven automation across IG's global Operations. It is a focused, hands-on delivery team with a clear ambition: to build a client servicing capability that competes with the best in fintech.
• The immediate focus is on client servicing automation, expanding over time into KYC, payments and back-office processing.
• You will lead a focused team of AI change and engineering specialists, and will operate in a cross-functional environment where central AI resource is shared across the business.
• Influencing and making the case for that resource, as much as directing your own team, will be central to how this role succeeds.
• You will report to the Operations Director and work closely with Technology, Data and AI teams and senior stakeholders across IG's global markets.
• You will inherit an established team and develop it to meet the demands of a more technically ambitious and delivery-focused mandate.
• For the right person, this is also a career-defining move. You will be one of a small number of leaders shaping how a FTSE 100 company uses AI to transform its operations – with the visibility, the mandate and the senior relationships to make a lasting mark.
• Own and accelerate IG's AI-led client servicing automation programme, with a relentless focus on measurable improvement in digital deflection and client outcomes that match the best in the industry.
• Lead the continuous configuration and optimisation of IG's conversational AI platforms, running as an ongoing improvement cycle rather than a series of projects.
• Identify, prioritise and deliver automation opportunities across the wider Operations estate, expanding the mandate progressively into KYC processing, payments and back-office functions.
• Set clear technical direction for AI delivery within Operations, working with your own engineers and making a compelling case for central AI resource where additional capacity is needed.
• Work directly with engineers and technical configurators, with sufficient hands-on fluency to challenge delivery, identify bottlenecks and maintain high standards of output.
• Build the data and measurement foundations that allow the function to demonstrate impact, learn continuously and make evidence-based decisions.
• Develop and shape the AI Operations team to meet the demands of a more technically ambitious mandate, building capability in the right areas and creating a high-performing, delivery-focused unit.
• Establish strong partnerships with Technology, Data and AI, and senior divisional leaders, positioning AI Operations as a credible, high-impact delivery partner across the business.
• Define and drive the automation roadmap across the Operations estate, working with peer leaders to align priorities and make a persuasive case for investment and resource.
• IG is at an inflection point. The business has the client base, the global reach and the leadership ambition to become genuinely AI-first in how it serves its customers. What it needs is someone to make that happen.
• This is not a role where you will spend your first year building a business case. The mandate is clear, the investment appetite is real, and the expectation is delivery.
• For someone who has spent their career proving that AI can transform client servicing at scale, this is the opportunity to do it at a business where it will matter commercially, visibly and quickly.
• You will have the autonomy to shape how one of the UK's leading fintechs operates, the seniority to influence decisions at the top of the organisation, and the growth path to take on a broader remit as the function matures.
• If you want a seat at the table where the future of financial services is being built, this is it.