At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead AI architecture strategy and drive innovative technology solutions for Hastings Direct.
- Company: Join Hastings Direct, a dynamic and fun insurance provider focused on digital transformation.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, flexible working, private medical insurance, and a generous bonus scheme.
- Other info: Access to mental wellbeing support, 27 days annual leave, and exciting social events.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in AI while collaborating with diverse teams in a fast-paced environment.
- Qualifications: Proven experience in AI architecture, cross-functional collaboration, and change leadership.
The predicted salary is between 30332 - 37072 £ per year.
Hastings Direct is an agile, data and digitally focused general insurance provider to the UK market, offering a full range of car, van, bike and home insurance products. It's a dynamic, flexible, fun and constantly changing environment, so it takes a certain kind of individual to thrive here.
As a member of the Group Architecture Leadership Team, the role contributes to enterprise-wide architecture strategy, governance, technology investment decisions, talent development and the evolution of architecture practice across Hastings Direct. The Head of AI Architecture is accountable for turning AI ambition into safe, scalable and value-led technology choices that support CIO priorities and deliver measurable value for customers, colleagues and the business.
The role provides architecture leadership across CIO, business functions and technology partners, ensuring AI capabilities and solutions are aligned to business priorities and the target architecture, including effective use of Azure, Snowflake, third-party AI and SaaS-based AI capabilities.
About you
- Strategic vision and alignment: Strong track record of defining current state, target state, transition roadmaps, standards, patterns and architecture guardrails that guide AI delivery at scale using Azure, Snowflake, third-party AI and SaaS-based AI capabilities.
- AI solution and platform architecture: Strong understanding of how AI solutions are designed, integrated, monitored and operated across enterprise platforms, including Azure, Snowflake, APIs, data pipelines, orchestration, observability, model lifecycle management and production support.
- Generative AI and automation delivery: Experience shaping architectures for generative AI, automation, agentic AI and AI-assisted capabilities, including retrieval augmented generation, tool use, orchestration, knowledge grounding, guardrails and secure use of third-party AI services.
- Cross-functional collaboration: Ability to build strong partnerships across business, technology, delivery, data, risk, compliance and supplier teams, creating shared accountability and integrated problem-solving.
- Change leadership: Proven ability to lead architecture in a large, complex, fast-moving organisation, balancing business ambition with risk, resilience, cost and long-term technology health.
- Innovation and market awareness: Strong awareness of AI trends, supplier capability, architecture practices and innovation opportunities that can improve business, customer and colleague outcomes.
- Culture and talent development: Experience building, leading, coaching and improving architecture teams, creating clear standards, strong collaboration and a high-performance culture.
- Risk and governance oversight: Strong understanding of AI governance, model risk, privacy, explainability, auditability, human oversight, resilience, security and ethical delivery, with the judgement to apply controls pragmatically.
Benefits:
- Competitive salary and £6k car allowance
- Flexible working - we champion a flexible hybrid working approach
- Competitive bonus scheme - all colleagues are eligible for our annual 4Cs performance bonus
- Physical wellbeing - Hastings pay for you to receive private medical Insurance (PMI)
- Financial wellbeing - life assurance cover, income protection, matched pension contributions up to 10%
- Mental wellbeing programme - access to mental health resources and support
- 27 days annual leave + bank holidays, with options to buy or sell leave
- Access to health care cash back plans, dental plans, discounted health assessments, Cycle to work and tech schemes, social events throughout the year and much more.
Hastings Group is an equal opportunities employer.
Head of AI Architecture employer: hastingsdirect
Hastings Direct is an exceptional employer that fosters a collaborative and innovative work culture, where MLOps Engineers can thrive in a hybrid environment across Leicester, Bexhill, and London. With a strong emphasis on employee growth, you will have access to continuous learning opportunities and the chance to work alongside talented teams in a dynamic setting, making a meaningful impact on pricing models and data science workflows.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of AI Architecture
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at hastingsdirect or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to hastingsdirect.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like hastingsdirect.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like hastingsdirect that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Head of AI Architecture
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at hastingsdirect.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at hastingsdirect and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at hastingsdirect
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If hastingsdirect uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
