At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the AI Factory, steering investment and ensuring safe delivery of AI products.
- Company: Join a leading British airline at the forefront of AI innovation.
- Benefits: Competitive contract, travel covered, and access to senior leadership.
- Other info: Opportunity for impactful work in a dynamic, complex environment.
- Why this job: Shape the future of AI in aviation with a high-calibre team.
- Qualifications: Senior leader with experience in AI, product management, and governance.
The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.
Our client, a leading British airline, is building an AI Factory to scale AI safely and profitably across its brands. They are looking for an AI Factory Lead to own the portfolio, the products, and the guardrails in one accountable role.
Location: Heathrow, London / Barcelona / Madrid (Some travel, flights and hotel covered)
Type: Contract
The role
You'll be the single senior leader accountable for how the AI Factory delivers value. That means steering the investment portfolio, owning the products and platform end to end, and making sure everything reaches production safely, with clear accountability and defensible evidence. You'll provide the executive view across initiatives without becoming the delivery owner for every product, and you'll build a capability rather than a collection of disconnected proofs of concept.
What you'll do
- Portfolio and programme
- Establish and run portfolio governance across the operating companies, functions, and delivery teams
- Prioritise investment on business value, strategic alignment, feasibility, risk, and reusability
- Maintain the integrated roadmap, dependencies, funding position, and executive reporting
- Resolve cross-brand conflicts and prevent fragmented or duplicated AI initiatives
- Track benefits, delivery confidence, risks, and adoption across the portfolio
- Product
- Define the product vision, strategy, roadmap, and measurable outcomes for the AI Factory's platform, products, and services
- Translate business problems into prioritised product opportunities, and own discovery, validation, and lifecycle decisions
- Balance user value, business benefit, technical feasibility, and responsible-AI constraints
- Set product metrics covering adoption, quality, productivity, cost, and realised value
- Decide when to scale, evolve, pause, or retire a product
- Governance, risk, and assurance
- Define the policies, risk tiers, controls, and approval pathways for AI products, services, and agents
- Translate legal, regulatory, cyber, data, and responsible-AI requirements into practical engineering controls
- Set requirements for human oversight, evaluation, traceability, and incident management
- Embed automated controls and evidence collection into delivery pipelines wherever possible
- Provide clear escalation and stop mechanisms for unsafe or underperforming systems
- Coordinate senior stakeholders across technology, business, data, cyber, legal, privacy, audit, and procurement
About you
- A senior portfolio, product, or transformation leader with experience in complex, federated organisations
- Enough understanding of AI and software delivery to challenge plans credibly, including AI's capabilities and limitations and the realities of taking products from experiment to production
- Experience turning governance principles into proportionate, risk-based controls that enable speed rather than create late-stage bottlenecks
- Confidence influencing senior stakeholders through structured thinking and clear narrative
- A track record of driving initiatives end to end with minimal oversight
- Ideal candidates from strategy consulting backgrounds
If you've worked at McKinsey, BCG, Bain, or a comparable firm, particularly in QuantumBlack, BCG X, or Bain's digital and AI practices, and have since led AI or transformation programmes, this role is a natural next step. You'll bring structured problem-solving, comfort in the boardroom, and the ability to turn ambiguity into a clear prioritised plan. You'll also need real ownership instincts: this is a role where you run the portfolio and live with the outcomes, rather than advise on them.
What success looks like
- A transparent, outcome-led portfolio with clear ownership, controlled investment, and demonstrable benefits across multiple brands
- AI products that solve meaningful problems and achieve sustained adoption
- AI systems reaching production with defensible evidence, while low-risk initiatives move quickly through standardised controls
Why this role
- Own a capability at the centre of the airline's AI strategy, with direct access to senior leadership
- Complex, visible work at one of the UK's most recognised brands
- A high-calibre team across product, engineering, architecture, and governance
AI Factory Lead in London employer: Hyra
Hyra is an excellent employer that values innovation and teamwork, providing a dynamic work environment for Automation Engineers. With a strong focus on employee growth, you will have access to continuous training and development opportunities while working alongside skilled professionals in a collaborative culture. Located in a region known for its technological advancements, Hyra offers unique advantages such as exposure to cutting-edge automated systems and the chance to make a significant impact on logistics operations.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land AI Factory Lead in London
✨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 Hyra 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 Hyra.
✨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 Hyra.
✨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 Hyra 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 AI Factory Lead in London
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 Hyra.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Hyra 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 Hyra
✨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 Hyra 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.
