Head of AI & Program Technology Engineering in London

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities.

Background: Build the AI systems that will reach hundreds of millions of people in the world's hardest places. Nearly 240 million people will need humanitarian aid in 2026, and global funding has fallen by more than half. Closing that gap demands a different kind of humanitarian organization — one that uses AI to multiply what frontline workers can do, reaches people before crises hit, and brings diagnostic and decision-support tools to places the technology industry has historically ignored.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is already one of the most ambitious AI-deploying humanitarian organizations in the world. We are working on dozens of AI initiatives across 30+ countries: agentic systems serving millions of displaced people through Signpost; anticipatory action models that deliver aid in advance of a disaster; pocket-sized AI diagnostics and AI teaching mentors. We have strategic partnerships with AI partners and a portfolio of programs ready to scale.

We are hiring a Head of AI Engineering to lead the technical team that builds these systems — and to help shape what we build next.

Job Overview: This is a senior technical leadership role for someone who wants to build at the frontier of applied AI in service of humanitarian impact. You will lead a team of engineers and AI specialists designing and shipping AI-powered, program-facing solutions — primarily agentic systems, predictive analytics, and AI diagnostics deployed in low-resource and high-stakes settings.

You will own three things:

• Technical strategy and direction for IRC's program-facing AI portfolio. You will help translate IRC's AI ambitions into a clear technical roadmap, make build-vs-buy-vs-partner decisions, and set the architectural direction for systems that need to work reliably in some of the hardest operating environments on earth.
• A high-performing engineering team. You will manage and grow a team of engineers, applied AI engineers, and QA specialists; raise the bar on engineering quality; and build the kind of culture that attracts top technical talent to mission-driven work.
• Deep partnership with program leaders and strategic partners. You will be a true thought partner to IRC's program experts in health, education, protection, resettlement, and emergency response — co-designing solutions with them rather than receiving requirements.

Major Responsibilities:

• AI Strategic Leadership: Translate IRC's AI strategy and program priorities into a prioritized technical roadmap, in close partnership with program leaders.
• Team Leadership and Management: Manage and develop a team of engineers, applied AI engineers, and QA specialists. Establish engineering quality standards, development practices, and documentation protocols.
• Cross-functional Partnership: Act as a genuine thought partner to program leaders — bringing AI fluency to their problems and humility about the field realities.
• Flagship AI Partnerships: Serve as the technical lead on IRC's strategic partnerships with frontier AI organizations.
• Solution Design and Engineering: Lead the design and development of AI-driven and program-specific technology solutions.
• DevOps and Engineering Operations: Oversee deployment pipelines, CI/CD automation, infrastructure-as-code, and QA processes to ensure efficient and reliable software delivery.

Key Working Relationships:

• Position Reports to: Chief Information Officer.
• Position directly supervises: Engineers, applied AI engineers, ML specialists, and QA staff on the T4P Development team.

Job Requirements:

• Strong candidates will bring most — not necessarily all — of the following:
• AI and engineering depth: Hands-on experience building and shipping production AI systems.
• Leadership and collaboration: 7–10+ years in software engineering or technical product development, with 3+ years leading engineers as a manager or tech lead.
• Mindset: Genuinely motivated by humanitarian impact; leads with humility.

Working Environment: Standard office work environment; hybrid/remote available. Some travel may be required for partner meetings, field engagement, and sector conferences.

Compensation: Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget.

Equal Opportunity Employer: IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.