At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead AI innovation projects, turning business problems into rapid prototypes and proofs of value.
- Company: Join a major global payments organisation focused on cutting-edge AI capabilities.
- Benefits: Competitive daily rate, hybrid work model, and opportunity for impactful work.
- Other info: Dynamic role with potential for significant career growth and innovation.
- Why this job: Be at the forefront of AI technology, solving real-world business challenges.
- Qualifications: Experience in technology consulting with hands-on AI tools and problem-solving skills.
The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.
- AI Tech Lead – Contract
- IR35: Outside IR35
- Start: October 2026
Ocho is working with a major global payments organisation that is building a new AI Innovation capability within its Enterprise business.
We are looking for an AI Tech Lead to identify high-value business problems, assess where AI or automation can add value, and rapidly turn the strongest ideas into working prototypes and proofs of value.
This is not a traditional programme, transformation or engineering management role.
The focus is on
hands-on AI innovation, rapid problem solving, short delivery cycles and evidence-led experimentation.
The successful candidate will work directly with business teams, structure ambiguous problems, identify the most appropriate technical approach and help prove whether an idea works before it enters a formal Product or Engineering delivery process.
The Role
You will sit at the intersection of technology consulting, applied AI and rapid product delivery.
The role is highly autonomous and suited to someone who is comfortable moving quickly from:
business problem → technical hypothesis → prototype → user feedback → proof of value.
You will work closely with Commercial, Operations and other Enterprise teams to identify opportunities where AI, automation or emerging technologies could improve revenue, speed, efficiency or customer outcomes.
The emphasis is not on producing long strategy documents or running large-scale programmes.
Instead, you will
- understand the problem;
- assess the available technical options;
- prototype quickly;
- test with users;
- measure the result;
- decide whether to progress, change direction or stop.
Successful concepts will then be handed into Product, Engineering and Data teams for formal productionisation.
Key Responsibilities
- Work directly with business stakeholders to identify high-value AI and automation opportunities
- Break down ambiguous business problems using a structured, first-principles approach
- Translate business pain points into practical and testable technology solutions
• Assess the most appropriate technical approach, including
- Generative AI
- Agentic AI
- Machine learning
- Workflow automation
- APIs
- Existing enterprise platforms
- Third-party tools
- Simpler non-AI solutions
- Define hypotheses, success criteria and measurable business outcomes
- Rapidly create or help create proofs of concept and proofs of value
- Work closely with a hands-on AI Innovation Specialist to turn ideas into working prototypes
- Use AI-assisted development and modern delivery approaches to accelerate experimentation
- Test prototypes with users and incorporate feedback quickly
- Evaluate technical feasibility, commercial value and time-to-value
- Make evidence-based recommendations on whether initiatives should progress, pivot or stop
- Assess new AI tools, platforms and technologies against the organisation's existing stack
- Identify capability gaps and recommend external tools where appropriate
- Hand successful pilots into Product and Engineering teams with clear evidence, requirements and learning
What We're Looking For
The strongest candidates will come from a technology, digital, data or AI consulting background and will still be close to hands-on delivery.
We are particularly interested in people who have worked in recognised consulting environments such as:
- Deloitte
- Accenture
- Capgemini
- IBM Consulting
- Pw C
- EY
- KPMG
- Mc Kinsey
- Bain
- Oliver Wyman
- BCG
- Similar Tier 1 / Tier 2 technology or strategy consultancies
The consulting background is important because this role requires someone who is comfortable with:
- ambiguity;
- short, high-intensity engagements;
- high expectations for delivery;
- structured problem solving;
- first-principles thinking;
- strong stakeholder communication and presentation.
However, this is not a strategy-only consulting role.
The successful candidate must still be sufficiently technical and hands-on to work closely with modern AI tools and rapid prototype development.
Essential Experience
- Strong background in technology, digital, data or AI consulting
- Experience solving ambiguous business problems in fast-moving environments
- Strong understanding of where AI can and cannot add value
- Hands-on experience with modern AI tools, prototypes, agents or AI-enabled workflows
- Experience moving rapidly from an idea to a proof of concept or proof of value
- Strong structured problem-solving and consulting skills
- Experience working directly with business stakeholders and technical teams
- Strong presentation and communication skills
- Good understanding of modern product and software delivery approaches
- Strong commercial awareness and ability to quantify potential value
- Ability to assess multiple technical options rather than defaulting to an LLM for every use case
- Comfortable working independently with limited structure
- Technology Environment
Direct experience with every platform is not required, but relevant experience with comparable enterprise AI technologies is important.
The current environment includes
- AWS Bedrock
- Salesforce Agentforce
- Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft ecosystem
- Databricks
- Snowflake
- Cursor
- Enterprise LLM tooling
- AI-assisted development environments
- Modern data and automation platforms
Experience with equivalent technologies is transferable.
The key requirement is the ability to understand new tools quickly and determine where they can create practical value.
Ideal Candidate Profile
A strong candidate is likely to have
- Around 5–10+ years of relevant technology, product, data or AI consulting experience
- Recent hands-on exposure to Gen AI, agentic AI or AI-assisted development
- Experience working directly with clients or internal business teams
- A track record of moving from ambiguous problems to working solutions
- Experience delivering in short, agile cycles
- Strong technical fluency without necessarily being a career software engineer
- Enough technical depth to challenge and work effectively with engineers, data scientists and AI specialists
- Strong commercial judgement
• A pragmatic approach to
- build vs buy
- AI vs conventional automation
- prototype vs production
- continue vs stop
The ideal person will be able to walk into an unfamiliar business problem, understand it quickly, determine the right technical approach and produce something testable in a short period of time.
What This Role Is Not
This is not primarily a
- Programme Manager role
- Transformation Director role
- PMO role
- Enterprise Architecture role
- Traditional Engineering Manager role
- AI Governance-only role
- Strategy-only consulting role
We are not looking for someone who has moved too far away from delivery.
The strongest candidates will still be close to the technology, current AI tools and hands-on experimentation.
What Success Looks Like
Over the six-month engagement, success will be measured by
- Building a strong pipeline of viable AI and automation opportunities
- Rapidly delivering multiple prototypes and proofs of value
- Demonstrating measurable business value through experimentation
- Progressing the strongest pilots into formal Product and Engineering delivery
- Stopping weak ideas early based on evidence
- Identifying gaps in the current technology stack
- Recommending relevant new tools and technologies
- Significantly reducing the time from business problem to testable solution
The person we are looking for should be able to combine consulting-quality problem solving with modern, hands-on AI delivery.
Technical Lead in Slough employer: Ocho
Join a forward-thinking UK technology company that is at the forefront of AI innovation, where you will have the opportunity to develop your skills in a supportive and fast-paced environment. With a strong emphasis on mentorship from senior engineers, flexible working patterns, and the chance to own your projects early on, this role offers a unique pathway for professional growth in AI engineering. The company's commitment to an AI-first culture ensures that you will be working with cutting-edge tools and technologies, making a real impact in complex customer environments.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Technical Lead in Slough
✨Get Involved in Open-Source Projects
Diving into open-source projects is a brilliant way to showcase your skills and connect with other developers in the community. Not only will you beef up your GitHub profile but you might also catch the eye of someone at Ocho who values hands-on experience over just theory.
✨Attend Local Tech Meetups
Tech meetups are gold mines for networking and discovering job opportunities, especially in the fast-paced world of software engineering. Check out local listings for events in your area and don’t shy away from introducing yourself. This could lead directly to a temporary position at Ocho!
✨Showcase Your Work Online
With temporary roles, it’s all about standing out in a short space of time. Create a portfolio website where you highlight your projects and skills. Talk about your code, and provide links to your GitHub repositories. This will not only demonstrate your abilities but will also make it easier for recruiters at Ocho to see what you bring to the table.
✨Leverage Temporary Job Boards
Don’t forget to check specialised job boards for temporary software development roles. Websites like We Work Remotely or Remote OK often list short-term gigs that can be a perfect fit. Apply directly through our website as well, making sure your application is sharp—temporary roles can move fast!
We think you need these skills to ace Technical Lead in Slough
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Tech Skills:Make sure your CV highlights your tech stack and any programming languages you’re proficient in. Include specifics about any frameworks or technologies you’ve worked with; they can make you stand out in the sea of applicants. It’s all about showing that you have the chops we need at Ocho!
Portfolio 2.0:Since you’re applying for a temporary gig, it’s super important to showcase a portfolio that highlights your best projects. Include links to GitHub or any personal projects that demonstrate what you can do in a real-world environment. This gives us a taste of your style and your problem-solving approach!
Keep It Brief and Relevant:With a temporary position, we want to see your ability to hit the ground running. Be concise in your CV and cover letter; stick to experiences that directly relate to the role. Highlight any previous temporary roles or freelance gigs that show your adaptability and quick learning!
Tailor Your Cover Letter:Don’t just send a generic cover letter. Personalise it for Technical Lead at Ocho! Mention why this temporary role excites you and how you see yourself contributing in the short run. Show us what you've got and why you're the one for this quick turn-around!
How to prepare for a job interview at Ocho
✨Nail the Technical Skills
For a software engineering role, you'll likely face technical questions or coding tasks during your interview. Brush up on the relevant programming languages and frameworks that Ocho uses, and don’t forget to practice some coding challenges on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank. Showing your coding prowess can really make you stand out!
✨Prepare for System Design Questions
Even for a temporary role, having a grasp of system design principles can be crucial. Be ready to discuss how you would architect a software solution, including discussing trade-offs, scalability, and performance considerations. Having examples from previous projects can really show off your analytical thinking.
✨Demonstrate Your Adaptability
Since this is a temporary role, you'll want to emphasise your ability to hit the ground running. Highlight experiences where you quickly adapted to new technologies or teams. Let’s make it clear to the interviewers at Ocho that you can learn on the job and deliver results in a short timeframe!
✨Show Off Your Portfolio
Make sure to have a portfolio or GitHub ready showcasing your projects. Having tangible evidence of what you've done—be it personal projects, contributions to open-source, or previous work—can convey how capable you are. Tailor this for what might interest Ocho, so it's relevant and sparks conversation during your interview.
