Group IT AI Lead

In your role as Group IT AI Lead, you will make a meaningful and valued contribution from the outset. This role will provide a great opportunity to act as the primary technical lead for Microsoft 365 AI, Co-pilot and wider AI solution capabilities within IT. You will help shape and drive the M365 AI strategy, ensuring that enterprise requirements, technical considerations, and governance controls are addressed cohesively.

Business Area: IT

Place of Work: Liverpool

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract

What you'll be doing:

• Act as the primary technical lead for Microsoft 365 AI and Copilot, coordinating the Group IT AI ask and shaping enterprise strategy, standards, and controls.
• Provide technical guidance to ensure safe, secure, and scalable adoption of AI across USS, bridging innovation and operational delivery.
• Provide technical direction, evaluating new M365 AI features, helping define standards and guardrails, and supporting safe and scalable adoption.
• Share and monitor industry standard AI initiatives and strategies, assessing how they align with existing business solutions and platforms, focusing on platforms such as Azure AI, Copilot Fabric, and Power Platform.
• Act as both an advisor and hands-on enabler, bridging innovation and delivery, enabling USS to realise value from AI while maintaining strong security, compliance, and control.
• Define and embed a robust Copilot framework, including agent development architecture principles, standards, and appropriate implementation controls, ensuring alignment with the Software Development Policy.
• Develop and maintain reference architectures and reusable patterns for M365 Copilot and Power Platform capabilities, supporting consistency, interoperability, and best practice adoption across USS.
• Support end-to-end solutions for Copilot and Copilot Studio, encompassing data ingestion, development, deployment, and seamless integration with existing Power App architecture and SharePoint.
• Review and validate Copilot solution designs against enterprise technology architecture, providing assurance and recommendations.
• Lead prototyping activities and technical feasibility assessments for new Copilot features technologies, driving innovation and practical adoption within the Power Platform eco-system.
• Collaborate proactively with stakeholders to ensure Copilot usage is aligned with the organisation's overall technology and business strategy.
• Partner closely with key stakeholders to bridge the gap between Copilot-driven innovation and operational delivery, ensuring Copilot powered solutions deliver productivity and value.

What you'll need:

• In-depth understanding of M365 suite of products, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Enterprise AI Agent design and build using Microsoft Copilot Studio, Microsoft Graph, and AI driven workflow optimisation.
• Proven experience collaborating with business stakeholders, architects, and technical peers to shape technical strategy, solution design, and Copilot and AI adoption roadmaps.
• Strong knowledge of AI concepts including LLMs, prompt engineering and responsible Copilot practices.
• Hands-on experience designing and delivering solutions using Power Apps, Automate, Power Bi to support Copilot customisation, automation, and governance.
• Proven experience implementing Copilot ready solutions, including data readiness, permissions alignment, content lifecycle management, including Dataverse, SharePoint, OneDrive.