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- Tasks: Lead the transformation of AI in higher education, creating impactful solutions for students and staff.
- Company: Join Global University Systems, a pioneer in modernising education through AI.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Why this job: Shape the future of AI in education and make a real difference.
- Qualifications: 6+ years in IT delivery with strong AI/ML experience and leadership skills.
- Other info: Collaborative environment with a focus on responsible AI practices.
The predicted salary is between 48000 - 84000 £ per year.
Global University Systems is building a modern AI platform to power how our universities recruit, teach, support, and serve students. The Director of AI will lead this transformation, turning promising ideas into production-grade AI solutions that create real value for students and staff. This role owns the AI roadmap end-to-end: from identifying high-impact use cases, to running rapid experiments, to scaling successful solutions across multiple Higher Education Institutions.
What you’ll do:
- Set vision and strategy
- Own and continually refine the AI initiatives portfolio and roadmap for the group.
- Run a structured intake process for new ideas, assessing value, feasibility, data readiness, ethical risk, and compliance.
- Define clear success measures for every proof of concept (PoC) and MVP, including KPIs, leading indicators, and decision gates to continue, pivot, or stop.
- Lead PoCs and MVPs
- Run time-boxed PoCs (2–8 weeks) and MVPs (8–16 weeks) using Agile methods (Scrum or Kanban) with regular demos and retrospectives.
- Build and lead cross-functional squads including Product Owner, Data Scientists, ML Engineers, Integration Engineers, Solution Architect, and domain experts from Admissions, Registry and Student Services.
- Design experiments, test hypotheses, and iterate quickly, ensuring human-in-the-loop for critical decisions such as admissions triage or student risk flagging.
- Embed Responsible AI practices from the start, including bias assessment, explainability, accessibility, documentation, and impact assessments tailored to higher education.
- Scale platforms and solutions
- Take validated MVPs into production with robust architecture, integration patterns, security controls, SLAs, and operational runbooks.
- Establish MLOps across the university environment, including model registry, CI/CD for ML, feature stores, monitoring for drift, and retraining policies.
- Build reusable AI platform capabilities (e.g., orchestration, RAG services, prompt safety, connectors) that support multiple domains such as:
- Recruitment & Admissions: enquiry triage, lead scoring, document extraction, and decision support.
- Student Records & Registry: data quality checks, anomaly detection, and predictive alerts for progression and retention.
- Timetabling & Operations: demand forecasting, optimization support, and conflict detection.
- Teaching & Learning: content summarization, tutoring assistants, accessibility tools, and feedback synthesis respecting academic integrity.
- Student Support & Wellbeing: intelligent case routing, early warning signals, and proactive nudges designed with strong ethics and safeguarding.
- Research Administration: grant discovery, compliance support, and metadata enrichment.
- Coordinate integrations with core systems including SIS (e.g., Banner, Workday Student), LMS/VLE (Moodle, Canvas), CRM (Salesforce), library systems, HR/Finance (ERP), and identity platforms (e.g., Azure AD).
- Implement a practical AI governance framework that includes a use case register, risk scoring, impact assessments, model documentation, and audit trails.
- Ensure compliance with GDPR, accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG), information security policies, and emerging AI regulations.
- Define and enforce guardrails for data and GenAI use: data access controls, PII handling, prompt/data leakage prevention, and content moderation.
- Partner with Deans, Registry, Admissions, Student Services, IT, Legal and other stakeholders to align on priorities and rollout plans.
- Communicate progress through clear dashboards and storytelling, highlighting wins and lessons learned to build momentum.
- Prepare teams and students for AI adoption with training, standard operating procedures, ethical use guidelines, and tailored communications.
- Lead RFPs and SOWs for AI vendors, data providers, and implementation partners, including evaluation of cost, performance, and scalability.
- Track and optimize cloud and AI platform spend, balancing cost with value; negotiate campus-wide licensing where beneficial.
What you bring:
- Education
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Business Analytics, or a related discipline.
- Knowledge and skills
- Product and outcome mindset: frames problems as hypotheses, focuses on measurable impact, and is willing to stop or pivot when evidence is weak.
- Delivery excellence: strong Agile practices, risk-based planning, and disciplined stage-gates from idea to production.
- Technical fluency: able to bridge data science, engineering, security, and business stakeholders, and make informed technical decisions.
- Responsible AI and data literacy: understands and embeds ethics, privacy, and accessibility by design.
- Change leadership: confident working across diverse academic and professional services communities to drive adoption.
- Experience with major cloud and AI stacks such as Azure OpenAI / OpenAI, Azure ML, Databricks, Kubernetes, and Docker.
- Familiarity with data platforms such as Azure Data Lake, Synapse/ADF, Delta Lake, and messaging platforms (e.g., event hubs, service bus).
- Exposure to MLOps and observability tools (e.g., MLflow/model registry, GitHub Actions, Prometheus/Grafana, Evidently AI).
- Knowledge of integrating with SIS (Banner/Workday Student), LMS (Moodle/Canvas), CRM (Salesforce), ERP (Oracle/Workday), and IdP (Azure AD).
- Comfort with collaboration and reporting tools such as Jira/Azure Boards, Confluence, and Power BI.
- Experience
- 6+ years in IT delivery, product, or program leadership roles, including at least 3 years leading AI/ML or advanced analytics initiatives end-to-end.
- Proven track record running Agile PoCs and MVPs and scaling them into production within complex organizations.
- Strong understanding of AI/ML techniques (e.g., classification, NLP, GenAI, RAG, prompt engineering), data pipelines, APIs, and microservices.
- Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (Azure preferred; AWS or GCP also valued) and MLOps tools (e.g., MLflow, Azure ML, Databricks, SageMaker or Vertex) plus observability practices.
- Familiarity with higher education processes and integrations across SIS, LMS, CRM, and ERP environments.
- Knowledge of data privacy, accessibility, security, and Responsible AI in academic or similarly regulated contexts.
- Excellent stakeholder communication skills with the ability to translate technical topics into clear outcomes for non-technical audiences.
- Experience designing or operating an AI platform or shared AI services used across multiple domains or business units.
- Hands-on work with vector databases and retrieval pipelines (e.g., Azure AI Search, Pinecone) and guardrails for GenAI.
- Background in enterprise architecture and integration patterns (event-driven, REST, GraphQL).
- Relevant certifications such as Agile/Scrum (PSM/CSM), Azure AI Engineer/DP-100, PMI-ACP/SAFe, or security/privacy certifications.
If you are excited by the opportunity to shape the future of AI in higher education and deliver impact at scale, we encourage you to apply and join us on this journey.
AI Director in Coventry employer: Top End jobs
Contact Detail:
Top End jobs Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land AI Director in Coventry
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Get out there and connect with people in the industry. Attend events, join online forums, and don’t be shy about reaching out on LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can put in a good word for you.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio that highlights your best work, especially any AI projects you've led or contributed to. This is your chance to demonstrate your expertise and make a lasting impression on potential employers.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for interviews by practising common questions and scenarios related to AI leadership. Think about how you would approach specific challenges mentioned in the job description. The more prepared you are, the more confident you'll feel!
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! We’re always looking for talented individuals who are passionate about AI in education. Make sure your application stands out by tailoring it to the role and showcasing your unique strengths.
We think you need these skills to ace AI Director in Coventry
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application: Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter to highlight how your experience aligns with the AI Director role. Use keywords from the job description to show that you understand what we're looking for.
Showcase Your Achievements: Don’t just list your responsibilities; focus on what you've achieved in your previous roles. Quantify your successes where possible, as this will help us see the real impact you've made.
Be Clear and Concise: Keep your application clear and to the point. We appreciate well-structured documents that are easy to read. Avoid jargon unless it’s relevant to the role, and make sure your passion for AI shines through!
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. This ensures your application gets to the right place and helps us keep track of all candidates efficiently. Plus, it’s super easy!
How to prepare for a job interview at Top End jobs
✨Know Your AI Stuff
Make sure you brush up on the latest AI trends and technologies relevant to higher education. Be ready to discuss your experience with AI/ML techniques, cloud platforms, and MLOps tools. This role is all about leading AI initiatives, so showing your technical fluency will definitely impress.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
As a Director of AI, you'll need to lead cross-functional teams. Prepare examples of how you've successfully managed teams in the past, especially in Agile environments. Highlight your experience running PoCs and MVPs, and be ready to discuss how you’ve driven adoption and change in previous roles.
✨Prepare for Ethical Discussions
Responsible AI practices are crucial in this role. Be prepared to talk about how you've embedded ethics, privacy, and accessibility into your AI projects. Discuss any frameworks or guidelines you've implemented to ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR and how you've handled ethical risks.
✨Have a Vision Ready
This position requires setting a clear vision and strategy for AI initiatives. Think about your long-term goals for AI in higher education and how you would approach building an AI roadmap. Be ready to share your ideas on high-impact use cases and how you would measure success.
