Head of Applied AI

Colibri Digital is looking for a Head of Applied AI to lead and grow our AI engineering capability.

This is a senior leadership role sitting at the intersection of AI engineering, consulting, commercial growth and technical delivery
. You'll help shape where we take our AI capability next, lead senior conversations with clients and remain close enough to the technology to challenge architecture, guide engineers and influence how solutions are built.

Our focus is very much on applied AI
. We're interested in what happens beyond the demo: taking Generative AI, Agentic AI and predictive AI into secure, governed production environments where they solve real business problems.

You'll inherit strong technical capability, but there's plenty still to build. You'll have the opportunity to shape the team, our propositions, how we go to market and how we turn emerging AI technology into solutions clients can actually use.

• You get to build, not just inherit. There is an established technical capability here, but the AI market is moving quickly and we're still shaping what comes next. You'll have genuine influence over the direction of the practice, the team we build and the propositions we take to market.
• You'll stay close to the technology. This isn't a role where you step completely away from engineering. We want someone who can hold an executive-level conversation about the business application of AI and then switch into a detailed discussion with engineers about architecture, RAG, agents, evaluation or how a solution will operate in production.
• You'll be involved before the solution is sold. You'll work closely with our sales, pre-sales and consulting teams from discovery onwards – identifying where AI can create genuine value, shaping credible solutions and making sure what we commit to is technically achievable and commercially sound.
• You'll help turn innovation into revenue. Part of the opportunity is taking what works for clients and turning it into repeatable propositions, accelerators and reusable assets that help Colibri grow.

• The Applied AI capability. Its technical direction, standards, people, propositions and continued growth.
• Senior client conversations. Leading AI discovery, consulting and solution conversations from initial opportunity through to delivery.
• AI engineering excellence. Setting high standards across architecture, engineering, testing, CI/CD, MLOps/LLMOps, evaluation, security and AI governance.
• Production AI. Ensuring solutions move beyond experimentation into reliable, scalable and governed production environments.
• Solution design. Challenging architecture, estimates and delivery approaches before commitments are made.
• The team. Leading, mentoring and developing AI engineers and senior technical specialists while helping us build the capability we need for the future.
• Commercial growth. Working alongside sales and pre-sales to build pipeline, win new work and expand existing client relationships.
• Propositions and IP. Turning successful client solutions into repeatable offerings, accelerators and reusable assets.
• Capability performance. Helping manage revenue, utilisation, capacity and margin across the practice.
• Our presence in the AI market. Building visibility through clients, partners, events, content and thought leadership.

There isn't one particular career path into this role.

You may already be leading an AI practice or capability, or you could be an exceptional Principal or Director-level AI leader ready to take the next step.

What matters more is the…