AI Tech Lead

Location

Birmingham, London, Peterborough, Reading

Job Family

Digital & Technology

Job Type

Full Time

Posted Date

06-Feb-2026

#

71445

We have an exciting new role for an AI Tech Lead - Mobile to join our Technology Transformation team.

As the AI Tech Lead you will play a pivotal role in leading and driving the development of pioneering AI solutions applying state-of-the-art open-source language models such as Llama 2 and Hugging Face
. You will
lead a dedicated team of AI developers
, collaborating closely with collaborators, product owners, and other technical teams to deliver AI-powered solutions that drive business success.
Your primary focus will be on providing technical leadership, ensuring code quality, and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration within the AI development squad.

A working knowledge of mobile networking technologies would be advantageous

• Technical Leadership: Provide expert technical guidance, mentorship, and leadership to the AI development team. Ensure alignment to best practices and maintain high-quality code standards.
• AI Solution Development: Lead the design, development, testing, and deployment of AI-powered products and solutions, applying open-source language models and AI frameworks.
• Code Review: Conduct regular code reviews to ensure code quality, adherence to coding standards, and seek opportunities for improvement. Ensure compliance with CI/CD practices and security measures.
• Team Leadership: Manage a team of skilled AI developers, providing guidance, feedback, and technical assistance as needed. Act as the primary technical escalation point for major incidents related to AI solutions.
• Solution Scalability and Reliability: Architect AI platforms for scalability, reliability, and performance. Select and implement appropriate technology stacks for AI development.
• Cross-Team
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Identify cross-product and cross-team dependencies and work with relevant partners to address them. Facilitate decision-making processes and ensure alignment with Agile and Dev Ops values.
• AI Technology Evaluation: Stay updated with the latest advancements in AI and open-source technologies. Provide vision and strategy for using AI tools and frameworks for network modernization.
• Technical Chapter Leadership: Act as the Technical Chapter lead for AI, automation, data science, and disseminate best practices across the squads.

Who we are

The UK’s fastest broadband network. The nation’s best-loved mobile brand. And, one of the UK's biggest companies too. We put our customers first, making life simpler, smoother, and more joyful. With big ambitions and a brilliant team, we’re building a more connected future for everyone.

Our ways of working

We’re a flexible-first organisation, because we know people do their best work when they have choice and clarity. To support meaningful collaboration, we ask everyone to spend at least eight days each month connecting in person.

That doesn’t just mean time in the office, it could be team meetings, offsites, volunteering days, cross-functional projects, or away days - anywhere meaningful collaboration happens. What matters is making those moments purposeful, so when we come together, it really counts.

Accessible, inclusive and equitable for all

Virgin Media O2 is an
equal opportunities employer and we re working hard to remove bias and barriers for our people and candidates. So, we build equity and inclusion into everything we do, from the policies we craft to the relationships we shape. We support and encourage you to be your authentic self throughout your application journey with us.

• Hands-on practical experience as a Senior AI Developer or Tech Lead with a track record of growing tech talent.
• Strong mobile network background, with hands-on experience in 5G Core, 4G EPC, RAN/Open RAN/vRAN, network slicing, VoLTE, and mobile service
• Experience with open-source language models like Llama 2, Hugging Face or similar tool.
• Proficiency in SQL scripting and SQL queries
• Familiarity with cloud platforms ideally GCP or similar (Azure, AWS etc)

• Previous experience in software…