AI & Automation Lead

The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.

Location: Living Planet Centre, Woking, Surrey

Contract: Permanent, full time (35 hours)

Hybrid working: Minimum 40% in person collaboration per month

Salary: £58,000 + excellent benefits

Safeguarding level: Level Two

We’re recruiting WWF-UK’s first dedicated AI & Automation Lead to shape how we use AI and automation effectively, securely and responsibly in support of our mission.

Reporting to the Director of Technology, you’ll lead our AI and automation roadmap, turning promising opportunities into practical solutions that improve productivity, supporter engagement, fundraising, decision-making and operational efficiency.

This strategic and hands‑on role will prioritise use cases, develop business cases, coordinate pilots and implementations, and contribute directly to solutions where appropriate. You’ll establish the governance needed to scale AI responsibly, working across data, security, privacy and technology to ensure clear ownership, human oversight and robust testing, monitoring and risk management.

You’ll build confidence and capability through practical guidance, training and support for adoption, while overseeing suppliers, delivery resources, platform costs and benefits. As the capability grows, you’ll also lead and develop colleagues in the AI and automation area. You’ll combine strong technical understanding with strategic judgement, practical delivery skills and a clear‑eyed approach to both the opportunities and risks of AI.

You’ll bring the following skills and experience to succeed in this role:

• Significant experience leading or delivering AI, automation, digital transformation, data or technology initiatives within a complex organisation
• Practical experience developing, configuring, integrating or assuring AI‑enabled solutions and moving prototypes into controlled operational use
• Strong understanding of AI governance, including ownership, evaluation, monitoring, documentation, human oversight and lifecycle management
• Practical knowledge of responsible AI principles, including privacy, transparency, fairness and bias, accessibility, intellectual property and human oversight
• Experience working with security, data protection, governance, risk and technical specialists to identify and manage AI‑related risks
• Strong understanding of the Microsoft AI ecosystem and the practical considerations involved in deploying, monitoring and maintaining AI services
• Software development skills, with experience designing, building, testing and maintaining AI or automation solutions using appropriate development practices
• Strong strategic and analytical thinking, with the ability to identify where AI can create meaningful value and where it may introduce risk or unintended consequences
• Experience turning broad opportunities into clear priorities, business cases, delivery plans and measurable outcomes
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to explain technology, cost, architecture and risk clearly to both technical and non‑technical audiences
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to challenge constructively, build trust and navigate competing priorities
• Experience managing suppliers, partners or delivery teams and assessing value for money
• Experience coaching, developing or line managing colleagues in a technical environment
• Experience managing Microsoft AI licensing, consumption or capacity models
• Knowledge of data governance, including data quality, classification, access and retention
• Experience working with agentic AI or multi‑agent…