Lead AI Practitioner - Business Consulting Manager

Are you passionate about helping organisations use artificial intelligence (AI) in a way that is practical, ethical and genuinely valuable? Do you enjoy working at the intersection of business, technology and people, translating complex ideas into outcomes that matter?

As a Lead AI Practitioner, you will play a key role in enabling organisations to responsibly and effectively adopt AI. You will bridge the gap between business needs and technical capability, working across the full lifecycle – from identifying opportunities through to delivery and value realisation. You will be part of a collaborative, supportive team within Strategic Digital Solutions (SDS), where learning, curiosity and responsible innovation are encouraged.

We can offer great career progression opportunities, the ability to be based anywhere across the UK, benefits which you can flex to meet your needs, and training and development opportunities. This role is home based, with occasional travel for meetings or workshops as required.

What you’ll be doing:

• Working with stakeholders to identify, assess and prioritise high‑value AI use cases aligned to business outcomes.
• Translating business problems into clear AI‑enabled solution concepts and supporting delivery through proofs of value (PoV), pilots and deployments.
• Collaborating with data scientists, engineers and architects to shape model requirements, data readiness and solution design.
• Championing responsible, ethical and safe AI practices, including governance, transparency and risk management.
• Building organisational capability through coaching, training and practical enablement to improve AI literacy and adoption.
• Capturing learning from delivery activities and contributing to continuous improvement of AI practices, assets and strategy.

What you’ll bring:

• Applied understanding of AI and machine learning (ML) concepts across the full delivery lifecycle.
• Strong experience in use‑case identification, problem definition and value framing for digital or data‑led initiatives.
• Knowledge of data management principles and responsible AI, including ethics and governance.
• The ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams and influence across business and technical stakeholders.
• Experience supporting PoVs, pilots or early‑stage solution delivery.
• Excellent analytical and problem‑solving capability, with a focus on practical outcomes.

It would be great if you had:

• Exposure to cloud‑based AI platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
• Experience contributing to digital transformation, service design or product‑led operating models.
• Familiarity with governance, risk and compliance considerations in AI contexts.
• Experience supporting or contributing to AI centres of excellence, labs or factories.
• Knowledge of machine learning operations (MLOps), including model monitoring and lifecycle management.

If you’re interested in this role but not sure if your skills and experience are exactly what we’re looking for, please do apply, we’d love to hear from you!

Although this role is advertised as full-time, we believe that flexibility at work can promote work/life balance, increase your motivation, reduce stress and improves performance and productivity. We support different ways of working and can offer a range of flexible working arrangements. So, if you’re interested and need to work flexibly, we encourage you to apply and talk to us about what might be possible.

With a long history of delivering transformation, we’ve developed a market‑leading partnership ecosystem to provide business services of the future and shape valuable, positive outcomes for communities. Our Strategic Digital Solutions teams help clients design and deliver digital change at pace, combining deep sector knowledge with strong technology capability. We foster a culture where people feel supported, valued and proud of the impact they make.