Director of Data Engineering (AI/ML)
Director of Data Engineering (AI/ML) (AI/ML)📍 Manchester | Hybrid 💰 Up to £160,000 base + bonus
The Role
A leading global financial services organisation are looking for a Director of Data Engineering with a focus on their AI & ML initiatives. You'll act as the technical lead and people manager for six engineers, owning end-to-end delivery across AI, machine learning, and data engineering initiatives.
This is a mix of a hands on and managerial position. You won't be running a large org; you'll be close to the work, setting the technical direction, and developing a high-performing team.
Director of Data Engineering I Key Responsibilities:
- Leading a team of six AI/ML and data engineers, acting as the technical anchor and day-to-day people lead for the group
- Owning end-to-end delivery of AI, ML, and data platform initiatives within an agile POD structure
- Designing and scaling enterprise-grade data pipelines, ML systems, and MLOps capabilities
- Defining and communicating technical strategy, translating complex engineering decisions into clear narratives for senior stakeholders and business leaders
- Mentoring and developing engineers, fostering growth and technical excellence within the team
Director of Data Engineering I Requirements:
- Strong technical background in AI/ML and data engineering — you've built and shipped production ML systems and data platforms, not just overseen them
- Demonstrated ability to communicate and present to senior stakeholders with confidence and clarity — this is a significant focus for this hire
- Leadership experience — this doesn't have to mean large-team management; mentoring, tech lead roles, or small-team leadership is genuinely considered sufficient
- Experience in complex, enterprise-scale environments with real delivery accountability
Nice to haves:
- Experience in financial services, fintech, or similarly regulated industries (explicitly not required — strong candidates from any sector are welcome)
- Familiarity with MLOps, cloud-native data architectures, and enterprise data integration patterns
Director of Data Engineering (AI/ML)📍 Manchester | Hybrid 💰 Up to £160,000 base + bonus