Head of AI Engineering

Role Overview

This position, based in Ireland and represented by a partner company, seeks a Head of AI Engineering to lead the organization-wide AI strategy. The role involves steering the adoption of advanced AI technologies across engineering and business units, creating scalable AI platforms, architectures, governance frameworks, and AI-driven workflows.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a comprehensive AI strategy and roadmap to embed AI as a core technological platform.
• Evaluate current AI applications, tools, vendors, and internal solutions, including cost assessments, risk management, and informal AI usage.
• Design an AI operating model encompassing ownership roles, prioritization mechanisms, innovation initiatives, and standards for deploying AI in production.
• Architect and deploy AI platforms including gateways, security authentication, access control, routing of models, logging, cost and usage tracking, and audit functionality.
• Manage and standardize AI technology ecosystems, covering models, third-party vendors, APIs, SaaS, self-hosted solutions, and platform norms.
• Promote AI integration in workflows across engineering productivity, code reviewing, testing, automation, product analytics, and marketing.
• Formulate AI governance and security policies to ensure data privacy, repository protection, credentials safety, compliance, and risk mitigation.
• Develop observation and evaluation frameworks to monitor AI system quality, latency, reliability, operational costs, and performance metrics.
• Lead AI adoption initiatives including training programs, internal AI champions, best practices, and responsible AI usage playbooks.
• Build and manage an AI Engineering division that balances central platform capabilities with domain-specific AI projects.
• Engage with technical and business leaders to align AI efforts with organizational goals and priorities.
• Provide expert technical guidance to ensure AI initiatives progress successfully from conceptual phases to production deployment.

Candidate Requirements

• Significant leadership experience in AI engineering roles such as Head of AI, Engineering Manager, Director of AI Engineering, or similar.
• Proven track record in building AI platforms and engineering functions from initial concept to operational implementation.
• Comprehensive knowledge of production AI systems addressing architecture, reliability, latency, cost control, observability, security, and lifecycle management.
• Expertise in large language models (LLMs), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), AI agents, function calling, prompt management, and evaluation methodologies.
• Understanding of software development methodologies and how AI tools can enhance productivity, testing, code review, documentation, and onboarding.
• Strong security orientation focused on mitigating data leakage, privacy issues, prompt injection risks, unsafe tool access, secrets management, and vendor-related risks.
• Familiarity with AI financial operations, including total cost ownership, budgeting, forecasting, vendor management, and ROI analysis.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with stakeholders including CTOs, engineering leadership, security teams, product managers, analytics groups, and business units.
• Balance strategic vision with hands-on technical leadership when necessary.
• Proven success in translating AI strategies into concrete results through structured roadmaps, execution steps, adoption metrics, and ongoing refinements.
• Additional advantages include experience implementing AI gateways or proxy layers (such as LiteLLM), driving adoption of AI developer tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, JetBrains AI), background in platform engineering and internal developer platforms, expertise in AI workflows for QA, support, analytics, and marketing, experience managing self-hosted models and AI observability, and comfort with engineering/infrastructure tools like GitHub, GitLab, Jira, Slack, CI/CD platforms, cloud, and hybrid infrastructures.

Benefits

• Work entirely remotely with the flexibility to choose your work location.
• Official employment support and administrative assistance in applicable regions.
• Entitlement to 20 paid vacation days, statutory holidays, and sick leave benefits.
• Comprehensive medical insurance through leading healthcare providers.
• Access to mental health resources and professional wellbeing services.
• Monthly allowance for hobbies, fitness, and personal interests.
• Professional development opportunities including educational courses, workshops, mentoring programs, and language training.
• Participation in corporate events, team-building activities, and community initiatives.
• The chance to create advanced AI capabilities from the ground up within a technologically driven environment.
• An organizational culture that encourages autonomy, transparency, innovation, and continuous personal and professional development.

Additional Information

This role is listed through a partner company that handles applications and hiring procedures. The application process uses AI-enabled matching to fairly assess candidates, with final interview and selection stages managed internally by the employer. The processing of personal data complies with GDPR and related data protection frameworks, ensuring applicant information privacy and rights.