Director of AI

London, 3 days a week

£140,000 – £160,000 + big bonus + car + shares + good pension

You’ll be the first dedicated AI leadership hire for a global insurance business at the forefront of AI adoption. With strong executive backing, you’ll shape and own the strategy from day one to build something meaningful.

Work closely with C-level leadership to build capability and demonstrate value, define direction and lay the foundations for a scalable AI function.

This is a genuine career step with a market-leading package including 20-40% bonus that actually pays out, £10k car allowance, 10% pension (non contributionary) and long term share options in a listed business.

You’ll establish frameworks and processes for data centric AI use cases on the AI & data platforms, enhancing AI-driven decision making and fostering a culture of innovation.

What you’ll do

You’ll develop and execute a comprehensive AI strategy, overseeing initiatives and presenting to C-level executives. Your leadership will drive the business to be at the leading edge in data science and AI.

Establishing an AI data centric centre of excellence, you’ll build, mentor and lead a high-performing team of data scientists and ML engineers, setting the standard for AI capabilities within the organisation.

What you’ll need

• Extensive background in Data Science, Machine Learning, and AI.
• Demonstrable understanding and experience from within an insurance business, including commercial and specialty lines.
• Solid experience working closely with Boards and executive teams to advise on AI investment, risk, and organisational design.

About the company

A global insurer investing heavily in data, AI and digital capability, with strong backing from senior leadership and a clear focus on long-term growth. The environment is evolving quickly, offering real opportunity to develop, influence direction and progress as the AI function expands.

With hybrid working (3 days a week in the London office), you can plan your week around life, not the other way round.

Please click the ‘Apply’ button. Don’t worry if your CV isn’t up to date. Just send what you have and we’ll deal with that later.

We seek individuals from a diverse talent pool and encourage applicants from underrepresented groups to apply to our vacancies. Our commitment to fair recruitment processes means that we welcome applicants from all backgrounds, regardless of their lived experience or personal characteristics. We also invite applicants who meet most of the listed requirements, even if not all, to apply. If you require any adjustments to the application process, please let us know.

Barclay Simpson acts as an Employment Agency for permanent positions and an Employment Business for temporary/contract engagements.