Director - AI and Machine Learning

Artefact UK - H2 2026

Director Job Description

Artefact is a new generation of data and AI consultancy, and one of the fastest growing. In the last six months alone we've grown from 2,000 to 2,500 people, now serving over 3,000 clients across 36 offices in 27 countries. Founded in 2014 and backed by Cinven, we're Europe's largest pureplay consultancy in data and AI, and we're not slowing down.

We specialise in data consulting and AI-driven transformation, working with organisations across the globe to turn data into measurable business impact, creating real change in how businesses operate, compete, and grow. With 40% of our people in consulting roles, we have the critical mass to deliver full transformation at scale. We don't just offer strategies. We frame problems, design solutions, build the technology, and operate what we deliver. That distinction, between those who propose and those who implement, is central to how we work.

We're technology-agnostic but technology-deep. We hold premium partnerships with the platforms shaping this industry, including Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, Databricks, and AWS, giving our consultants direct access to the newest capabilities before they reach the mainstream. Half of our projects involve collaboration across more than two offices, so the expertise you need is never far away, and our teams bring together AI specialists, data scientists, data engineers, and digital experts: the full range of talent required to reach the last mile of a transformation.

Progression here is earned, not timed. We don't run on tenure. We run on impact, and strong performers move fast. If you want to build things that matter, at a pace that matches your ambition, this is where you do it.

Our UK office is at an inflection point. We've built the foundations of a category-defining consultancy, and now we're scaling, fast. The shape of the team a year from now will look very different to today. Join now, and you're building the office before Artefact becomes a name every top consultant already knows.

We work across a broad range of industries, including Retail Banking, Insurance, Private Equity, Energy & Utilities, Retail & E-commerce, CPG & FMCG, and Automotive, giving consultants the space to build real depth in one or two areas while staying genuinely exposed to others. It's one of the things people here value most.

Our engagements run end to end, from strategy and governance through to delivery of high value data and AI solutions. The problems we work on are the ones organisations are genuinely wrestling with right now: Data Platform Strategy and Build, Generative AI Strategy, Agentic AI Strategy & Deployment, AI Governance and Assurance, Digital Transformation, and AI Adoption and Change. This work needs people who can operate at a strategic level in the morning and get into the technical weeds in the afternoon, and know when to do which.

If that's the kind of work you want to be doing, we'd love to hear from you. We're looking for people who are genuinely energised by AI and data, and who want a hand in shaping how organisations and how people work change for the better.

As a Director at Artefact UK, you will operate at the intersection of AI and data strategy, client leadership, and commercial growth. Reporting to the Partners and Managing Director, you own the AI and data agenda across a portfolio of clients, with Tech Leads and Managers reporting to you and running the day-to-day delivery of the engagements within it. This is a role for someone who is equally comfortable shaping a client's AI strategy at board level and building the playbook that lets Artefact deliver it again, better, for the next client.

• Technology leadership: You will take a client's business opportunities and pain points and match them to the right ML, AI or data engineering solution. You possess the technical depth required to engage in discussions regarding solution architecture and implementation details with a client’s Principal Engineers and Data Scientists.
• AI use case leadership: You will work with client management and Artefact teams to identify and prioritise the AI use cases that create genuine differential value, and lead their development end to end, from ideation through to deployment and continuous improvement. You will build and maintain a library of use cases and solution sets that can be reused and adapted across the wider client base.
• Data and analytics capability building: You will assess clients' current data and analytics maturity, spot the opportunities for rapid enhancement, and turn what you learn into a playbook that can be repeated across new clients. 
• Senior client advisory and stakeholder relationships: You will work closely with client cross-functional teams, spanning technology and business, to ensure AI solutions integrate cleanly into how the organisation actually runs. You will build strong relationships with key stakeholders across your clients, and create a community of data leaders that shares knowledge and best practice across the portfolio, positioning Artefact as a genuine partner in that network rather than a supplier to it.
• Commercial ownership and business development: You will lead pitches end-to-end, shaping the proposition, directing proposal development, and leading client-facing pitches and RFP responses, and you will contribute to pipeline management and opportunity prioritisation across the broader practice.
• Thought leadership, innovation and talent development: You will stay ahead of developments in AI and data analytics, bring cutting-edge solutions and a network of trusted advisors to your clients, and contribute insights and recommendations that shape Artefact's own AI and data strategy. You will mentor and support the development of data and AI talent at Artefact, with particular attention to growing the Tech Leads and Managers who report to you.

The Director role is for people who have already proven they can lead AI and data engagements and manage senior talent, and who are ready to be accountable for a portfolio of clients, a library of reusable solutions, and the technology leads who deliver against both. It is a step-change in scope, not just seniority. What we're looking for:

• Around 10+ years of experience leading AI and data projects, with a strong, specific track record of delivering measurable business value for clients, ideally including several years spent working with consulting and technical teams together.
• Deep expertise across AI technologies, machine learning, data analytics, and data management, paired with a strong understanding of AI and ML, data infrastructure and architecture, including data warehousing, and cloud-based solutions, so you can move fluidly between the strategic and the technical.
• A track record you can speak to specifically, including engagements you have delivered, accounts you have grown, and pitches you have led.
• Credible at C-suite level; confident engaging and influencing senior executives and stakeholders across a client organisation, not because you perform confidence, but because you have done the work and know what you are talking about.
• Genuinely invested in developing other people; you mentor and support the technical talent around you, and you take building Artefact's data and AI capability as seriously as you take any individual engagement.

We do not require a single ca