Development Programme Manager (AI Infra And Platform), Digital Hub

About The Role

We are seeking a Development Programme Manager to lead the design, deployment, and operations of our organisation’s AI Infrastructure and AI Platform.

This is a technical management role responsible for the full lifecycle of AI platforms:

Day 0 - Architecture & design
Day 1 - Deployment & onboarding
Day 2 - Operations & optimisation

You will lead a small specialist team and work with an Engineering Head. This role includes accountability for operational integrity, compliance, and payment milestone validation, including alignment of deliverables with contractual obligations.

Key Responsibilities

AI Infrastructure & Platform Operations

Operate the organisation’s AI infrastructure and AI platform, ensuring availability, reliability, scalability, security, and performance.
Lead platform lifecycle activities across design, deployment, and operations.
Compliance for availability, monitoring, capacity management, and incident response.
Act as the primary technical escalation point for platform-related issues.
Monitor and optimise cost, capacity, and performance of AI infrastructure.
Lead response to platform incidents and service disruptions, including post-incident reviews.

Team Leadership & Technical Supervision

Lead and mentor engineer(s), providing technical direction, task prioritisation, and quality oversight.
Ensure effective delegation while maintaining accountability for outcomes.
Develop operational playbooks, documentation, and standard operating procedures.
Build sustainable technical practices within the team.

Compliance, Governance & Risk

Ensure compliance with IT policies, cybersecurity standards, data protection requirements, and AI governance frameworks.
Translate policy requirements into technical and operational controls.
Identify, assess, and mitigate risks across systems, vendors and other dependencies.
Prepare documentation and evidence for audits and management reviews.

Vendor, Contract & Stakeholder Management

Serve as the primary technical point of contact for vendors, service providers, and system integrators.
Evaluate vendor solutions for technical fit, security posture, lifecycle viability, and cost effectiveness.
Manage vendor performance, SLAs and technical escalations.
Coordinate with internal stakeholders to align platform delivery with organisational needs.

Government Procurement & Payment Milestone Management

Support and lead procurement processes related to AI infrastructure and platforms.
Develop technical specifications, evaluation criteria, and compliance requirements.
Participate in technical evaluations and provide recommendations.
Verify and endorse payment milestones, ensuring:
Deliverables meet contractual, technical, and compliance requirements
Milestones are validated and documented
Payments align with system delivery and performance
Identify delivery risks and recommend remedial actions

Additional Responsibilities (Strategic & Value-Add)

Contribute to strategy and multi-year roadmaps
Drive continuous improvement in operational maturity and platform resilience.

Essential

Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in infrastructure, platform engineering, systems operations, or related roles.
Degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent.
Strong understanding of AI platforms, compute infrastructure, and system architectures.

Desirable

Experience in regulated or high-assurance environments (e.g., government, defence, finance, healthcare).
Exposure to:
AI/ML platforms and MLOps
Containerised platforms and orchestration
Experience supporting procurement and contract management.
Experience leading technical teams.

Who Will Thrive In This Role

This role is suited for someone who:

Has experience with platform delivery
Can balance technical, governance, and operational considerations
Is able to work in environments with defined processes and accountability

Why Join

Opportunity to work on AI infrastructure and platforms
Exposure to end-to-end delivery, governance, and operations
Involvement in platform design, deployment and management