Principal AI Consultant

Principal AI Architect Salary : £90,000 - £120,000 + Bonus (DOE) Location : Hybrid, London or Manchester You must be eligible to obtain UK SC Clearance to be considered for this position. If you currently hold active Security Clearance and this role isn't quite right, send your CV to steve@truenorthgroup.io as I may have other opportunities suitable for you. About the Role We are partnering with a leading technology consultancy that helps enterprise and public sector organisations adopt, scale and govern Artificial Intelligence across their businesses. As a Principal AI Architect, you will work closely with senior stakeholders to define AI strategies, design enterprise AI platforms and establish operating models that enable organisations to safely and effectively realise the benefits of AI. This is a highly consultative role combining strategic advisory work with hands-on architectural leadership across complex AI transformation programmes. Key Responsibilities * Partner with senior stakeholders to define AI strategies, adoption roadmaps and investment priorities. * Design enterprise AI platforms, operating models and governance frameworks. * Lead workshops and discovery sessions with business and technology teams. * Provide expertise across Generative AI, AI Agents, knowledge management and enterprise AI solutions. * Design secure, scalable and responsible AI architectures. * Develop strategic deliverables including roadmaps, target architectures and operating models. * Provide architectural leadership across AI and transformation engagements. * Support business growth through proposition development and pre-sales activities. * Work with technology partners and internal teams to shape AI capabilities. * Mentor and develop consultants, architects and engineers. Required Skills \& Experience Essential * Experience delivering AI, data or cloud transformation programmes within consulting or client-facing environments. * Strong understanding of Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), AI Agents and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG). * Experience designing enterprise architectures, technology platforms and operating models. * Strong knowledge of AI governance, security and responsible AI principles. * Experience with one or more major AI ecosystems including Microsoft, AWS, Databricks or Anthropic technologies. * Excellent stakeholder management, workshop facilitation and communication skills. * Ability to engage effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences. * Strong strategic thinking combined with practical delivery experience. * Eligibility to obtain and maintain UK SC Clearance. Desirable * Experience with AWS Bedrock, Azure AI services, LangChain or enterprise AI platforms. * Experience designing and deploying AI agent solutions. * Background working within government, defence or highly regulated sectors. * Knowledge of platform engineering, DevSecOps and cloud-native architectures. * Experience establishing AI operating models and governance structures. * Thought leadership within AI, data or cloud transformation initiatives. Personal Attributes * Exceptional stakeholder engagement and influencing skills. * Commercially aware with a consultative mindset. * Strong leadership and mentoring capabilities. * Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills. * Comfortable operating at both strategic and technical levels. * Passionate about emerging technologies and AI innovation. * Collaborative and delivery-focused approach. * Ability to communicate complex technical concepts in a clear and accessible way.