AI-First Digital Transformation at Salford City Council
Salford City Council is on a mission to harness the power of AI and data to reimagine public services for the future. As part of our newly formed AI team, you will play a pivotal role in building the foundations of our AI-first transformation. You’ll design, develop and deploy intelligent solutions that improve the lives of residents and create a fairer, greener, and healthier Salford.
This is a hands‑on, high‑impact role where you will work across the full AI/ML lifecycle, from problem definition through to deployment and ongoing model monitoring. You will collaborate with developers, data engineers, product owners, and service teams to turn ideas into production‑grade systems.
In this role, you will also help shape the council’s AI engineering standards and toolchains, ensuring that our AI initiatives are ethical, explainable, secure, and scalable. You will be a technical leader, mentoring colleagues and sharing best practice, while staying at the forefront of emerging AI capabilities including large language models (LLMs), generative AI, and multi‑agent systems.
If you’re passionate about the next wave of digital transformation, want to apply your AI expertise to solve real‑world challenges and want to see your work make a tangible impact on society, this role is for you.
Key Outcomes
* AI Solution Design & Delivery
o Architect, develop, and optimise AI/ML models (supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement learning, LLMs) to address service challenges.
o Build reproducible ML pipelines for training, testing, deployment, and monitoring using Azure Machine Learning.
o Implement RAG pipelines and other advanced patterns, embedding explainability, fairness, and bias monitoring.
* AI Platform & Toolchain
o Establish and maintain the council’s target architecture and AI development toolchain, with an initial focus on Azure AI Foundry, Azure Integration Services, and Azure ML pipelines.
o Implement MLOps practices (CI/CD, model versioning, retraining pipelines) aligned with Azure-native tooling.
o Evaluate and incorporate open-source frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, PyTorch, Hugging Face) and other platforms (AWS SageMaker, OCI Data Science) where relevant.
* Cross‑functional Collaboration
o Partner with service teams to identify high‑value AI opportunities and integrate AI solutions with enterprise systems.
o Act as a technical leader and advisor on AI integration working closely with technical teams.
o Mentor junior engineers and support colleagues in developing AI literacy.
* Governance, Security & Compliance
o Ensure compliance with GDPR and UK AI governance standards, embedding responsible AI principles in all solutions.
o Define processes for model documentation, auditability, and risk management.
o Monitor and manage models for drift, robustness, and transparency.
* Innovation & Continuous Improvement
o Stay current with emerging AI research, frameworks, and platform feature releases.
o Lead proofs of concept to evaluate new approaches, frameworks, and models.
o Contribute to building an internal culture of innovation, sharing knowledge and best practices across the organisation.
Requirements – What we need from you
* Experience & Technical Expertise – Essential
o Proven experience designing, developing, and deploying AI/ML solutions in production environments.
o Strong proficiency with Microsoft Azure services, especially Azure Machine Learning, Azure AI Foundry, Azure Integration Services (Logic Apps, Service Bus, API Management).
o Skilled in Python (pandas, NumPy, scikit‑learn, PyTorch or TensorFlow).
o Hands‑on experience with MLOps practices (CI/CD pipelines, model versioning, monitoring, retraining).
o Experience with SQL/NoSQL databases and building scalable data pipelines.
o Strong ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
* Experience & Technical Expertise – Desirable
o Familiarity with multi‑cloud AI platforms (AWS SageMaker, GCP Vertex AI, OCI Data Science).
o Experience with open‑source orchestration tools (LangChain, LlamaIndex) and vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma).
o Knowledge of LLM fine‑tuning (LoRA, PEFT) and multimodal AI systems.
o Experience with streaming/event‑driven data systems (Kafka) or graph databases (Neo4j).
o Knowledge of bias detection, AI ethics frameworks, and interpretability tools (SHAP, LIME).
o Solid understanding of enterprise architecture principles and solution architecture practices.
* Approach & Ways of Working
o Curious, innovative, and eager to experiment with new approaches.
o Able to work in a lean, agile, startup‑like environment, balancing delivery with exploration.
o Collaborative mindset with strong influencing and facilitation skills.
o Passion for public sector innovation and a commitment to improving outcomes for citizens.
o Strong troubleshooting, analytical and design skills.
* Qualifications
o Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or a related field (Master’s preferred but not essential) or equivalent experience.
o Microsoft Azure certifications (e.g., Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure AI Engineer Associate) are highly desirable.
o Equivalent certifications also welcomed, such as AWS Machine Learning – Specialty, Solutions Architect, data analytics, DevOps Engineer; Oracle Cloud Infrastructure AI Foundations Associate, Data Science Professional, Architect Professional.
o Evidence of continuous professional development, including AI/ML certifications, online specialisations, or open‑source contributions.
What we can offer you
* Developing your leadership skills
o We want to equip our leaders with the knowledge, skills and behaviours outlined in our #LeadingSalford programme. Our aim is to support you to lead highly engaged, motivated teams in today’s rapidly changing environment. This will be achieved through a range of bite‑size Master Classes designed to help you meet the expectations that we have of our Salford leaders. In addition to the core Master Classes, we also provide accredited leadership programmes which let you build on your experience, learn about emerging approaches, and further develop your leadership practice.
* Online learning
o Develop your knowledge across a wide range of areas through our Me‑Learning platform, with over 200 free courses to choose from. To have the best possible start and comply with current legislation, you must complete the following modules: Welcome to Salford, Health and Safety in the Office, GDPR, Equality Essentials, and Safeguarding Children and Adults. You may also benefit from a variety of courses in categories such as Business Skills, IT and Project Management which are available to learn at your own convenience and pace.
* Professional Development
o Gain role specific skills and time to learn through a wide range of development opportunities. Learn whilst working and get support towards your qualification through an apprenticeship standard. Access professional development ranging from entry level to master’s type qualifications, including achieving a role appropriate qualification. Details can be found on the Institute of apprenticeships website.
* Tailored Development
o Gain role specific skills and certifications using our Microsoft Enterprise Skills Initiative subscription which is open to all Salford Employees free of charge.
* Salary £56,288 – £58,267
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