Smith & Nephew
AI Tech Lead – Sourcing
Job Description
Salary: £53,000 - 93,000 per year
Requirements:- We require 10+ years of experience in Solution Architecture, Enterprise Applications, Digital Procurement, Supply Chain Technology, or related disciplines, with meaningful exposure to Source to Pay processes.
- We require strong expertise across sourcing, contracts, purchasing, supplier management, invoicing, and finance integration processes.
- We require proven experience translating business requirements into architecture blueprints, integration designs, data flows, and implementation roadmaps.
- We require experience designing enterprise AI solutions, including copilots, intelligent automation, knowledge assistants, document extraction, and AI governance considerations.
- We require strong understanding of enterprise integration, data architecture, security, compliance, and non-functional requirements.
- We require a bachelors degree in Information Technology, Procurement, Supply Chain, Business Administration, or a related field; advanced degrees are preferred.
- We strongly prefer experience with SAP S/4HANA, SAP Ariba, Microsoft Copilot, Azure AI Services, or similar enterprise platforms.
- We lead end-to-end solution architecture for AI-enabled sourcing and procurement capabilities, including autonomous sourcing, category intelligence, negotiations, and payables.
- We translate business challenges and opportunities into scalable architecture designs, functional specifications, and delivery roadmaps.
- We define architecture patterns covering integrations, workflow orchestration, model selection, prompt design, grounding, and human oversight.
- We partner with stakeholders across Procurement, Finance, Legal, Compliance, Security, and Technology teams to ensure alignment and successful delivery.
- We drive AI governance, security, compliance, and responsible AI practices across procurement solutions.
- We provide technical leadership, architecture governance, and mentorship to product, engineering, and data teams.
- We act as a trusted advisor on procurement transformation and emerging AI opportunities.
- AI
- Azure
- Copilot
- SAP S/4HANA
- SAP
- Security
- Cloud
- HTTP
- Support
More:
We are Smith+Nephew, designing and manufacturing technology that takes the limits off living. This AI Tech Lead – Sourcing role sits at the intersection of Procurement, IT, Data, and Enterprise Architecture, where we shape the future of AI-enabled procurement across our global organization. We offer a hybrid working model for most professional roles, generous annual bonus and pension schemes, save as you earn share options, flexible vacation and time off, paid holidays and volunteering hours, private health and dental plans, healthcare cash plans, life assurance, hands-on training, team-customised mentorship, and employee discounts. We are committed to inclusion and belonging, and this full-time role is based in Watford, UK.
last updated 36 week of 2026
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About Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew
Northampton
IT
Skills & Technologies
Inferred from job description
Salary Insight
£73,000
This role
£85,000
UK median
This salary is 14% below the UK median for Lead roles (£85,000/yr).
Based on 2024–2025 UK technology sector benchmarks