AI & Automation Lead

Salary: £65,000 - 85,000 per year

Requirements:

• Practical experience designing and implementing AI-enabled automation, including AI-powered business workflows or applications.
• Experience building integrations using REST APIs, webhooks and third-party business systems.
• Experience working with LLM APIs, AI agents, agentic workflows and tool/function calling.
• Familiarity with JSON, structured data, API keys, OAuth, authentication, permissions and data access.
• Experience with workflow automation platforms such as n8n, Make, Microsoft Power Automate, Zapier or equivalent.
• Python and/or JavaScript development skills.
• Experience testing, deploying and monitoring production automations, including error handling, logging and exception management.
• Ability to evaluate AI-generated outputs and their reliability, and to design appropriate human oversight.
• Ability to understand and map business processes, identify where human judgement is needed, and translate processes into reliable automated workflows.
• Applicants should be able to describe one or two AI or automation solutions they personally designed and implemented, including the problem, their contribution, technologies used, human oversight and measurable results.
• Shortlisted candidates should expect a practical AI and automation assessment based on a business-process scenario.

Responsibilities:

• Work with our Director to identify manual, repetitive and administrative processes suitable for automation.
• Meet with employees and observe workflows to understand how work is completed.
• Map process inputs, decisions, systems, outputs, exceptions and human approval requirements.
• Identify inefficiencies and redesign processes before automating them.
• Design, build and implement AI agents, automated workflows and integrations, taking opportunities from identification through live deployment and continuous improvement.
• Connect AI systems to our business applications using APIs, webhooks and other integrations.
• Design workflows involving structured data, JSON, API authentication and permissions.
• Build agentic workflows using LLM APIs, tool/function calling and suitable orchestration.
• Use workflow automation platforms and write Python and/or JavaScript where required.
• Evaluate AI models and platforms and select suitable technologies for each use case.
• Improve and refine AI and automation already operating within our business.
• Design human review, approval and exception-handling stages.
• Test solutions thoroughly, then monitor live automations for failures, unexpected behaviour, poor-quality outputs and opportunities to improve.
• Document automations, integrations, dependencies, permissions and operating procedures.
• Measure and report the operational benefits delivered, establishing baseline performance where possible.
• Keep informed about developments in AI and automation and identify capabilities that could provide practical value to our business.
• Develop proposed significant process changes with relevant colleagues and obtain Director-level approval before implementation.
• Take ownership of technical design, build, testing and deployment once a solution is approved.
• Take data access, security, confidentiality and appropriate human oversight into account when designing solutions.

Technologies:

• AI
• AI Agents
• API
• ChatGPT
• Copilot
• JSON
• JavaScript
• LLM
• Microsoft 365
• n8n
• OAuth
• Python
• REST
• Security
• Zapier
• Office 365

More:

We are Stepford, seeking a hands-on AI & Automation Lead to work directly with our Director and colleagues across the business to improve how we operate. This is a standalone specialist role reporting to the Director. Our current technology environment includes Microsoft 365, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT/OpenAI, Anthropic and Xero, though we are open to other suitable technologies and focus on practical outcomes. The position is full-time and permanent, based in Motherwell, Scotland, on a hybrid schedule of three office days and two work-from-home days; regular office attendance is important. Hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00am–5:00pm. Salary is £65,000–£85,000 per year, depending on experience. Benefits include a company pension, free parking, UK visa sponsorship and work-from-home arrangements.

last updated 39 week of 2026