Head of AI and Innovation

Norfolk St, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2JE, UK

Posted Thursday 5 February 2026 at 6:00 am

Job Title: Head of AI & Innovation

Department: Technology

Location: Sheffield or London

Working Pattern: Hybrid

Contract Type: Full time, permanent

Salary: Up to £150,000 per annum

At Tes we are on a mission to power schools and enable great teaching worldwide, by delivering EdTech solutions that give educators the tools to succeed. From safeguarding and compliance to staff and pupil management, our innovative and flexible software and services help teachers and school leaders worldwide to provide the best education to millions of children.

With more than 13 million educators in our community, combined with our working relationships with 25,000 schools in over 100 countries, we have been making a difference for over 100 years.

As the Head of AI and Innovation, you will bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and practical SaaS product strategy. Leading a newly formed, dedicated team, you will operate outside the constraints of the traditional BAU technology function, to explore, prototype, and ship high-impact AI tools and MVPs.

Reporting jointly into the CEO and working closely with the CTO, reflecting the strategic imperative of this role, this provides for a unique "blank slate" mandate to provide innovation against our current and future product set, and to support our internal business efficiency through radical, outside-the-box thinking.

We fully expect you to provide huge opportunities for failure and if you don't, then you're probably not trying hard enough! But, at the same time finding those nuggets that will provide transformative ways of tackling problems and improving the value of our products to our customers.

• Strategic Innovation & MVPs: Develop and own the AI vision aligning technical innovation with the long-term SaaS product goals and business objectives, rapidly taking experimental concepts from ideation to (near) production-ready MVPs.
• Product Innovation: Lead 'blue-sky' investigations into emerging technologies, identifying and prototyping high-impact AI use cases, such as LLM integrations, hybrid architectures and predictive analytics.
• Internal & External Transformation: Identify opportunities to deploy AI both as a customer-facing competitive differentiator, and as a tool for streamlining and automating internal business operations.
• Governance & Ethics: Establish frameworks for ethical AI usage, ensuring data privacy, model transparency, and compliance.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as the primary liaison between technical teams and executive stakeholders to ensure AI initiatives are understood and supported across the business.
• Dual-Report Leadership: Act as the strategic bridge between the CEO and CTO, ensuring innovation remains a top-tier business priority while maintaining technical excellence and architectural alignment.
• Team Building: Mentor a lean, high-performing team of Principle Engineers, capable of bringing forward the innovative thinking, fostering a culture of rapid experimentation and high-quality delivery, required to ensure success for this new initiative.

• Proven Innovation Track Record: Deep experience in delivering innovative thinking into more traditional technology solutions, with the ability to straddle the business objectives and technology conversations.
• AI & ML Expertise: Strong working knowledge of current AI frameworks and a solid understanding of LLM orchestration, and training/specialising models. A strong practical knowledge of how to build AI and LLM's is essential, along with a deep understanding of when and when not to air gap AI technology.
• Cloud & Infrastructure: Proficiency with cloud services (AWS & Azure) and an understanding and track record of how to design and deliver scalable, innovative improvements.
• Fearless Problem Solving: A willingness to challenge conventional thinking and investigate non-obvious solutions to complex business problems, both for external product and internal systems.
• Senior Stakeholder Management: Excellent communication skills to translate high-level innovation concepts into actionable business narratives for the executive board.
• Leadership: Experience managing small-to-midsize technical teams, within a SaaS environment, and the ability to inform, influence and support across both technical and operational business functions.
• AI Expertise: A proven track record of shipping AI-powered features into a production environment.
• Academic Background: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
• 10+ years of professional product innovation, including a track record of bringing disruptive technology to market.

• 25 days annual leave rising to 30
• State of the art offices
• Access to a range of benefits via My Benefits World
• Free eye care cover
• Life Assurance
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• EAP (Employee assistance programme)
• Quarterly Tes Socials
• Access to an extensive Learning and Development menu

Tes is a global Edtech leader, on a mission to empower schools and educators to deliver impactful, inspiring learning experiences worldwide. We understand the unique challenges faced by schools, and our ecosystem is specifically designed to address these needs head-on.

Our intuitive technology streamlines complex tasks, enhances learning experiences, and alleviates the administrative burdens that often overwhelm schools.

By working closely with schools, we provide up-to-date resources, expert guidance, and a technology ecosystem dedicated to innovation and excellence in education. Whether simplifying administrative workflows, creating dynamic classrooms, or advancing professional development, Tes is the trusted partner for schools worldwide.

Join the hundreds of schools already benefiting from the Tes ecosystem. Together, we empower educators to achieve more, ensuring every student thrives in a supportive, well-managed learning environment.

With Tes, excellence in education is not just a goal - it's a sustainable and rewarding reality. For more information about Tes, our products, and our team, visit: .

Norfolk St, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2JE, UK