Head of Data Platform and AI Engineering

About us

At Davy, it’s the unique talents of all our people that have been the foundations of our success for 100 years. As we continue to grow, so do you. Because you are not just part of our team – you are a key player in shaping our future.

At Davy, you are the difference.

Established in 1926, the Davy Group sits at the heart of wealth and capital in Ireland, providing a broad range of services to high-net-worth individuals, self-directed investors, small-to-medium enterprises, credit unions, corporations, and domestic & international institutional investors.

Our culture is shaped around three values, which are at the heart of everything we do: client success, one Davy, and building a proud legacy. Sharing the same goals, we work together to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients. As part of a team of over 900, you will be encouraged to learn and to grow, both professionally and personally.

About the role

Reporting to the Chief Data & Analytics Officer, the Head of Data and AI Engineering will lead the firm’s Snowflake-based data platform and build the engineering capability that delivers trusted data products and takes prioritised AI solutions safely into production.

The firm has a mature data platform and an ambitious Data, Analytics and AI agenda. You will run and evolve this platform into the technical foundation for generative AI, retrieval and agent-based solutions. You will own the platform, architecture and engineering that turn business priorities into secure, resilient production solutions.

We are looking for a hands-on technical leader with strong engineering judgement, the confidence to challenge constructively, and a track record of delivery in a regulated environment.

In the role, the successful candidate will:

• Own and evolve the enterprise data platform. Lead the strategy, architecture, roadmap, performance, resilience and cost of the Snowflake-based platform and the engineering services needed to support data and analytics products and AI solutions.
• Set data and AI engineering architecture. Act as design authority: define the future-state architecture, standards and reusable patterns, review solution designs and set the engineering quality bar. Decide what to build natively in Snowflake and where complementary technology is needed, and represent Data, Analytics and AI at the Architecture Review Board.
• Build the pathway from AI proof of concept to production. With the AI Centre of Excellence, establish a controlled, repeatable route to production for generative AI, retrieval, unstructured data and agent-based solutions, supported by MLOps and LLMOps practices for evaluation, monitoring and controlled change.
• Lead delivery of trusted, AI-ready data. Deliver resilient pipelines and governed data products, with clear ownership, quality, metadata, semantics and lineage, for Finance, Risk, Operations, Investment Management, Analytics and the Wealth Management front office, including regulatory reporting flows aligned to BCBS 239.
• Engineer for trust and control. Embed Responsible AI, privacy, security, model-risk and operational-resilience requirements into design, with traceability, auditability and human oversight, in partnership with Risk, Compliance and Data Protection.
• Run reliable services. Put in place the support, observability, incident, recovery and release arrangements for business-critical data and AI services, with transparent FinOps for platform and AI consumption costs.
• Build and lead the team. Develop a blended team of data and AI engineers, with clear standards, career paths and the right mix of permanent, partner and specialist capability. Embed DevOps, DataOps and AI-assisted engineering practices.
• Lead stakeholders and partners. Act as the trusted data and AI engineering partner to senior stakeholders, explaining trade-offs clearly, and manage Snowflake, AI providers and delivery partners, including DORA third-party risk requirements.

About you

We are looking for someone with the following background and skills:

• A degree in a numerate or technical discipline, or equivalent senior industry experience.
• A strong track record in data engineering, AI engineering or data platforms, including 5+ years leading technical teams that deliver data and AI solutions in production.
• Deep enterprise data and AI platform experience, ideally Snowflake, including architecture, security, performance, observability, resilience, cost and service management.
• Proven experience defining data and AI architecture, roadmaps, standards and design governance.
• Practical experience taking machine learning or generative AI solutions from proof of concept into production, including evaluation, monitoring and lifecycle management. Experience with retrieval-augmented generation, vector search, document processing or agent-based solutions is a strong advantage.
• Hands-on technical credibility in modern data engineering, such as SQL and Python, cloud (Azure or AWS), orchestration, CI/CD and infrastructure as code, with the ability to review designs, guide engineers and challenge technology choices and vendors objectively.
• A pragmatic, curious leader with experience building multidisciplinary engineering teams, modernising ways of working, coaching others and retaining scarce technical talent.
• Experience in financial services or another highly regulated environment, with a working understanding of Responsible AI, GDPR, DORA and the EU AI Act.
• Strong stakeholder, commercial and vendor-management skills, with the ability to explain technical choices in plain business language.

What success will look like

In your first 12 to 18 months, you will have:

• Agreed a target architecture, roadmap and operating model for Data and AI Engineering.
• Defined clear ownership across Data and AI Engineering, the AI Centre of Excellence, Technology and the control functions.
• Implemented a controlled, repeatable production pathway for prioritised AI use cases.
• Introduced reusable patterns for model access, retrieval, evaluation, monitoring and AI integration.
• Strengthened platform reliability, recovery, supportability and cost transparency.
• Improved the quality, metadata, lineage and ownership of priority data products.
• Established a workforce, sourcing and capability plan for the team.
• Developed a prioritised roadmap to modernise or retire legacy data components.

What we offer

At Davy, our people are our biggest investment. In today’s fast-moving world, we know it’s important to feel secure and empowered. That’s why Davy benefits support you through all of life’s stages, offering health and wellness, flexible working options, flexible benefits allowance, learning and development opportunities, through to assisted retirement planning.

Health and Wellbeing

Psychological safety, emotional wellbeing and support are a priority at Davy. We offer a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and mental health first aid. Our Sports & Social teams promote physical wellbeing and social connection.

Reward and Recognition

We offer a competitive remuneration package to include salary, bonus, pension and a host of additional benefits to protect you and your family when it matters most.

Growth and Development

Our award-winning L&D function supports you and your growth at Davy. We offer a comprehensive range of professional and personal development opportunities. Our culture supports learning, and we encourage you to explore more at Davy.

Positive Workplace

Our workplace is inclusive, diverse, and offers everyone a sense of belonging. We are flexible and continue to support a hybrid working model. You will get to be your best at Davy.

Values and Culture

Exceptional client outcomes delivered by a world class team, underpinned by our core Davy values – One Team, Client Success, and Proud Legacy.

Important Information

Davy is an equal opportunities employer, committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We value diversity in both background and experience, and even if you don’t meet all of the requirements outlined in the job description, we still encourage you to apply. We review all applications received. As part of our commitment to creating an accessible environment, we want to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate in the interview process. If you require any reasonable accommodations, please let us know, and we will do our best to make the necessary arrangements.

Appointment to this role is subject to the candidate's eligibility to work in Ireland.

Where agency assistance is required, our Recruitment Team will engage directly with suppliers. Unsolicited CVs / profiles supplied to us by recruitment agencies will not be accepted for this role.

Davy Group is a member of the Bank of Ireland Group.