Technical Program Manager, AI Delivery for Public Sector & Defence, UK

We're seeking an experienced Program Manager to join Cohere's customer-facing Program Management team, with a focus on UK public sector and defence accounts. This is a highly specialised role requiring an individual who understands technical program delivery, the technical complexity of frontier AI models and the unique requirements of government and defence organisations. You will be the critical bridge between our cutting-edge AI capabilities and the specific needs of UK Government and defence organisations.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end technical program delivery for UK public sector and defence customers, from initial deployment through production scaling; Serve as the primary technical program point of contact for government customers, building trusted relationships with departmental CIOs, IT directors, and technical teams; Translate complex government requirements (security, compliance, accessibility, bilingualism, data sovereignty) into actionable engineering plans; Navigate government procurement processes, RFP responses, and contractual technical obligations; Provide clear, timely, and objective communication across Cohere's engineering organisation, customer stakeholders, and government leadership; Translate between AI/ML technical concepts and government-appropriate language for decision-makers; Present technical roadmaps and status updates to senior government officials and departmental executives; Represent Cohere's technical capabilities in sensitive government and defence contexts; Create and manage project schedules that account for government timelines, security review processes, and ministerial approval cycles; Identify and manage dependencies across government departments, security authorities, cloud service providers, and internal Cohere teams; Navigate risks unique to government deployments: privacy compliance, security authorisations, technical and infrastructure constraints; Drive alignment between product development priorities and specific government requirements; Ensure on-time delivery of AI solutions that meet government-grade security, privacy, accessibility, and performance standards; Coordinate technical work across multiple teams: model customisation, security hardening, integration with government systems, bilingual support; Establish governance checkpoints appropriate for high-stakes government deployments; Problem-solve complex technical challenges in air-gapped, on-premises, or highly regulated environments

Requirements

6+ years of experience as a customer-facing Technical or Engineering Program Manager in AI/ML consulting, technology transformation, or enterprise software delivery; Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management; Experience working with government, defence, or heavily regulated customers (public sector, defence contractors); Proven track record managing complex, multi-stakeholder technical programs with stringent compliance requirements; Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field; Strong understanding of enterprise software deployment architectures (cloud, on-premises, hybrid, air-gapped); Comfortable discussing API integrations, model inference, data pipelines, and ML operations with technical stakeholders; Deep understanding of how government organisations procure, evaluate, and deploy technology; Familiarity with UK government requirements: data sovereignty, privacy laws (Privacy Act), accessibility standards, official languages obligations, security classifications; Understanding of defence and national security considerations in AI deployment; Eligibility to obtain UK government security clearance (Top Secret preferred); Active Top Secret clearance preferred; candidates with Active Secret clearance or eligible and willing to obtain clearance will also be considered

Nice to have

Active UK government security clearance (Secret or Top Secret) - preference for active Top Secret clearance; Background in or strong familiarity with UK defence, intelligence, or critical infrastructure sectors; Experience with GC Cloud services (Azure, AWS GovCloud) or Protected B/C environments; Project management certification (PMP, PgMP) or government-specific methodologies; Advanced degree or technical certs; Working knowledge of or experience with modern AI: LLMs, agentic systems, MCP, RAG, fine-tuning, evals, and responsible AI; Experience with Algorithmic Impact Assessments or AI ethics frameworks

Benefits

Weekly lunch stipend of $75/£75 or equivalent in local currency; Full health and dental benefits, including separate budget for mental health; RRSP matching, 401K, Pension Scheme; 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months for either parent; Annual enrichment benefits: Arts & culture, fitness/wellness, quality time, workspace improvement credit, education & learning stipend; 6 weeks of paid vacation (30 working days); Budget for traveling to other offices if remote, plus annual company offsite; Daily lunch program, snacks, and community/social events for those in office; Co-working benefit for those not near an office; $500 home office stipend