Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Principal Software Engineer – AI & Innovation Squad

£120,000–£125,000 + benefits

London (Hybrid – 1 day/week onsite)

Permanent | Full-time

A newly formed AI & Innovation Squad is looking for a hands‐on Principal Software Engineer to help shape the next generation of AI‐powered products across a large-scale technology organisation. This is a strategic, high‐visibility role working on rapid prototypes, product MVPs, and experimental AI tooling, with direct influence from the CEO and CTO, and none of the usual BAU distractions.

You’ll work on both customer‐facing features and internal AI tools, driving experimentation, building quick proof‐of‐concepts, and designing scalable, high‐performance systems that can evolve into production‐ready solutions. We’re looking for an engineer who thrives in ambiguity, thinks creatively, and is comfortable exploring the edges of what’s possible with modern AI and cloud technologies.

What You’ll Do

• Build rapid, innovative MVPs and AI‐powered prototypes
• Design and implement scalable, distributed software systems
• Evaluate and recommend emerging AI frameworks, tools, and cloud services
• Collaborate with Product, Design, QA, and Engineering teams
• Mentor engineers and embed a culture of innovation and continuous improvement
• Troubleshoot complex issues and uphold exceptional code quality
• Contribute to technical strategy and long‐term architectural decisions

What You’ll Bring

• 10+ years’ software engineering experience
• Practical experience building or training LLMs / AI systems
• Strong knowledge of microservices, distributed systems & modern web architectures
• Deep experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred)
• Expertise in Java/Spring Boot or similar backend frameworks
• Proven ability to ship technical initiatives at pace
• Leadership experience mentoring or guiding engineering teams

Bonus Skills

• DevOps & CI/CD exposure
• Secure development & cloud best practices
• Open-source contributions
• Prior Principal or Senior Engineer experience