AI Solutions Engineer / Applied AI Engineer
AI Solutions Engineer / Applied AI Engineer
Location: London (Hybrid) 3 days onsite
Perm
Cheapside, London EC2V 6EE
Criteria:
• AI-Native Engineering Practice
• Software Engineering Experience
• Databricks and Python Proficiency
• Functional Empathy and Stakeholder Engagement
• Solution Ownership and Quality
We’re looking for engineers who are not only deeply technical in AI but also excellent communicators and stakeholder partners.
Some engineers love technology for technology’s sake. This role is different. At HeadFirst x Impellam, we’re looking for someone who enjoys figuring things out, understands how organizations work, and gets a kick out of building solutions that genuinely improve the day-to-day reality of teams across the business.
As an Applied AI Engineer, you work directly with departments such as Finance, HR, Sales, and Marketing to streamline processes, eliminate friction, and help people work smarter through AI, automation, and lightweight internal applications. You aren’t expected to be an expert in every framework, platform, or tool from day one. What matters more is how you think, how quickly you learn, and how effectively you turn ambiguity into practical results.
This is a high-profile role that makes a real difference to the business. You’ll spend just as much time understanding workflows, challenging assumptions, and shaping solutions as you do building them. The people who thrive here are curious, pragmatic, and comfortable working closely with stakeholders rather than hiding behind tickets or isolated engineering backlogs.
Your impact
As an Applied AI Engineer, you’ll serve as a consultant, a builder, and a problem solver all in one. You’ll work closely with business teams to understand how work actually gets done. Sometimes the challenge is operational inefficiency. Sometimes it’s fragmented tools, repetitive manual work, or slow decision-making caused by disconnected systems and unclear information flows.
Your role is to identify where AI, automation, or lightweight applications can deliver immediate value, and then help bring that value to life quickly and pragmatically. Rather than spending months designing perfect systems, you focus on delivering usable solutions quickly, gathering feedback early, and improving continuously. This could involve building an internal workflow tool, creating an AI-powered assistant for operational teams, or streamlining reporting and approvals through automation.
You work within a modern Databricks and AI-enabled ecosystem, but technology is never the end goal. The real objective is to help teams operate more effectively, make better decisions, and eliminate operational bottlenecks. AI plays a central role in how you work. AI coding assistants and agent-based workflows help accelerate development and experimentation, allowing you to move quickly while still maintaining control over quality, usability, and adoption.
At the same time, you work closely with the Platform, Data, and Engineering teams to ensure that the solutions you deliver fit within a scalable and secure organizational environment.
What you will do
• Work closely with business stakeholders to understand operational challenges, workflows, and inefficiencies;
• Translate ideas and business needs into practical tools, automations, and AI-powered solutions;
• Build lightweight internal applications that boost productivity and simplify daily work;
• Use AI coding assistants and AI-native workflows to speed up delivery and experimentation;
• Continuously refine solutions based on real user feedback and adoption;
• Support teams in improving processes rather than simply digitizing existing inefficiencies;
• Collaborate with Finance, HR, Commercial, and leadership teams on business-critical initiatives;
• Balance speed and quality by making pragmatic engineering decisions that maintain momentum;
• Introduce smarter workflows through automation, AI agents, and integrated internal tools;
• Help shape how AI is adopted responsibly and practically throughout the organization;
• Share ideas, best practices, and suggestions for improvement that help teams move faster and work more effectively.
Who you are
You’re someone who enjoys solving problems in complex, real-world environments. You likely combine technical curiosity with strong communication skills and a genuine interest in how businesses operate. You don’t need perfect requirements or fully defined roadmaps to get started. Instead, you ask questions, explore possibilities, and move toward solutions quickly. You’re energized by learning new things and comfortable adapting as technology evolves. AI doesn’t intimidate you. You see it as a practical tool that helps you think faster, build faster, and create more impact.
You enjoy collaborating and are comfortable working closely with non-technical stakeholders. You know how to explain ideas clearly, challenge assumptions constructively, and maintain momentum without overcomplicating things. Most importantly, you care about results. You enjoy delivering useful solutions, seeing people adopt them, and improving them over time based on what works in practice.
Why this role stands out
This is not a traditional engineering role focused solely on technical implementation. You will work closely with decision-makers, influence how teams operate, and help shape the practical implementation of AI across an international organization. The role combines engineering, consulting, problem-solving, and business collaboration in a way that offers broad exposure and a tangible impact.
If you enjoy fast-paced environments, practical innovation, and building solutions that people actually use, this role offers the opportunity to have a direct impact on how modern AI capabilities create value within a global business.