AI Test engineer

AI Test Engineer Day Rate: £200-£250 per day (Outside IR35)Location: Cambridge Contract: 6-month initial contract - high possibility for 18 months.About the Role Our client is hiring an experienced AI Test Engineer to join a prestigious organisation as part of our Core AI Services team. This role is focused on ensuring the reliability, security, and performance of distributed, cloud-native services and public APIs that underpin enterprise-scale AI systems. You’ll work in a fast-paced Scrum team alongside developers, architects, and data scientists to build automated testing frameworks, AI evaluation tools, and validation strategies. If you thrive on experimentation, problem-solving, and building robust systems that scale, this is the opportunity for you.Key Responsibilities

• Test and validate cloud-native services deployed on Microsoft Azure.
• Build and maintain automated test suites for APIs, service components, and AI pipelines.
• Automate evaluation of AI outputs for accuracy, safety, and consistency.
• Define quality metrics and observability hooks in collaboration with engineering teams.
• Ensure compliance with AI regulations and standards such as NIST AI RMF and the EU AI Act.
• Conduct threat modelling and security testing for APIs and AI services.
• Provide early feedback to improve design and reduce defects.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.

Skills & Experience

• 12+ years in software testing and validation for cloud-native applications using Microsoft and .NET.
• Expertise in automated testing frameworks such as Selenium, Postman, JMeter, or custom-built solutions.
• Hands-on experience with Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and containerized environments (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Strong knowledge of API testing, performance profiling, and security practices including OWASP Top 10 and penetration testing.
• Familiarity with AI/ML systems, including LLM evaluation techniques, output scoring, and validation frameworks.
• Understanding of prompt engineering, RAG, model orchestration, and hallucination detection.
• Awareness of ethical AI, bias detection, explainability, and regulatory compliance.
• Proven ability to work in Agile teams, solve complex problems, and mentor junior team members.

What You’ll Gain

• Join a team building cutting-edge AI systems at enterprise scale.
• Collaborate in a global R&D environment with experts across domains.
• Contribute to the development of ethical, trustworthy, and future-ready AI services.
• Enjoy competitive day rates with a contract Outside IR35.