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Lead AI Engineer

Focus Search and Selection
London, United Kingdom
Today
£80,000 – £130,000 pa

Salary

£80,000 – £130,000 pa

Job Type
Permanent
Work Pattern
Full-time
Work Location
Hybrid
Seniority
Lead
Education
Degree
Visa Sponsorship
Available
Posted
30 Jul 2026 (Today)

Benefits

25 days holiday Private healthcare Pension scheme Flexible working Professional development budget
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Lead AI Engineer

Location: London (Hybrid – minimum 3 days in the office)

An exciting opportunity for a hands-onLead AI Engineer to join a growing technology business undergoing an AI-first transformation.

This is a newly created role where you'll lead a small engineering team while remaining hands-on with coding, architecture and technical decision-making. Working closely with senior leadership, you'll help shape engineering strategy, drive AI adoption across the development function, and build a modern product engineering culture focused on speed, innovation and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities
  • Lead and mentor a small engineering team.
  • Drive AI-assisted software development and engineering best practice.
  • Remain hands-on with coding, architecture and code reviews.
  • Improve existing systems, tooling and development processes.
  • Build secure, AI-ready data foundations.
  • Work closely with stakeholders to rapidly deliver new features.
  • Support the growth of the engineering team through future hiring.
About You
  • Strong hands-on software engineering background.
  • Experience with technologies such as.NET, Java, Python or TypeScript.
  • Practical experience using AI coding tools such as GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Codex or similar.
  • Previous experience leading or mentoring developers.
  • Strong understanding of software architecture, APIs and modern engineering practices.
  • A proactive, product-focused mindset with excellent stakeholder communication skills.

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