Lead AI Engineer

Focus Search and Selection
London, United Kingdom
Last week
£80,000 – £130,000 pa
Applications closed

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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 (Last week)

Benefits

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