Principal AI scientist - Perm- UK

Principal AI Scientist - Learning & Assessment AI

Location: UK Remote (Candidates must be UK based)

Salary: £110,000 - £125,000

Employment Type: Permanent

The Opportunity

We're working with an innovative technology-led organisation that is transforming how AI is used within learning, assessment, and workforce skills development.

They are seeking a Principal AI Scientist to lead the scientific design, validation, and evolution of next-generation AI-powered assessment and learning solutions embedded directly into the flow of work.

This is a senior individual contributor role suited to someone with deep expertise across AI/ML, psychometrics, measurement science, and production-scale intelligent systems. The successful candidate will operate as a scientific authority within the organisation, shaping methodology, influencing product direction, and ensuring AI-driven solutions are fair, explainable, scalable, and scientifically rigorous.

The role offers the opportunity to work at the intersection of modern AI systems, applied research, and enterprise-scale product delivery.

The Role

As Principal AI Scientist, you will take ownership of the scientific and methodological direction of AI-enabled learning and assessment products.

You will work closely with product leadership, engineering teams, data scientists, and domain experts to translate advanced research into production-ready systems that deliver measurable user and business outcomes.

This position requires someone comfortable operating in highly complex environments with significant technical, ethical, and commercial considerations.

Key Responsibilities

Scientific Leadership & Product Ownership

Lead the scientific strategy for AI-enabled assessment, learning, and skills products

Define robust methodologies balancing innovation, scalability, fairness, validity, and explainability

Act as the senior scientific authority for assessment and measurement decisions

Establish scientific standards, reusable frameworks, and evaluation methodologies

Lead validation studies to ensure reliability, consistency, fairness, and performance stability

Define and monitor scientific KPIs including drift detection, bias indicators, and model effectiveness

Identify and mitigate scientific and measurement risks associated with AI systems at scale

AI, Machine Learning & Modern AI Systems

Apply AI and machine learning techniques, including LLMs and foundation models, to learning and assessment use cases

Support development of AI-powered capabilities such as:

Skills inference

Adaptive assessment

Automated content generation

AI-driven feedback and reasoning systems

Contribute to the evaluation and governance of agentic AI workflows

Partner with engineering teams to ensure scientific integrity is maintained throughout implementation and deployment

Support lifecycle monitoring and continuous improvement of production AI systems

Research, Innovation & Strategic Influence

Translate research findings into scalable, commercially viable product capabilities

Produce thought leadership content including whitepapers and scientific insights

Influence product and AI strategy through scientific expertise and evidence-based recommendations

Support internal and external discussions around responsible AI and ethical AI implementation

Engage with enterprise stakeholders and senior leadership on scientific and AI-related topics

Required Experience

Advanced degree (MSc or PhD preferred) in:

Psychometrics

Educational Measurement

Statistics

Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence

Data Science

Or equivalent commercial experience

Proven experience building or leading AI-enabled assessment or measurement systems

Deep expertise in validation methodologies, statistical modelling, and measurement theory

Strong applied experience with machine learning and AI systems in production environments

Practical understanding of modern AI architectures including Large Language Models (LLMs)

Experience collaborating closely with engineering and product teams

Ability to influence technical and strategic decisions through expertise rather than direct authority

Experience operating in complex, high-ambiguity environments with significant business or ethical risk considerations

Desirable Experience

Experience applying LLMs within learning, workforce skills, or assessment products

Exposure to adaptive testing, continuous assessment, or automated item/content generation

Experience evaluating or governing AI agentic workflows

Background within learning technology, education technology, workforce development, or skills ecosystems

Experience working on enterprise-scale or long-lived AI platforms

What They're Looking For

A scientifically rigorous thinker with strong commercial awareness

Someone passionate about responsible and explainable AI

Comfortable balancing research innovation with practical delivery

Strong communicator able to work across technical and non-technical audiences

A collaborative leader who enjoys solving complex real-world problems

Package

£110,000 - £125,000 salary

Fully remote role within the UK

High-impact position within a cutting-edge AI environment

Opportunity to influence next-generation AI products at scalePlease note: Applicants must be based in the UK. Sponsorship is not available for this position