AI Engineer | Public Sector Consulting

IBM; Hursley; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Maternity/Paternity leave

Private medical & dental cover

25 days holiday

Employee Assistance Program

Group pension plan

Job summary

IBM Consulting UK FutureNow seeks an AI Engineer to turn emerging AI capabilities into production-ready solutions for public and regulated sectors. You’ll design, build, and deploy AI-powered applications within a Hybrid Cloud & Data practice, collaborating with Data Scientists, Architects, and client stakeholders to deliver scalable, secure outcomes.

You’ll work on retrieval-augmented generation, agent-based workflows, and integrate AI capabilities into enterprise systems while upholding

Qualifications

• Commercial experience developing solutions using Large Language Models (LLMs).
• Hands-on production RAG solutions and/or agent-based AI systems.
• Strong Python development skills.
• Experience developing APIs and integrating systems using modern patterns.
• Understanding of prompt engineering, retrieval strategies, and AI evaluation approaches.
• Experience mitigating hallucinations and improving response quality via grounding, retrieval, or evaluation techniques.
• Understanding of Responsible AI principles, governance, and secure AI adoption.
• Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience delivering solutions within Agile development environments.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered applications and services using LLMs.
• Build RAG solutions and agent-based workflows for real-world business use cases.
• Integrate AI capabilities into existing enterprise applications and processes.
• Develop APIs and integration patterns enabling secure AI adoption.
• Collaborate with Data Engineers, Architects, and stakeholders to translate requirements into production-ready solutions.
• Support evaluation, testing, and optimisation of AI systems balancing performance, cost, and risk.
• Contribute to responsible AI adoption with governance and security practices.
• Participate in Agile delivery teams throughout the full delivery lifecycle.

Skills

LLM development

Python

APIs & integration

Prompt engineering

Retrieval strategies

Evaluation methods

Responsible AI

Agile delivery

Stakeholder communication

Tools

LangChain

LangGraph

Semantic Kernel

LlamaIndex

Vector databases

Job description

Introduction

At IBM Consulting UK FutureNow, you'll build a career at the forefront of hybrid cloud and AI, working with leading clients across the public and private sectors.

You'll collaborate with top industry professionals, gain hands on experience with cutting edge technologies, and deliver solutions that create real business impact. From day one, you'll work on meaningful, high profile programmes that stretch your skills and accelerate your growth.

We invest heavily in you--supporting continuous learning, in demand skills development, and long term career progression. You'll thrive in a flexible, inclusive environment that values curiosity, encourages reinvention, and recognises what makes you unique.

We offer:

• Tools and policies to support your work-life balance from flexible working approaches, sabbatical programs, paid paternity leave, maternity leave and an innovative maternity returners scheme
• More traditional benefits, such as 25 days holiday (in addition to public holidays), private medical, dental & optical cover, online shopping discounts, an Employee Assistance Program, life assurance and a group pension plan through salary sacrifice.

Your role and responsibilities

As a Consulting AI Engineer, you'll help clients turn emerging AI capabilities into practical, secure, and production-ready solutions.

Working within IBM Consulting's Hybrid Cloud & Data practice, you'll design, build, integrate, and deploy AI-powered applications that solve real business challenges across Public Sector and regulated industry clients.

This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy building and integrating AI systems into existing business processes, platforms, and services. You'll work alongside Data Scientists, Architects, Software Engineers, and client stakeholders to deliver solutions that are scalable, secure, and trusted.

Core Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered applications and services using Large Language Models (LLMs).
• Build Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions and agent-based workflows for real-world business use cases.
• Integrate AI capabilities into existing enterprise applications, services, and operational processes.
• Develop APIs, services, and integration patterns that enable secure adoption of AI technologies.
• Work with Data Engineers, Architects, and client stakeholders to translate business requirements into production-ready solutions.
• Support the evaluation, testing, and optimisation of AI systems, balancing performance, cost, reliability, and risk.
• Contribute to responsible AI adoption through appropriate governance, security, and evaluation practices.
• Participate in Agile delivery teams and contribute throughout the full delivery lifecycle.

Required technical and professional expertise

• Commercial experience developing solutions using Large Language Models (LLMs) and LLM APIs.
• Hands-on experience implementing production RAG solutions and/or agent-based AI systems.
• Strong Python development skills.
• Experience developing APIs and integrating systems using modern integration patterns.
• Understanding of prompt engineering, retrieval strategies, and AI evaluation approaches.
• Experience mitigating hallucinations and improving response quality through grounding, retrieval, or evaluation techniques.
• Understanding of Responsible AI principles, governance, and secure AI adoption.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work directly with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience delivering solutions within Agile development environments

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personal Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NVS) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV).

Preferred technical and professional experience

• Experience with frameworks such as:
• LangChain
• LangGraph
• Semantic Kernel
• LlamaIndex
• Similar orchestration frameworks
• Experience with vector databases or semantic search technologies.
• Experience deploying solutions into cloud environments.
• Experience working within Public Sector, Defence, Financial Services, or other regulated environments.
• Exposure to CI/CD, containerisation, and modern software engineering practices.
• Experience mentoring junior engineers or supporting less experienced team members.

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.