AI Platform Engineer - All Levels

Leonardo; Southampton; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexi-days

Pension 15% employer contribution

Mental health support

Coursera/LinkedIn Learning

Referral programme

Private healthcare

Job summary

Leonardo UK is recruiting AI Platform Engineers to shape, build and operate the infrastructure and services underpinning our AI platform across multiple grades. The role focuses on secure, reliable access to AI models and inference services within a hybrid working model in the UK.

You will help deploy, operate and secure scalable inference services using containers, Kubernetes and AI gateways while establishing engineering standards for enterprise environments.

Qualifications

• Experience operating shared or business-critical platforms.
• Familiarity with large language models and running them.
• Experience troubleshooting distributed systems and performance issues.
• Familiarity with infrastructure as code and CI/CD pipelines.
• Effective communication and stakeholder engagement.
• Curiosity and drive for continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of the platform layer above GPU infrastructure, including model serving and inference runtimes.
• Deploy and operate scalable inference services using containers, Kubernetes and AI gateway platforms; improve observability and performance.

Skills

Platform ownership

LLM familiarity

Distributed systems

Infra as code CI/CD

Communication

Curiosity

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Linux

Job description

Job Description

We are recruiting for AI Platform Engineers across all job levels to help shape, build and operate the infrastructure and services that underpin our AI platform, providing engineers with secure, reliable access to AI models and inference services.

Where this vacancy is being recruited across more than one grade, the successful candidate will be appointed to a specific assessed grade, and the applicable salary range will be that associated with the grade of appointment.

Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity.

What You’ll Do

• Take ownership of the platform layer above our managed GPU infrastructure, including model serving, inference runtimes, AI gateways and supporting services. You will help make these capabilities easy for engineering teams to consume while maintaining appropriate controls around security, performance and availability.
• Using technologies such as containers, Kubernetes, vLLM and AI gateway platforms, you will deploy and operate scalable inference services, improve observability and performance, and investigate complex technical issues across the platform. You will also help establish engineering standards for operating AI services within a secure enterprise environment, including cases where the target system has no route to the internet.

We are a multidisciplinary team looking for candidates with a broad mix of skills and experience. You do not need to meet every requirement. What matters most is sound engineering judgement, adaptability and the ability to make a meaningful contribution.

What You’ll Bring

• Experience operating shared or business-critical platforms
• Familiarity with large language models and the practical considerations of running them
• Experience troubleshooting distributed systems and performance issues
• Familiarity with infrastructure as code and CI/CD
• Effective communication and stakeholder engagement
• Curiosity and a drive for continuous improvement

Key Areas We Value Experience In

• Linux, application and server administration
• Containers and container orchestration, such as Docker and Kubernetes
• AI inference and model serving platforms, such as vLLM, SGLang or similar
• AI gateways and API management, such as LiteLLM, Bifrost or similar
• GPU workloads, including performance, utilisation and resource management
• Programming and scripting, such as Python, Bash or Go
• Monitoring, observability and SRE practices
• Secure, resilient and scalable service design
• Authentication, access control, rate limiting and service integration
• Technical documentation and operational guidance

Security Clearance

You must be eligible for full security clearance. For more information and guidance please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vettingclearance-levels

Why join us

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

• Time to Recharge: Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi-days each year.
• Secure your Future: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.
• Your Wellbeing Matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).
• Rewarding Performance: All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.
• Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Refer a friend: Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.
• Tailored Perks: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.
• Flexible working: Flexible hours with hybrid working options. For part time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website.

Leonardo is a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security. Headquartered in Italy, we employ over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 sites in the UK. Our employees are not just part of a team—they are key contributors to shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety.

At Leonardo we are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our people and our customers. If you have any accessibility requirements to support you during the recruitment process, just let us know.

Primary Location

GB - Edinburgh

Additional Locations

GB - Basildon, GB - Bristol - Coldharbour Lane, GB - Luton - Cap. Green 300, GB - Newcastle, GB - Southampton

Contract Type

Permanent

Hybrid Working

Hybrid