Artificial Intelligence Specialist

Skillfinder International; Manchester; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading AI solutions provider is seeking a Senior AI Architect in Manchester for a contract role. This position involves designing and developing AI applications using advanced large language models and integrating agentic AI frameworks. The ideal candidate should have over 8 years of software architecture experience, a strong background in Azure cloud architecture, and hands-on AI/ML development. This role offers the opportunity to shape AI strategies and collaborate across engineering teams.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in software architecture/enterprise solutions.
• 3+ years of hands-on AI/ML development experience.
• Strong Azure cloud architecture expertise.

Responsibilities

• Design & build AI-driven applications using LLMs.
• Integrate agentic AI frameworks for autonomous workflows.
• Lead architecture for scalable AI service deployment.

Skills

Software architecture

AI development

Azure cloud architecture

Large language models

Data science techniques

Frontend experience (React, Angular, Vue)

Job description

Senior AI Architect – Contract Role Driving Autonomous AI on Azure

Are you an AI specialist with a passion for large language models, cutting-edge agentic frameworks, and cloud-native architecture? Join a major programme shaping the future of intelligent systems within an enterprise environment.

We’re hiring a Senior AI Architect for an extendable contract role (inside IR35). You’ll lead the design and development of AI applications using state-of-the-art LLMs (e.g. OpenAI, Gemini, Mistral), advanced Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and frameworks like LangGraph, CrewAI, and AutoGen.

This is a high-impact opportunity to set architectural standards, collaborate across engineering and DevOps teams, and build production-grade AI systems at scale—particularly across the Azure cloud ecosystem.

What you’ll do

• Design & build AI-driven applications using LLMs for summarisation, generation, Q&A, and reasoning.
• Integrate agentic AI frameworks to create autonomous / semi-autonomous workflows.
• Lead architecture for scalable AI / ML service deployment, model orchestration, and monitoring.
• Deliver full-stack Azure-based solutions with secure backend, frontend, and data services.
• Collaborate with DevOps / MLOps teams to streamline CI / CD pipelines for AI workloads.
• Provide technical leadership and shape wider AI strategy across the programme.

Essential skills

• 8+ years in software architecture / enterprise solutions.
• 3+ years of hands-on AI / ML development experience.
• Strong Azure cloud architecture expertise.
• Proficiency with LLMs, RAG, agent-based systems, and data science techniques.
• Frontend experience (React, Angular or Vue) integrated with backend AI services.

Nice to have

• Experience guiding multidisciplinary teams in a regulated or enterprise setting.