Lead AI Engineer: Production-Grade GenAI & Agentic Systems

AKQA; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

In-office days

Job summary

AKQA, in partnership with WPP, is seeking a Lead/Principal AI Engineer in its London studio. You will design, build and deliver production-grade AI systems, agentic workflows and intelligent automation for global brand experiences.

The role blends deep engineering with architecture and leadership, shaping scalable AI solutions while collaborating with clients, creative teams and engineers to translate ambitious ideas into production-ready technology.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience delivering generative AI and agentic systems in production.
• Strong Python and/or TypeScript/Node.js production code.
• Experience with CI/CD and automated testing.
• Able to communicate complex ideas to clients and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Architect and deploy production AI systems and agentic workflows.
• Lead technical design of AI-powered digital products, applications and platforms.
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to ship scalable solutions.
• Establish observability, testing and security practices.

Skills

Backend engineering

Distributed systems

Python

TypeScript/Node.js

Cloud infrastructure

AI/Agentic systems

CI/CD

Security

Observability

Client communication

Tools

LangGraph

CrewAI

AutoGen

Vercel AI SDK

LangSmith

OpenTelemetry

Arize Phoenix

Braintrust

Job description

AKQA, in partnership with WPP, is seeking a Lead/Principal AI Engineer in its London studio. You will design, build and deliver production-grade AI systems, agentic workflows and intelligent automation for global brand experiences.

The role blends deep engineering with architecture and leadership, shaping scalable AI solutions while collaborating with clients, creative teams and engineers to translate ambitious ideas into production-ready technology.