Lead AI Software Engineer

Durlston Partners; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 162,000 - 198,000; Full time

Job summary

Durlston Partners in London is building a new AI engineering capability and seeks a Lead AI Software Engineer to shape the function from the ground up. This hands-on role focuses on LLMs, RAG and agentic AI, with opportunities to influence architecture, standards and team growth, while presenting projects to senior stakeholders and clients.

You’ll design cloud-native systems on AWS, collaborate with engineering, product and business teams, and drive production deployments from prototype to

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering experience with hands-on coding.
• Proficient in Java or Python; strong engineers from other languages considered.
• Experience building LLM, RAG or agentic AI applications.
• Strong experience with AWS and cloud-native architectures.

Responsibilities

• Build and deploy production-grade AI applications using LLMs, RAG and agentic systems.
• Work across the full development lifecycle, from prototyping to production.
• Design scalable cloud-native solutions using AWS.
• Collaborate with engineering, product and business teams to turn complex problems into practical AI solutions.
• Help establish reusable AI capabilities across retrieval, agent orchestration, tool use and evaluation.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to the wider engineering team.
• Present AI projects and solutions to senior stakeholders and clients.

Skills

Java

Python

LLM

RAG

Agentic AI

Tools

LangChain

AWS

Job description

Lead AI Software Engineer – London - Up to £180k base

Working model: Hybrid - London office location

A global Tier 1 asset manager is building a new AI engineering capability in London and is looking for a Lead AI Engineer to help shape the function from the ground up.

This is a hands-on role focused on LLMs, RAG and agentic AI, with significant scope to influence architecture, engineering standards and future team growth. You will work closely with technology and business teams to take AI applications from prototype through to production.

The role also has a strong client-facing element, including presenting AI projects and solutions to senior stakeholders and clients.

What you’ll be doing

• Build and deploy production-grade AI applications using LLMs, RAG and agentic systems.
• Work across the full development lifecycle, from prototyping and experimentation through to production.
• Design scalable cloud-native solutions using technologies such as AWS and LangChain.
• Work closely with engineering, product and business teams to turn complex problems into practical AI solutions.
• Help establish reusable AI capabilities across areas such as retrieval, agent orchestration, tool use and evaluation.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship as the wider engineering team develops.
• Present AI projects and solutions to senior stakeholders and clients.

What we’re looking for

• 7+ years of software engineering experience with a strong hands-on coding background.
• Excellent programming skills in Java or Python. We are open to strong engineers from different language backgrounds.
• Proven experience building LLM, RAG or agentic AI applications.
• Strong experience with AWS and modern cloud-native architectures.
• Familiarity with agentic tooling, ideally LangChain or similar frameworks.
• Strong software engineering and system design fundamentals.
• Experience leading technical projects and mentoring other engineers.
• Excellent communication skills and confidence engaging with senior executives and clients.