Principal Software Engineer - AI

Ocho People Ltd.; Belfast City District; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary £80k-£90k

Hybrid work model

Global engineering org exposure

Direct influence on AI strategy

Work with latest AI tooling

Career development

Job summary

Ocho People Ltd. in Belfast is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead AI enablement across our client’s engineering teams. This is a thought‑leader role, without people management, working with directors, senior engineers, product architects and AI specialists.

The ideal candidate shapes AI strategy, evaluates tools, builds AI capabilities, and embeds AI across the SDLC. Hybrid Belfast-based with global visibility and significant impact on engineering decisions shaping AI adoption.

Qualifications

• 10+ years hands-on software engineering with end-to-end lifecycle
• Commercial experience driving AI adoption in an organisation seriously committing to it
• Excellent communication and ability to influence senior stakeholders without formal authority

Responsibilities

• Shape and drive a pragmatic AI strategy for the engineering organisation, aligned to priorities, architecture and security
• Evaluate emerging AI tools, initiatives and assets and decide what to adopt
• Build and roll out AI skills, agents and reusable patterns that solve engineering problems
• Lead small working groups with SMEs, architects and PMs to deliver improvements
• Embed AI across the full SDLC, from requirements to CI/CD, testing and release
• Establish metrics to measure efficiency gains and AI value
• Champion responsible and secure AI use in production environments
• Coach engineers to adopt AI-first ways with strong engineering discipline

Skills

Excellent communication

Influence stakeholders

AI adoption experience

Education

10+ years software engineering

Tools

LLM frameworks

AI tooling

Job description

Principal Software Engineer - AI

At a Glance

• Principal-level engineer and AI thought leader - influence without line management
• Hybrid working, Belfast (2 days a week in the office)
• £80,000-£100,000
• Shape how AI is adopted across a global engineering organisation

About the Company

Our client is a global financial technology business whose platforms process transactions for millions of merchants and partners worldwide. Their Belfast engineering hub sits within a wider integrated platform organisation spanning the UK and US, building secure, high-availability systems at genuine scale. AI adoption here is deliberate and pragmatic, built to last rather than chase trends.

Role Overview

We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead AI enablement across our client's engineering teams. There's already plenty of AI activity across the business; this role is about cutting through it, working out what's genuinely worth adopting and embedding it properly into how software gets built. You'll work alongside directors, senior engineers, product architects and AI specialists, acting as a thought leader rather than a people manager. The ideal person is a long-standing engineer who has seen AI transform engineering in a business that committed to it, and is excited to make that happen again.

Key Responsibilities

• Shape and drive a pragmatic AI strategy for the engineering organisation, aligned to business priorities, architecture and security
• Evaluate emerging AI tools, internal initiatives and shared assets, and decide what's worth adopting
• Build and roll out AI skills, agents and reusable patterns that solve real engineering problems
• Lead small, focused working groups with SMEs, product architects and product managers to deliver targeted improvements
• Embed AI across the full SDLC, from requirements and development through to CI/CD, testing and release
• Establish metrics that measure efficiency gains and show where AI is adding value
• Champion responsible and secure AI use in a production-critical environment
• Coach engineers to adopt AI-first ways of working with strong engineering discipline

What You'll Need

Essential:

• 10+ years of hands-on software engineering, with an end-to-end view of the software development lifecycle
• Commercial experience driving AI adoption in an organisation that has committed seriously to it, with strong knowledge of current AI tooling
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to influence senior stakeholders without formal authority

Desirable:

• Experience in financial services or another regulated industry
• Hands-on work with LLM application frameworks, agents or AI-enhanced CI/CD pipelines

Benefits & Package

• £80,000-£90,000 salary
• Hybrid working model (2 days a week in the Belfast office)
• Principal-level role with visibility across a global engineering organisation
• Direct influence on engineering strategy and how AI is used day to day
• Work with the latest AI tooling and a wide range of LLMs
• Global business with genuine scale and career development paths

You must currently reside in Northern Ireland.