Principal Software Engineer (AI/ML)

Leonardo DRS; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 76,000 - 94,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working options

Generous leave with flexi-days

Employer pension contribution

Training and courses

Job summary

Leonardo, a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security, is seeking Senior or Principal Software Engineers to join the Electronics UK software community. The role focuses on AI/ML, deploying scalable AI-enabled software for challenging civilian and military projects, with hybrid UK work arrangements.

You will collaborate with systems engineers, develop AI-powered solutions, and contribute to state-of-the-art defence software efforts across multiple UK sites.

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• Experience delivering high-integrity software in regulated environments.
• Industry experience on Agile software projects throughout the lifecycle.
• Proficiency in PyTorch and TensorFlow.
• Strong AI/ML foundation incl. transformers, tokenisation, embeddings, and LLM fine-tuning.
• Experience building scalable pipelines with APIs, vector databases, RAG, orchestration.
• Experience curating datasets, embeddings, and secure AI practices.
• Prompt engineering: designing and testing prompts, measuring accuracy and bias.
• Awareness of agentic AI workflows, governance, and data security.

Responsibilities

• Support systems engineers on research projects.
• Develop deployable software leveraging AI/ML capabilities.
• Contribute to delivery of cutting-edge solutions for civilian and military projects.
• Join Leonardo Electronics UK software community across UK sites.

Skills

Software engineering

AI/ML

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Agile

Prompt engineering

RAG

APIs

Vector databases

HPC

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

APIs

Vector databases

Orchestration frameworks

Job description

Salary: £76,000 - 94,000 per year

Requirements:

• We are looking for a degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• We are looking for practical experience delivering high-integrity software products within a regulated environment.
• We are looking for industry experience working on Agile projects across the full software life cycle.
• We are looking for proficiency in machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch and TensorFlow, as well as tools for model integration.
• We are looking for a strong foundation in AI/ML, including transformer architectures, tokenisation, embeddings, and fine-tuning large language models.
• We are looking for experience building scalable pipelines, including APIs, vector databases, retrieval-augmented generation, and orchestration frameworks.
• We are looking for experience curating datasets, managing embeddings, and ensuring security, privacy, and responsible AI practices.
• We are looking for experience in prompt engineering, including designing, testing, and systematically improving prompts while measuring the accuracy, bias, and robustness of large language model outputs.
• We are looking for awareness of agentic workflows involving AI agents that can plan, reason, and take autonomous actions.
• We are looking for awareness of governance, security, and compliance considerations relating to data management and AI deployment.
• We are looking for awareness of mathematical libraries used for signal, image, and data processing.
• We are looking for awareness of high-performance computing and the challenges associated with parallel processing.
• We are keen to hear from candidates even if they do not meet every requirement.
• The most important attribute is a willingness to learn and develop.

Responsibilities:

• We will have you support our systems engineers on research projects.
• We will have you develop deployable software solutions that leverage AI/ML capabilities.
• We will have you contribute to the delivery of leading-edge solutions for challenging civilian and military projects.
• We will have you join our well-established software community within our Electronics UK business.

Technologies:

• AI
• AI Agents
• Fine-tuning
• Support
• Machine Learning
• PyTorch
• Security
• TensorFlow
• LLM
• RAG

More:

We are Leonardo, a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security headquartered in Italy, with over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 UK sites. We are seeking Senior or Principal Software Engineers with an interest in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to join our Electronics UK software community and help deliver cutting-edge defence and aerospace projects in the UK, including civilian and military work. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package supporting wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance, including generous leave with up to 12 additional flexi-days each year, an award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution, free mental health and financial advice, employee-led inclusion networks, bonus eligibility for management level and below, access to 4,000+ online courses, a referral programme, flexible benefits worth up to 500 annually, and flexible hours with hybrid working options. Our roles are based across Luton, Basildon, Edinburgh, Lincoln, Newcastle, and Southampton, and we are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace.

last updated 36 week of 2026