Principal Software Engineer / Principal AI Engineer

Elsevier Limited Company; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive Pension Plan

Generous vacation entitlement

Sabbatical leave

Family Care leave

Job summary

Elsevier is seeking a Principal AI Engineer / Principal Software Engineer to lead an embedded Innovation Squad. You will own technical execution from discovery to production, assess and harden AI prototypes, and establish agentic AI patterns, orchestration, and memory usage.

Expect to guide architecture decisions and codify validated solutions into reusable patterns and starter kits. You will mentor engineers, engage with stakeholders, and ensure security, governance, and data residency

Qualifications

• 10+ years software engineering with hands-on AI design and production experience.
• BS or equivalent in Engineering/CS; advanced degree preferred.
• Experience with LLM orchestration, prompt engineering, and RAG at enterprise scale.
• Enterprise integration via APIs with strong security and data residency practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical execution from discovery to production for AI prototypes.
• Design reusable agentic AI patterns and oversee orchestration and memory.
• Ensure architecture aligns with security, governance, and data standards.
• Codify solutions into patterns, reference implementations, and starter kits.
• Mentor engineers and align with internal stakeholders and end users.

Skills

AI system design

LLM orchestration

Python

Java

TypeScript/JavaScript

SQL

Cloud platforms

Agile delivery

Stakeholder engagement

Education

BS in Engineering, CS or equivalent

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

APIs and data pipelines

Security & data governance tooling

AWS/Azure/GCP AI services

Job description

Principal Software Engineer / Principal AI Engineer

Are you excited about building intelligent systems powered by innovative AI technologies? Do you enjoy creating solutions that turn complex data into impactful outcomes?

About the team

Embedded Innovation Teams are cross-functional squads embedded within our segments to rapidly turn internal AI experimentation into validated, reusable solutions, building the capabilities we need to deliver customer value and growth. We work problem-first rather than tool-first, directly inside segment and function teams, improving the internal workflows that help our people deliver better outcomes for customers, faster.

About the role

As a Principal AI Engineer / Principal Software Engineer, you will be the technical lead for an embedded Innovation Squad, owning technical execution from discovery through to production. You will assess and harden existing AI prototypes, deliver new ones, and establish the agentic AI patterns, orchestration, tool use, memory, and retrieval that other squads reuse. You are the senior source of expertise on AI architecture, integration, and delivery. You will work directly with internal stakeholders and end users in the host function, finalizing requirements, making the architectural calls, and codifying validated solutions into reusable patterns, reference implementations, and starter kits. You may also provide sizing, infrastructure, and budget recommendations, and you will mentor and elevate the engineers around you.

Key Responsibilities

• Own technical execution from discovery to production; build, assess, and harden prototypes and proofs of concept, and deliver new ones.
• Design and govern reusable agentic AI patterns (orchestration, tool use, memory, retrieval).
• Ensure delivery meets architecture, security and data-governance standards; recommend infrastructure, hosting and data residency.
• Codify validated solutions into patterns, reference implementations, and starter kits so they can be picked up and scaled across other functions.
• Provide design input, finalizing requirements, and work directly with internal stakeholders and end users in the host function.
• Write specifications, fix complex bugs, and design complex data models.
• Act as the primary technical contact for external resources and the squad's go-to on coding and AI.
• Establish baselines and report measurable outcomes for every initiative.
• Maintain visibility of in-flight AI pilots within the function to prevent duplication and surface candidates for reuse.
• Ensure alignment with enterprise non-negotiables: security, compliance and central technology infrastructure standards.
• Continuously evaluate emerging technologies and mentor and elevate team members.
• Take on related responsibilities as the squad's needs evolve.

Requirements

• Engineering experience: 10+ years in software engineering, with hands-on AI system design, build or integration, and a track record of taking AI prototypes to production in enterprise environments.
• Education: BS in Engineering, Computer Science or equivalent; advanced degree preferred.
• Agentic AI / LLMs: LLM orchestration, prompt engineering, context-window management and production guardrails; MCP, tool-augmented agents and RAG at enterprise scale.
• Enterprise integration: Integrating AI into enterprise systems via APIs and data pipelines, with strong security, data governance and residency practices.
• Cloud: AWS, Azure or GCP, including managed AI/ML services.
• Delivery: Agile, CI/CD, modern SDLC and TDD.
• Data and architecture: Modelling across relational, columnar and vector stores, grounded in sound architectural principles.
• Ways of working: Thrives in ambiguity, framing the problem, extracting defined spec, and prioritises shipping validated outcomes over perfect solutions, moving pilots to production at pace.
• Languages: Python, Java, TypeScript/JavaScript, SQL and relevant AI SDKs.
• Leadership and delivery management: Plans and sequences work, manages scope, dependencies and priorities, removes blockers, and drives delivery to keep innovation moving.
• Communication and influence: Presents concisely to senior management, host-function stakeholders and cross-functional teams, and builds buy-in and drives technical decisions across.
• Commercial awareness: Budget-aware; partners with internal and external resources, including managed services and staff augmentation.
• Measurement: Establishes baselines and instruments solutions to track productivity, cost and quality outcomes from pilot through scale.

Why Join Us?

Join our team and contribute to a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence. If you are ready to advance your career and make a significant impact, we encourage you to apply.

Work in a way that works for you

We promote a healthy work/life balance across the organization. We offer an appealing working prospect for our people. With numerous wellbeing initiatives, shared parental leave, study assistance, and sabbaticals, we will help you meet your immediate responsibilities and your long-term goals. Working flexible hours - flexing the times when you work in the day to help you fit everything in and work when you are the most productive.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Pension Plan
• Generous vacation entitlement and option for sabbatical leave
• Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, and Family Care leave
• Personal Choice budget
• Internal communities and networks
• Various employee discounts
• Recruitment introduction reward
• Employee Assistance Program (global)

About the business

A global leader in information and analytics, we help researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. Building on our publishing heritage, we combine quality information and vast data sets with analytics to support visionary science and research, health education, and interactive learning, as well as exceptional healthcare and clinical practice. At Elsevier, your work contributes to the world's grand challenges and a more sustainable future. We harness innovative technologies to support science and healthcare to partner for a better world. We know your well-being and happiness are key to a long and successful career. We are delighted to offer country specific benefits. Click here to access benefits specific to your location. We are committed to providing a fair and accessible hiring process. If you have a disability or other need that requires accommodation or adjustment, please let us know by completing our Applicant Request Support Form or please contact 1-855-833-5120.

We are an equal opportunity employer: qualified applicants are considered for and treated during employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship status, disability status, protected veteran status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. USA Job Seekers: EEO Know Your Rights.

RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers, enabling them to make better decisions, get better results and be more productive. Our purpose is to benefit society by developing products that help researchers advance scientific knowledge; doctors and nurses improve the lives of patients; lawyers promote the rule of law and achieve justice and fair results for their clients; businesses and governments prevent fraud; consumers access financial services and get fair prices on insurance; and customers learn about markets and complete transactions. Our purpose guides our actions beyond the products that we develop. It defines us as a company. Every day across RELX our employees are inspired to undertake initiatives that make unique contributions to society and the communities in which we operate.