Principal Technologist, Core AI Services

Whereby; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working arrangements

Private medical insurance

Pension

Life cover

Parental leave

Education assistance program

Job summary

AVEVA is seeking a hands-on Principal Technologist to design, develop, and scale AI-enabled platform services and public APIs. You will drive secure, reliable, cloud-native components as foundations for AI adoption across AVEVA products and partners.

The role calls for strong engineering leadership, deep cloud experience, and a builder mindset to deliver enterprise-grade AI capabilities with start-up agility.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, preferably in platform/cloud-native service development.
• Hands-on with containerised deployments in Kubernetes.
• Strong RESTful API design, versioning, testing, and lifecycle management.
• Security: API authentication/authorization and data privacy practices.
• Experience with AI tooling and prompt engineering (e.g., GitHub Copilot).
• Proven ability to work in Agile teams across locations.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical authority for core services, owning design, reliability and performance.
• Build scalable, fault-tolerant cloud-native services on Microsoft Azure.
• Develop secure, well-documented public APIs and SDKs for internal and external developers.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver end-to-end data pipelines, orchestration, and APIs.
• Embed robust security controls to protect data and access to AI services.
• Lead and contribute to design/code/architecture reviews for engineering excellence.
• Mentor junior developers and foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation.
• Work with multiple teams on AI solutions, including model deployment, training, and tooling.

Skills

12+ years experience

Kubernetes

RESTful API design

API security & data privacy

AI tooling & prompt engineering

Agile / Scrum

Mentoring & leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Azure cloud-native services

Tools

Microsoft Azure

.NET technologies

Job description

AVEVA is creating software trusted by over 90% of leading industrial companies.

Job Title: Principal Technologist, Dev - AI Core Services Development

Location:Cambridge, UK

Employment Type:Regular, Full-Time (Hybrid)

We are looking for a hands-on Principal Engineer to join our Core AI Services team. In this role, you will help design, develop, and scale AI-enabling platform services and public APIs that are secure, reliable, and cloud-native. These services will act as foundational building blocks for AI adoption across AVEVA’s product portfolio and partner ecosystem.

Working at the forefront of agentic systems and harness engineering, you will join an agile Scrum team with a true builder mindset- delivering innovative, secure, and production-grade AI capabilities with the agility of a start-up. This role is ideal for an engineer with a genuine passion for keeping up with the latest AI engineering patterns and practices, eager to translate emerging tech into reliable, enterprise-ready software.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the technical authority for core services owning design, reliability and performance.
• Build scalable, fault-tolerant cloud-native services on Microsoft Azure, ensuring high performance and reliability.
• Develop secure, well-documented public APIs and SDKs for consumption by internal and external developers.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver end-to-end solutions across data pipelines, orchestration, and service APIs.
• Embed robust security controls to protect sensitive data and ensure secure access to AI services.
• Lead and contribute to design reviews, code reviews, and architectural discussions to ensure engineering excellence.
• Mentor junior developers, encourage continuous learning, and contribute to a culture of innovation.
• Work with multiple teams to create AI solutions, which include AI model deployment, training, and AI tooling development.

Core Skills and Qualifications:

• 12+ years of experience in software engineering, preferably in platform or cloud-native service development using Microsoft and .NET technologies.
• Hands-on experience with containerised deployments in Kubernetes.
• Strong expertise in RESTful API design, versioning, testing, and lifecycle management.
• Proficient in securing APIs, managing authentication/authorization and data privacy practices.
• Fluent in developing code using AI Tools such as GitHub Copilot. Must be able to use prompt engineering to carry out multiple development tasks.
• Excellent problem-solving skills, with the ability to analyse complex technical challenges and propose scalable solutions.
• Experience working in Agile teams and collaborating across global R&D locations
• Demonstrated ability to mentor junior team members fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Familiarity with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), tool-calling, and AI orchestration frameworks (e.g., Semantic Kernel, Azure AI Foundry).
• Understanding of Large Language Models (LLMs) and the trade-offs between latency, capability, cost, and model sizing.
• Awareness of emerging AI protocols and standards (e.g., Model Context Protocol [MCP], Agent2Agent [A2A]).
• Exposure to automated AI evaluation, output benchmarking, and testing tools for AI-driven capabilities.

R&D at AVEVA

Our global team of 2000+ developers work on an incredibly diverse portfolio of over 75 industrial automation and engineering products, which cover everything from data management to 3D design. AI and cloud are at the centre of our strategy, and we have over 150 patents to our name.

UK Benefits include:

• Flexible benefits fund
• emergency leave days
• adoption leave
• 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays)
• pension
• life cover
• private medical insurance
• parental leave
• education assistance program

It’s possible we’re hiring for this position in multiple countries, in which case the above benefits apply to the primary location. Specific benefits vary by country, but our packages are similarly comprehensive.

Find out more: aveva.com/en/about/careers/benefits/

Hybrid working

We work in a hybrid way at AVEVA. Most roles are based at a local AVEVA office, with an expectation of being on-site 50% of your working hours to support collaboration and connection. Some positions are fully office-based depending on the nature of the work, and certain roles that support specific customers or markets may be remote. The working arrangement for this position will be confirmed during the hiring process.

About AVEVA

AVEVA is a global leader in industrial software with more than 6,500 employees in over 40 countries. Our cutting-edge solutions are used by thousands of enterprises to deliver the essentials of life - such as energy, infrastructure, chemicals, and minerals - safely, efficiently, and more sustainably.

We are committed to embedding sustainability and inclusion into our operations, our culture, and our core business strategy. Learn more about how we are progressing against our ambitious 2030 targets: sustainability-report.aveva.com/

Find out more: aveva.com/en/about/careers/

AVEVA requires all successful applicants to undergo and pass a drug screening and comprehensive background check before they start employment. Background checks will be conducted in accordance with local laws and may, subject to those laws, include proof of educational attainment, employment history verification, proof of work authorization, criminal records, identity verification, credit check. Certain positions dealing with sensitive and/or third-party personal data may involve additional background check criteria.

AVEVA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to being an exemplary employer with an inclusive culture, developing a workplace environment where all our employees are treated with dignity and respect. We value diversity and the expertise that people from different backgrounds bring to our business. AVEVA provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify your recruiter. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.