Research Fellow in AI Engineering and Commercialisation

University of South Hampton; Southampton; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 24,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Generous holiday allowance

Job summary

University of Southampton invites applications for a Research Fellow in AI Engineering and Commercialisation to advance AI-enabled healthcare tools. The post combines software engineering, system design and product development with industry partnerships and funding activity.

The role emphasizes translating research into deployable technologies, contributing to commercial strategies, and delivering pilot solutions in collaboration with clinical and industry partners.

Qualifications

• Strong programming skills and demonstrable experience of building functioning software.
• Experience of system architecture, APIs, databases, testing and deployment.
• Experience integrating AI into applications would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Develop and commercialise AI-enabled healthcare tools.
• Design and implement architectures connecting datasets, algorithms, AI components and external services.
• Build, test and deploy software with robust engineering workflows.
• Translate clinical and user requirements into practical product features.
• Support product planning, partnerships, customer discovery, business models and pilot delivery.
• Address interoperability, security, governance and responsible AI throughout development.

Skills

Programming

Software development

System architecture

APIs

Databases

Testing and deployment

Education

PhD or equivalent

Job description

Research Fellow in AI Engineering and Commercialisation

The Health Data, MLTC and AI Group (HMAI) is based in the University of Southampton’s Primary Care Research Centre. We combine complex data with AI and clinical expertise to understand health and transform care. Our work spans population health intelligence, digital phenotyping and product innovation — translating research into scalable technologies for more personalised, predictive and preventative healthcare.

About the role

You will contribute to the development and commercialisation of AI-enabled healthcare tools, combining hands-on software engineering and system architecture with product development, evaluation and implementation.

Working closely with the Chief Investigator and clinical, academic and industry partners, you will design and implement technical architectures connecting diverse datasets, research algorithms, AI components and external services. You will build, test and deploy software, incorporating large language model and agentic AI capabilities where appropriate, and translate clinical and user requirements into practical product features.

Alongside technical delivery, you will support product planning, commercial partnerships, customer discovery, business models, demonstrations, funding applications and pilot delivery. You will maintain robust engineering workflows and documentation, addressing interoperability, security, governance and responsible AI throughout development.

The post is part-time (20 hours per week) fixed-term until 30/04/2027, at Level 4 with potential for extension

About you

You will hold a relevant PhD or equivalent professional experience in software engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence or a related discipline.

Strong programming skills and demonstrable experience of building functioning software are essential. You will have practical experience of system architecture, APIs, databases, testing and deployment, alongside experience of integrating AI into applications.

You will combine technical rigour with commercial awareness and an interest in translating research into usable products. You will be able to organise development activities, deliver agreed milestones and explain technical decisions clearly to clinical, academic and commercial colleagues.

Experience of digital health, commercial product development, industry partnerships, customer discovery or university spin-outs would be advantageous. We value collaborative working, user-centred development and a commitment to safe, inclusive and reproducible innovation.

As a university we aim to create an environment where everyone can thrive and are proactive in fostering a culture of inclusion, respect and equality of opportunity. We believe that we can only truly meet our objectives if we are reflective of society, so we are passionate about creating a working environment in which you are free to bring your whole self to work. With a generous holiday allowance as well as additional university closure days we are committed to supporting our staff and students and open to a flexible working approach.