Senior AI Engineer

Digital Futures; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension contributions

Wellbeing budget

Employee benefits platform

Hybrid working model

Job summary

Digital Futures is seeking a Senior AI Engineer to lead the design, build, and operation of production‑grade AI solutions for clients. You will provide technical leadership to AI and data engineers, setting standards for AI delivery across cloud and data platforms.

The role requires hands‑on experience with AI/ML in production, strong software engineering skills, and the ability to mentor teams while balancing security and cost considerations. Hybrid working with office days is offered.

Qualifications

• Production AI/ML systems experience in consulting, product or enterprise.
• Strong software engineering background with Python/Java and CI/CD practices.
• Hands-on with major cloud/data platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure, Databricks, Snowflake).
• Familiarity with modern AI tooling (LLM frameworks, vector databases, MLOps tooling).
• Proven track record leading technical teams and mentoring engineers.
• Understanding of security, data privacy and responsible AI in production.

Responsibilities

• Lead end‑to‑end engineering of AI products and platforms from discovery to production and optimization.
• Define and own engineering standards, patterns and best practices for AI services, data pipelines and MLOps.
• Provide hands‑on technical direction to AI/ML/Data Engineers, including reviews and design.
• Collaborate with architects, product owners and client stakeholders to translate business requirements into scalable designs.
• Ensure solutions meet performance, reliability, observability, security and cost‑effectiveness.
• Champion continuous improvement of engineering practices and tooling.

Skills

AI production systems

Python/Java

Cloud platforms

MLOps/Git CI/CD

Team leadership

Security/DPA/Responsible AI

Tools

Databricks

Snowflake

LLM frameworks

Vector databases

Job description

Digital Futures is seeking a Senior AI Engineer who will be responsible for leading the design, build and operation of production‑grade AI solutions for clients, ensuring they are robust, scalable and secure across cloud and data platforms. The role provides technical leadership to AI and data engineers and sets engineering standards for AI delivery.

Key responsibilities

• Lead end‑to‑end engineering of AI products and platforms (including LLM, ML and automation use cases) from discovery through to production and ongoing optimisation.
• Define and own engineering standards, patterns and best practices for AI services, APIs, data pipelines and MLOps across cloud environments.
• Provide hands‑on technical direction to AI Engineers, ML Engineers and Data Engineers, including code reviews, solution design and troubleshooting.
• Collaborate with architects, product owners and client stakeholders to translate business requirements into scalable technical designs.
• Ensure solutions meet non‑functional requirements including performance, reliability, observability, security and cost‑effectiveness.
• Champion continuous improvement of engineering practices, tooling and automation within and across Expert Teams.

Skills & experience

• Extensive experience delivering AI/ML or data‑intensive systems into production in a consulting, product or enterprise environment.
• Strong software engineering background (e.g. Python, Java, or similar) with experience of modern development practices (CI/CD, testing, DevOps, Git-based workflows).
• Hands‑on experience with major cloud and data platforms (e.g. AWS, GCP, Azure, Databricks, Snowflake) and associated AI/ML services.
• Familiarity with modern AI tooling (LLM frameworks, vector databases, orchestration/agent frameworks, MLOps tooling).
• Proven track record of leading technical teams, mentoring engineers and influencing technical decisions.
• Understanding of security, data privacy and responsible AI considerations in production systems.

Behaviours & mindset

• Acts as a builder who takes ownership of outcomes, not just code.
• Communicates clearly with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Enjoys mentoring others and raising the overall bar for engineering quality.
• Pragmatic and delivery‑focused, able to balance ideal architecture with real‑world constraints.
• Curious about emerging AI technologies and keen to experiment and learn.

What's in it for you?

• Tailored professional development plan and upskilling
• Ability to make an impact at Digital Futures while it is in a period of accelerated growth
• Access to our employee benefits, discounts and perks platform
• Pension contributions
• Wellbeing budget
• Competitive salary
• Hybrid working model with required office working days

Digital Futures is a mission-led technology services company specialising in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

We have reimagined how capability is built in the age of AI, disrupting outdated workforce and education models, placing ambition at our core.

We're building the workforce of the future, leveraging the power of AI to drive innovation and inclusive growth.

We are creating a company that matters: one where pride is a strategic asset and our collective impact is measured in enduring outcomes – opportunity created, futures transformed, advantage secured.