Senior AI Software Engineer

SII Group; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

SII UK in Cambridge is seeking a Senior AI Software Engineer to join a growing engineering team building AI-enabled solutions for connected products and digital services.

You will design and implement AI validation frameworks, leverage LLMs, MCP concepts, and cloud platforms in a Python stack, delivering scalable APIs and robust automation across distributed teams.

The role emphasizes collaboration, quality, and continuous improvement, with opportunities to influence architecture and mentoring.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS or related field; equivalent industry experience.
• Commercial Python software development experience.
• Hands-on experience building production-quality software solutions.
• Exposure to Generative AI, ML, LLMs, or AI-powered applications.
• Experience with cloud platforms and modern software engineering practices.
• Experience developing APIs, web services, or microservices.
• Familiarity with AI model integration, evaluation, and automation workflows is desirable.
• Experience working in Agile software development environments.
• Involvement in quality engineering, test automation, validation frameworks, or data management solutions is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain AI-powered validation and automation frameworks using Python.
• Build intelligent agents and automation workflows using MCP concepts.
• Integrate foundation models through cloud AI platforms and services.
• Develop prompt strategies, evaluation frameworks, and AI guardrails for scalable automation.
• Create and maintain data management and validation pipelines for AI/ML systems.
• Design scalable APIs, web services, microservices, and SDKs.
• Apply software engineering best practices, reusable design patterns, testing, and code reviews.
• Collaborate with distributed engineering teams across the software lifecycle.
• Troubleshoot and optimise system performance, reliability, and automation effectiveness.
• Mentor team members and promote knowledge sharing and engineering excellence.

Skills

Python

Generative AI & LLMs

Agent-based AI architectures

Cloud-based AI services

RESTful APIs

Microservices & distributed systems

Software design patterns

Git

Automated testing

Data pipelines

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

Git

REST APIs

Cloud platforms

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Job description

SII UK is seeking a Senior AI Software Engineer to join a growing engineering team developing next-generation AI-enabled solutions for connected products and digital services.

The successful candidate will play a key role in designing and implementing intelligent validation frameworks powered by Large Language Models (LLMs), helping to automate testing, data management, and quality assurance processes. Working within a Python-based technology stack, you will leverage modern AI tools, agentic frameworks, and cloud-native services to deliver innovative solutions that improve product quality and accelerate development cycles.

This role offers the opportunity to work with cutting-edge Generative AI technologies, cloud platforms, and distributed engineering teams on technically challenging projects.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, develop, and maintain AI-powered validation and automation frameworks using Python.
• Build intelligent agents and automation workflows using Model Context Protocol (MCP) and similar agent-based architectures.
• Integrate foundation models through cloud AI platforms and services.
• Develop prompt engineering strategies, evaluation frameworks, and AI guardrails to ensure reliable and scalable automation.
• Create and maintain data management and validation pipelines supporting AI and machine learning systems.
• Design and implement scalable APIs, web services, microservices, and software development kits (SDKs).
• Apply software engineering best practices including reusable design patterns, clean coding standards, testing, and code reviews.
• Collaborate with globally distributed engineering teams throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Troubleshoot and optimise system performance, reliability, and automation effectiveness.
• Contribute to technical decision-making, architecture discussions, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Support and mentor other team members, promoting knowledge sharing and engineering excellence.
• Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

SKILLS REQUIRED

• Strong Python development skills.
• Knowledge of Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), and AI automation frameworks.
• Experience with agentic AI architectures and Model Context Protocol (MCP) concepts.
• Familiarity with cloud-based AI services and model hosting platforms.
• Experience designing and consuming RESTful APIs and web services.
• Understanding of microservices architecture and distributed systems.
• Knowledge of software design patterns and object-oriented programming principles.
• Experience with source control systems such as Git.
• Understanding of automated testing methodologies and software quality practices.
• Knowledge of data processing, data pipelines, and automation frameworks.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent industry experience.
• Commercial experience in software development using Python.
• Hands‑on experience developing production‑quality software solutions.
• Exposure to Generative AI, Machine Learning, LLMs, or AI-powered applications.
• Experience working with cloud platforms and modern software engineering practices.
• Experience developing APIs, web services, or microservice‑based applications.
• Familiarity with AI model integration, evaluation, and automation workflows would be highly desirable.
• Experience working within agile software development environments.
• Previous involvement in quality engineering, test automation, validation frameworks, or data management solutions would be advantageous.

With five strategic offices in Belfast, Chester, Farnborough, London and Oxford, we work in partnership with our customers UK-wide to deliver high-impact engineering solutions.

SII UK is a trusted Aerospace and Defence engineering partner, supporting the delivery of complex, mission‑critical programmes while helping to shape the future of innovation across next‑generation systems and technologies.

Our teams contribute daily to creating a fulfilling, stimulating and career development focused work environment.

True to our human‑centred values, we are committed to making SII UK a Great Place To Work having been certified 5 years running.

Joining SII UK means being part of our collective goals, guided by our mission "Let's Tech Together", and helping to build a digital future that is sustainable, at the heart of an environment that values learning & collaboration.