Senior Software Engineer - AI Native Platforms

Compare the Market; Peterborough; Hybrid; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A financial services company in Peterborough is seeking a Senior Software Engineer specializing in AI Engineering. The role involves leading the design and implementation of systems that support AI agents, mentoring engineers, and delivering high-quality code. Candidates should have backend development expertise and a passion for AI. This position offers hybrid working and a comprehensive benefits package.

Benefits

Generous holiday allowance

Private healthcare

Electric car scheme

Paid development days

Wellbeing and CSR days

Qualifications

• Proven backend development expertise delivering complex systems.
• Ability to mentor and upskill engineers.
• Familiarity with modern AI development practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and development of AI interaction services.
• Define and implement APIs and contracts.
• Conduct design and code reviews.

Skills

Backend development expertise

Mentorship and guidance of engineers

Familiarity with GenAI

Model Context Protocol knowledge

Understanding of LLM integration patterns

Job description

Overview

Our purpose is to make great financial decision making a breeze for everyone, and that purpose drives us every day. It’s why we’re on a mission to create an automated quoting engine, with the simplest of experiences, wrapped in a brand everyone loves! We change lives by making it simple to switch and save money and that’s why good things happen when you meerkat.

We’d love you to be part of our journey! As a Senior Software Engineer (AI Engineering), you’ll take a leading role in designing and implementing agent-ready systems and developer tools. You’ll build production-grade software that enables safe, scalable, and AI-augmented engineering, while mentoring and guiding engineers to raise the bar across the team.

Everyone is welcome! We have a culture of creativity. We approach our work passionately, improve constantly and celebrate our wins at every turn. We are an inclusive workplace where our employees are comfortable bringing their authentic, whole selves to work. Everyone is welcome. Be you. This means we’re excited to hear from people with a range of skills, experiences and ideas. We don’t expect you to tick all the boxes, but would love to hear what makes you great for this role.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of services that support AI agent interaction
• Drive the application of GenAI to modernise, refactor, and accelerate legacy systems
• Define and implement APIs, contracts, and metadata aligned with the Model Context Protocol
• Shape and evolve internal tooling that supports AI-native SDLC workflows
• Influence architecture decisions, conduct design and code reviews, and lead incident response

What we’d like to see from you

• Proven backend development expertise, with experience delivering complex, high-scale systems
• Ability to mentor, guide, and upskill engineers within the team
• Familiarity with or eagerness to advance in:
  • Model Context Protocol for managing context and tool interfaces for agents
  • LLM integration patterns including prompt orchestration, multi-agent planning and tool calling
  • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for dynamic context injection
  • Model selection / A/B testing / observability

What will success look like

• Delivers high-quality, maintainable code that meets business needs
• Takes ownership of complex problems end-to-end, from design through deployment
• Rapidly learns, applies, and advocates for emerging AI-native engineering patterns
• Raises the bar for technical excellence, system simplicity, and agent-readiness
• Actively contributes to the growth and effectiveness of the wider engineering team

There’s something for everyone

We’re a place of opportunity. You’ll have the tools and autonomy to drive your own career, supported by a team of amazingly talented people. And then there’s our benefits. For us, it’s not just about a competitive salary and hybrid working, we care about what matters to you. From a generous holiday allowance and private healthcare to an electric car scheme and paid development, wellbeing and CSR days, we’ve pretty much got you covered!