Technical Lead – AI & Software Engineering - 7720

Cambridge University Press & Assessment; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 53,000 - 71,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 28 days

Private medical insurance

Discretionary bonus

Group pension

Life insurance

Green travel

Job summary

Cambridge University Press & Assessment in Cambridge, UK, is seeking a hands-on Technical Lead for AI & Software Engineering to lead delivery of AI-enabled assessment solutions. You will mentor a small cross-functional squad while continuing to write code and shape architecture.

The role requires building secure, scalable cloud-native solutions on AWS, with an emphasis on language models, retrieval, auditability and collaboration with assessment experts.

Responsibilities

• Deliver AI-enabled solutions: build end-to-end products using securely hosted language models, with UI integration and stakeholder alignment.
• Ground and validate outputs using retrieval over approved content, ensuring accuracy and traceability.
• Measure quality: build evaluation sets and quality gates with assessment experts to show release fitness.
• Keep experts in control: design review workflows with examiners so final decisions come from humans; record AI suggestions and decisions.
• Protect sensitive content: enforce security, ensuring models, data, prompts and logs stay in approved environments.
• Shape cloud-native architecture: design scalable AWS-based architectures (microservices, serverless, containers) with IaC.
• Drive observability: implement observability for performance, reliability and AI output quality.
• Integrate with our enterprise platforms: design solutions that integrate with event-driven exam processing, content management and item banking systems.
• Build web-app solutions: develop responsive web applications to help examiners work faster and with better UX.
• Lead automation and CI/CD: drive CI/CD and automation, promote agile practices.
• Mentor and collaborate: guide engineers and collaborate with PMs and platform owners to keep components consistent.
• Facilitate stakeholder engagement: translate AI capabilities to non-technical stakeholders and build consensus.

Job description

Job Title: Technical Lead – AI & Software Engineering

Salary: £53,100 - £70,950

Location: Cambridge, UK - Hybrid (at least 2-3 days per week in the office)

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week

We are recruiting a Tech Lead for each of two projects. Each Tech Lead will work within a POD led by the Technical Product Manager for their project, reporting to the Solutions Lead.

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

About The Role

We're seeking a hands-on Tech Lead with strong leadership and collaboration skills to lead delivery of AI-enabled solutions that transform how assessments are created and marked. Your solutions will depend on privately hosted language models, and you'll ensure they are secure, reliable, auditable and grounded in approved assessment content, working within the enterprise direction set by the Solution Lead.

In this role, you will not only lead and mentor a small cross-functional squad, but also remain deeply involved in the technical delivery—applying your expertise directly to architect, code, and implement solutions. You will set technical standards, write and review code, and solve complex challenges alongside your team, taking a first release from idea to live use by assessment experts and examiners. Throughout, you'll work closely with those experts, who remain in control of every decision that affects a candidate. We are looking for someone who leads by example, demonstrates recent hands-on experience of building products with language models, and is passionate about both technical excellence and team development.

• Content Creation: AI-assisted solutions that help to transform the authoring and quality assurance of assessment content, including question papers and mark schemes.
• Marking and Core Operations: AI-assisted tools that support examiners in reading handwritten scripts and marking consistently, with examiners making every decision.

Additional responsibilities and accountabilities include:

• Deliver AI-Enabled Solutions: Build end-to-end products that use securely hosted language models, from data and retrieval through to user interfaces and integration with existing assessment systems, while communicating design rationale to diverse stakeholders for buy-in and feedback.
• Ground and Validate Outputs: Use retrieval over approved assessment content, structured outputs and rule-based validation so that results are accurate, traceable and consistent with syllabus requirements, working with assessment experts owners to agree what “correct” looks like.
• Measure Quality: Build evaluation sets and quality gates alongside assessment experts, using them to select and compare models and to show each release is fit for use, fostering a team culture of shared accountability and continuous improvement.
• Keep Experts in Control: Design review workflows with examiners and assessment experts so they make every final decision, with every AI suggestion and human decision recorded for audit.
• Protect Sensitive Content: Champion secure practices aligned with industry standards, ensuring models, data, prompts and logs stay within approved secure environments, and influencing stakeholders to prioritise security in decision‑making.
• Shape Cloud‑Native Architecture: Design scalable, resilient architectures on AWS using approaches like microservices, serverless, containerisation and GPU‑based model hosting, using Infrastructure as Code for cost‑effective, repeatable deployments.
• Drive Observability: Implement robust observability covering system performance, reliability and the quality of AI outputs, so issues are found and resolved proactively.
• Integrate with our Enterprise Platforms: Design solutions that integrate with our event‑driven exam processing platform and with content management and item banking systems, collaborating with cross‑functional groups to keep solutions decoupled and scalable Build Web‑App Solutions: Develop responsive, high-performance web applications that make assessment experts and examiners faster and more confident, adapting to user feedback and business priorities through iterative collaboration.
• Lead Automation and CI/CD: Drive automation through CI/CD pipelines to accelerate delivery and minimise technical debt, promoting agile ways of working that encourage team input and adaptability.
• Mentor and Collaborate: Guide engineers, foster a culture of learning and inclusivity, and collaborate with Technical Product Manager for their project , the other project team, platform and schema owners, and the Solution Lead so that shared components and formats stay consistent.
• Facilitate Stakeholder Engagement: Act as a key liaison in stakeholder groups, translating technical concepts including what AI can and cannot reliably do into actionable insights, resolving conflicts, and building consensus to ensure project success.

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face‑to‑face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long‑term health condition.

About You

As a hands‑on Tech Lead, you'll bring broad expertise in cloud‑native architecture and in building products that depend on language models, coupled with exceptional soft skills to thrive in collaborative environments. Your experience includes taking AI-enabled solutions into production, with a realistic understanding of their strengths, limitations and failure modes, and a focus on horizontal skills like problem‑solving, adaptable design thinking, and leading through influence. You excel in agile, cross‑functional teams, where your ability to communicate effectively, mentor diverse groups, and work alongside domain experts is as critical as your technical acumen. You will be expected to apply your technical skills directly—writing code, architecting systems, and solving complex technical challenges alongside your team.

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

• Leadership and Mentoring: Proven track record of guiding teams, fostering collaboration, and promoting a growth mindset to unlock team potential.
• Communication and Stakeholder Management: Skilled at articulating complex technical ideas to non‑technical audiences, setting realistic expectations about AI, facilitating workshops, and building relationships to align on shared goals.
• Working with Domain Experts: Comfortable treating assessment experts and examiners as the owners of quality, turning their judgement into clear acceptance criteria and evaluation measures.
• Adaptability and Collaboration: Thrive in dynamic settings, adapting to evolving priorities and a fast‑moving AI landscape while collaborating across functions to drive innovation and resolve challenges.
• Problem‑Solving and Resilience: Approach issues with a holistic, user‑centred mindset, balancing technical feasibility with business impact.

On the technical side, you'll have hands‑on experience of building products with large language models, including retrieval over domain documents, structured or schema‑constrained outputs, evaluating output quality against expert judgement, and running models in private or self‑hosted cloud environments. You'll also bring proficiency in areas like microservices, serverless, containerisation, and building web applications, with experience in observability, security standards, Infrastructure as Code, and CI/CD practices. We value transferable skills over specific tool expertise, as technical depth can be developed through our supportive learning environment; practical experience of taking language‑model‑based products into production, however, is essential. Ideally, you'll also bring experience of knowledge graphs or ontologies, fine‑tuning techniques, vision‑language models or handwriting recognition and a background in assessment, education or other regulated, high‑stakes environments. An interest in event‑driven architecture (EDA) and Domain‑Driven Design (DDD) is a plus.

For a detailed job description, please refer to the link at the bottom of the advert on our careers site.

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long‑term health condition, and who best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long‑term health condition.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

Rewards And Benefits

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world‑class, flexible rewards package, featuring family‑friendly and planet‑friendly benefits including:

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Group personal pension scheme
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
• Green travel schemes

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be 23 November 2026.

We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place from theweek commencing 30 November 2026.

If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect:

• First stage and final stage virtual interviews via MS Teams.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long‑term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form.

We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.