AI Software Engineering Lead - Hands-On, Cloud-native

GCS Recruitment; Cork; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

GCS Recruitment's Cork-based client is seeking a hands-on Software Engineering Lead to steer the AI engineering function. The role blends technical leadership with coding, PoCs, and architectural validation in a fast-growing industrial tech environment.

You will design cloud-native, container-first services, mentor engineers, and help hire the team while raising engineering bar across the group. Strong Python, REST, Kubernetes, and cloud experience are essential.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Proven technical leadership with design direction and mentoring.
• Strong Python skills: OOP, typing, async, FastAPI.
• Experience building REST APIs and service integrations.
• Cloud experience on at least one hyperscaler (Azure preferred), plus container expertise.
• Kubernetes experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and modern DevOps.
• Strong testing discipline (PyTest) and code reviews.
• Understanding of AuthN/AuthZ (OpenID/OAuth2).

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical direction of a high-impact AI engineering team, staying hands-on
• Design and deliver cloud-native, container-first services built to scale
• Take AI-enabled capabilities from early exploration through to secure, production deployments
• Write high-quality Python code and define the engineering bar for maintainability and testing
• Drive good engineering practices across CI/CD, containerisation, Kubernetes, and cloud operations
• Play a central role in hiring and building the team
• Mentor and coach engineers through reviews, pairing, and technical feedback

Skills

Python

REST APIs

Kubernetes

Cloud (Azure)

CI/CD

FastAPI

OpenID/OAuth2

Leadership

Tools

Azure

Docker

Kubernetes

FastAPI

Job description

GCS Recruitment's Cork-based client is seeking a hands-on Software Engineering Lead to steer the AI engineering function. The role blends technical leadership with coding, PoCs, and architectural validation in a fast-growing industrial tech environment.

You will design cloud-native, container-first services, mentor engineers, and help hire the team while raising engineering bar across the group. Strong Python, REST, Kubernetes, and cloud experience are essential.