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Lead AI Engineer – Shape the Future of Responsible AI at Kainos
Join Kainos and our 150-strong AI and Data Practice, where we deliver cutting-edge, production-grade AI solutions with a decade of industry leadership across government, healthcare, defence, and commercial sectors. As one of the UK’s top AI and data businesses, we’re pioneering ethical, scalable AI—from responsible frameworks to trusted, business-impactful systems. Be part of a team pushing boundaries in generative AI, agentic AI, machine learning and AIOps.
We create real impact. Here, you’ll architect AI solutions, collaborate with visionary clients, and drive innovation with technology leaders like Microsoft and AWS.
About the Role
Are you ready to shape the future of AI? As a Lead AI Engineer, you’ll combine technical expertise with strategic vision to deliver AI solutions that are scalable, ethical and transformative.
Main Purpose & Key Responsibilities
You will:
- Design and build production-grade AI systems, leveraging generative AI, agentic AI, machine learning and AIOps best practices
- Lead responsible AI implementation, ensuring compliance with ethical, secure, and explainable AI principles
- Collaborate with clients to translate complex business challenges into robust AI solutions
- Act as a technical mentor, coaching junior engineers and fostering a culture of innovation
- Manage team performance, driving career development and fostering growth
- Drive the adoption of scalable, cloud-native (Azure & AWS) architectures, including CI/CD, Kubernetes and Docker
Responsibilities by Area
Technical Leadership
- Architect high-performance AI models with measurable business outcomes
- Guide development of ** machine learning pipelines** for production-grade deployment
- Optimise prompt engineering, RAG, model evaluation, and monitoring (e.g., precision, recall, drift detection)
- Secure and scale AI workflows across large-scale, multimodal data systems
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Responsible AI & Innovation
- Ensure ethical AI practices—balancing innovation with transparency and impact
- Contribute to AI research and open-source perspectives, where possible
- Establish AI compliance benchmarks and advocate for best practices
Team Management & Growth
- Coach and develop junior AI engineers, embedding best practices and professional development
- Foster a collaborative, learning-centred culture
- Provide a supportive, ambiguous-tolerant environment to encourage problem-solving and growth
Minimum Requirements (Essential)
- A 2.1 degree in Computer Science, AI, Data Science, Statistics or a quantitative field
- Proven experience deploying modern AI/ML solutions in production, including:
- Prompt engineering, RAG, model evaluation, and detection of performance drift
- Metrics mastery: precision, recall, NDCG, and monitoring strategies
- Proficiency in Python, with solid software engineering discipline (CI/CD, unit testing, code reviews)
- Cloud engineering expertise:
- Experience on Azure & AWS
- Containerisation & orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker)
- Data engineering for AI:
- Handling large-scale, unstructured, and multimodal data
- Responsible AI understanding:
- Model interpretability & ethical AI principles
- Strong communication & Stakeholder Engagement:
- Experience translating technical complexities into non-technical directives for clients/teams
- Leadership in team development:
- Proven track record of managing, coaching, mentoring junior team members
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Desirable (but not essential)
- Experience with modern deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow)
- Fine-tuning/LLM optimisation (GPT, Llama, Claude, Gemini)
- ML libraries: Mastery of (scikit-learn, XGBoost)
- Vector databases & knowledge graphs (Semantic search)
- AI infrastructure experience: Secure data stores, compliance with ISO42001
- Open-source contributions or published AI research
Why Kainos?
A People-First Culture
- Flexible & supportive: We balance demand with empathy
- Learning mindset: Invest in upskilling your skills and career trajectory
- Diverse, inclusive team: Everyone’s voice shapes our future
Impact That Matters
- Work on high-stakes AI projects that change industries
- Collaborate with visionary teams (from government to tech giants)
- Trust us—partnering with leaders like Microsoft and AWS
Embracing Our Differences
We believe in a world-embracing workplace. You are invited—whatever your background or identity—and we’ll support you throughout:
- Accommodations for inclusivity: Need adjustments? Reach out—we craft your path.
- Level playing field: Your potential is what matters.
So, are you ready to shape AI’s future with us?
Join Kainos and ensure that AI does the right thing—for people and society.
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