Ocho
Principal AI Engineer (Forward Deployed)
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Principal AI Engineer (Forward Deployed)
At-a-Glance
- Principal-level individual contributor role embedded directly with customers
- Building AI capability against live operational problems, at pace
- Python, large language models, agentic workflows, data integration
- Set the technical standard for how AI gets deployed across every customer
- Share options and an unusually short distance between idea and impact
About the Company
My client is a UK technology company building an AI operating and orchestration layer that puts intelligent systems to work inside large, complex organisations where accuracy and accountability really matter. The platform is already live and in daily operational use with major customers. The engineering group is small, senior and unusually fast moving, with AI tooling built into how the team genuinely works rather than bolted on afterwards.
The Role
This is a forward deployed role in the truest sense. You go to where the problem is, work alongside the people who have it, and build against it in days rather than quarters. At principal level you are also the technical authority for how that work gets done, setting the patterns, calling the hard architectural questions, and lifting the engineers around you. It suits a very experienced engineer who wants real influence without moving into people management, and who is motivated by problems that matter rather than problems that scale neatly.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Key Responsibilities
- Embed with customer teams to understand operational problems first hand
- Build working AI solutions rapidly against real data and real constraints
- Set the technical approach and architectural patterns used across deployments
- Own the hardest problems, the ones nobody else has managed to crack
- Design and tune retrieval, prompting and agent behaviour for demanding use cases
- Establish the standard for how output quality is validated before it is relied upon
- Convert successful deployments into repeatable product capability
- Mentor senior engineers and act as the technical voice with senior customer stakeholders
What You'll Need
Essential:
- 8+ years building software or AI systems in production
- Deep Python expertise and substantial hands-on large language model experience
- Track record of shipping quickly in ambiguous, under-specified situations
- Experience setting technical direction that other engineers then follow
- Confident working directly with customers, including in operational settings
- Eligible for UK security clearance
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Desirable / Nice to Have:
- Previous forward deployed, field engineering or embedded consulting experience
- Background delivering into a heavily regulated or operationally critical domain
- Open source contribution, patents or published technical work
Why Apply?
- The shortest possible distance between a real problem and a working solution
- Genuine principal-level scope, not a senior role with a better title
- Share options as part of the package
- Almost no bureaucracy between you and shipping
- Flexible working pattern
- Direct line to founders and senior leadership
- Shape how an entire engineering function operates while it is still being built
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London