The AI Bridge
Product Engineer (Grad or School Leaver)
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Product Engineer, Grad or School Leaver
Full time | UK based | Manchester / North West preferred | £28,000 to £32,000 + discretionary bonus
I’m hiring a Product Engineer to join The AI Bridge full time.
We build AI systems, internal tools, automations and digital infrastructure for UK businesses. The goal is simple: remove manual work, replace broken processes and build software that makes businesses run better.
This is not a traditional graduate role.
You won’t be sitting three layers deep in a large company being handed small, low-risk tasks. You’ll be working on real client projects, shipping things into production, speaking directly with the people using them and taking ownership quickly.
If you want to spend your first couple of years slowly working through a graduate scheme, this probably is not the right role.
If you want to be building things people actually use within your first month, I’d like to hear from you.
What the work looks like
The work varies considerably depending on the client and the problem.
You might be building:
- Internal business tools
- Workflow automations
- AI-powered systems and agents
- Dashboards and operational platforms
- Integrations between existing systems
- Data processing and reconciliation workflows
- Larger digital transformation projects
You’ll often be taking a messy real-world business problem and working out how technology can solve it.
That means the brief will sometimes change halfway through a build.
That is normal.
Real businesses do not always know exactly what they need at the start of a project, and sometimes the best solution only becomes obvious once you start building.
I’m looking for someone who enjoys that environment rather than finding it frustrating.
How we work
AI is a core part of how we build.
I expect you to be a heavy user of AI coding agents and assistants such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or whatever tool is best suited to the problem.
I am not interested in measuring how much code you personally type.
I care about whether you can:
- Understand the problem
- Work out a sensible solution
- Use AI tools effectively
- Spot when the AI is wrong
- Test your work properly
- Communicate clearly
- Ship something reliable
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What matters is whether the thing works when the client opens it on Monday morning.
What I’m looking for
You do not need years of professional experience.
I’m much more interested in evidence of ability, curiosity and how quickly you learn.
Ideally, you:
- Already use AI coding agents heavily to build things
- Have built and shipped projects that other people can actually use
- Can show me things you have made
- Have a strong eye for detail
- Check your work properly before calling something finished
- Are comfortable figuring things out independently
- Are comfortable when requirements change
- Can explain technical ideas to non-technical people
- Are commercially minded and care about the business outcome, not just the technical solution
That last point matters.
The best technical solution is not always the best business solution.
I want someone who thinks about whether what they are building actually saves time, makes money, reduces risk or solves a meaningful problem.
What counts as experience?
You do not need to have worked as a professional software engineer.
Relevant experience could include:
- Personal projects
- Freelance work
- Things you built at university
- Things you built while still at school
- Internal tools you created for your own work
- Automations you built for someone else
- Products you launched yourself
- Client work
- Open-source projects
If you built something useful and got it working in the real world, I want to see it.
Nice to have
It would be useful if you have:
- Delivered something into production for a client or employer
- Automated part of your own work or someone else’s
- Worked with APIs, databases or business systems
- Built web applications
- Had to explain technical work to a non-technical person
- Worked directly with clients or customers
- Naturally spotted inefficient processes and thought about how they could be improved
None of these are hard requirements.
What’s in it for you
This role will suit someone who wants responsibility and a steep learning curve.
You’ll get:
- Real ownership of projects
- You will not just be picking up minor tickets. As you develop, you will own significant parts of client projects.
- A client-facing role
- You will work directly with the businesses using what you build and see the impact of your work.
- Direct access to the founder
- You will work closely with me across projects, client conversations, product decisions and the wider business.
- A very fast learning curve
- You will gain exposure across AI, software engineering, product, automation, consulting and business operations.
- Variety
- You will work across different businesses and industries rather than spending years maintaining one narrow system.
- The chance to join early
- The AI Bridge is still an early-stage company. You will be joining as one of the first employees and will have the opportunity to grow with the business.
- Room for your role to grow
- As the company grows, there is significant scope for the right person to take on more responsibility, own larger projects and help shape how we build and deliver work.
- Access to the tools you need
- We will provide the AI and development tools you need to work effectively.
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The details
- Full time
- UK based
- Manchester and the North West preferred
- Primarily remote
- Occasional in-person working
- £28,000 to £32,000 depending on experience
- Discretionary bonus
- Graduates and school leavers both welcome
How to apply
Please do not send me a CV.
Instead, send me a link to a page you have built explaining why you are suited to the role.
Host it wherever you like.
Build it however you like.
Use whatever tools you like.
Show me:
- What you have built
- How you think
- How you approach problems
- Why you think you would be good at this role
The page itself is the first part of the assessment.
I am deliberately doing it this way because I would much rather see what you can create than read a list of qualifications.
Shortlisted candidates will then receive a short, paid build brief so I can see how you actually work rather than how well you interview.
I’m interested in what you can build, not where you studied.
Apply at https://www.theaibridge.co.uk/careers/product-engineer
No recruiters or agencies, please. Direct applicants only.
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