Technical Lead-AI

Role

Technical Lead - AI responsible for architecting, building and optimising production-grade Generative AI and agentic applications. This is an individual-contributor leadership role focused on defining standards for quality, scalability and innovation across AI initiatives and delivering production-ready solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect and implement generative AI and agentic systems using orchestration frameworks and LLMs
• Design and implement Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines with vector databases
• Implement guardrails, observability, model fine-tuning and training for domain-specific use cases
• Build multi-modal workflows (text, image, voice, video) and robust prompt/context engineering frameworks
• Develop supporting microservices and modular backends (Python, JavaScript, Java) following DDD, SOLID and clean architecture
• Deploy cloud-native solutions on AWS/GCP/Azure using containerisation (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes) or serverless approaches
• Work with event-driven systems (Kafka/MSK, SQS) and a variety of database types (relational, document, key-value, graph)
• Use AI-assisted development tools to accelerate development while maintaining code quality and structured workflows
• Build POCs, internal research experiments and innovation sprints to validate emerging AI techniques

Requirements

• 2–5 years total software development experience, with at least 2 years in AI/ML systems engineering or Generative AI
• Demonstrable experience building and deploying GenAI/LLM systems in production
• Active user of AI-assisted development tools (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor) and experience with structured workflows/sub-agents
• Deep understanding of LLMs, context engineering, prompt construction and optimisation for accuracy, latency and cost
• Experience with Python or JavaScript (or Java), OOP, SOLID principles, 12-factor apps and scalable microservice architecture
• End-to-end experience with vector databases and retrieval pipelines
• Ability to balance rapid prototyping with long-term maintainability and to work independently while collaborating across teams
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related technical discipline

Location & Type

• Bristol, Hybrid
• Full-time

What We Offer

• People-first culture with supportive peers and open communication
• Opportunities for learning, leadership and career development
• Work–life balance and respect for personal time
• Competitive compensation that recognises contribution and potential