Senior Applied AI Engineer

Reference:

Job ID:

Posted:

Closing date:

Location: London

Salary: 100,000 - 110,000 + Bonus (per annum)

Job type: Permanent

Working pattern: Full time

Industry: Banking & Financial Services / Intelligent Automation

Company: Hays

Consultant: Oliver Wood

Hays office: London-City — 5th Floor, 107 Cheapside,

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Your new company

You will join an Investment Management firm developing the next stage of its portfolio technology platform. The business is looking to add a new AI layer and wants an engineer who can turn that ambition into a secure, dependable capability used by the wider team. You will join an existing operation and work closely with colleagues across the product and technical delivery.

Your new role

This is a hands-on position spanning AI application development, backend engineering, data integration and production delivery. You will:

• Design, build and deliver the backend services and APIs that support the new AI layer.

• Develop controlled integrations with internal data and agreed external information sources, ensuring outputs are current and traceable.

• Work with a Frontend Engineer to connect the AI capability to the user interface and agree delivery priorities.

• Build appropriate security controls, including permissions, audit logging and safeguards for sensitive data.

• Establish automated tests and AI evaluations, then monitor accuracy, reliability, latency and cost once the capability is live.

• Release iteratively, using feedback from users to improve the product and documenting the systems you build.

What you'll need to succeed

You will bring strong software-engineering judgement alongside practical experience of building AI systems. We are particularly interested in:

• Around five or more years’ relevant experience in software, machine learning or data engineering, with clear examples of taking applications beyond proof of concept and into production.

• Strong Python skills and experience developing backend services, APIs and data pipelines; SQL experience would be valuable.

• Hands-on experience with LLM applications, including areas such as agent workflows, tool use, retrieval or RAG, and connecting models to trusted data.

• Experience deploying and operating applications on a major cloud platform, with a sound approach to CI/CD, automated testing and monitoring.

• An understanding of AI evaluation, access controls, data protection and auditability when working with sensitive information.

• The ability to make pragmatic architectural decisions, collaborate with other engineers and explain technical trade-offs to stakeholders.

• Experience in investment management, wealth management, fintech or another data-sensitive environment would be advantageous, but demonstrable production AI delivery is the priority.
  

What you'll get in return

• Competitive bonus package (sign on and yearly)

• Pension scheme

• Annual leave

• Hybrid working arrangements

• Additional benefits in line with company policy

What you need to do now

If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.

If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.