At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the development of AI-driven software solutions and modernise existing applications.
- Company: Join 8 West Consulting, a forward-thinking consultancy with a focus on innovation.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive pay, flexible work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Collaborative environment with a focus on mentorship and continuous learning.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by transforming legacy systems with cutting-edge AI technology.
- Qualifications: Experience in software engineering and familiarity with AI coding agents required.
The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.
About 8 West Consulting: 8 West Consulting provides consultancy services and software solutions to clients across the US, Europe and the UK. We work in sectors including insurance, healthcare and retail, helping organisations tackle complex technology challenges and modernise critical platforms.
The Opportunity: We are looking for a senior, hands-on software engineer who has used AI coding agents to deliver secure, production-ready software within established enterprise environments. You will help 8 West develop practical, repeatable agent-driven engineering workflows for existing applications and client projects, with a particular focus on GitHub Copilot and Microsoft technologies. This is not an AI strategy or prompt-only role. You will write and review code, build and operate agent harnesses, and ship thoroughly tested changes to real systems, including legacy and business-critical applications. You will guide developers in adopting these practices alongside live delivery commitments and within enterprise security, governance and contractual boundaries.
Key Responsibilities:
- Deliver production software. Personally design, implement, test, review and release agent-assisted changes to existing enterprise applications, not only new builds or prototypes.
- Engineer agent workflows and harnesses. Build reusable instructions, tools, context pipelines, execution loops and feedback mechanisms that help agents work reliably within enterprise repositories and engineering controls.
- Modernise brownfield applications. Adapt agent workflows to established .NET services, legacy code, databases, integrations and build pipelines; manage dependencies, regression risks and safe incremental change.
- Make quality non-negotiable. Connect agent output to unit, integration and end-to-end tests, code review, security scanning, build pipelines and clear release criteria; investigate failures yourself.
- Respect enterprise boundaries. Apply least-privilege permissions, approved tools and models, secure environments, sensitive-data controls, traceability and human approval points to agent workflows.
- Modernise delivery incrementally. Introduce practical workflows for understanding, modifying, testing and maintaining existing systems; pilot improvements without disrupting live project commitments.
- Work in the Microsoft ecosystem. Apply GitHub Copilot and other approved agentic tools to .NET, Azure, SQL and established Git repositories, integrating with Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions and existing delivery pipelines.
- Coach developers through delivery. Pair on real work, demonstrate techniques, review agent-generated changes and create concise playbooks that enable other engineers to work independently.
- Influence stakeholders. Explain opportunities, limitations, risks and technical choices clearly to developers, engineering leaders, security teams and client decision-makers.
- Demonstrate measurable value. Evaluate delivery speed, rework, escaped defects, engineering effort, reliability and cost rather than treating AI-generated code volume as success.
Essential Skills & Experience:
- Proven enterprise production delivery. Demonstrable personal experience shipping and supporting production software through agentic coding workflows, with evidence of rigorous verification, release controls and operational outcomes.
- Brownfield enterprise experience. Must have personally built and deployed AI-driven development workflows around existing production applications, not only greenfield projects. Comfortable with legacy code, incomplete documentation, complex dependencies, established tests and change controls.
- Agentic development and harness design. Hands-on experience with multi-step coding agents, planning, context engineering, reusable instructions or skills, tool integrations (including MCP where relevant), safe execution controls and feedback-driven validation.
- Strong core software engineering. Substantial experience designing, coding, debugging and maintaining complex enterprise applications and services; sound judgement on architecture, APIs, data, performance and maintainability.
- GitHub Copilot and Microsoft tooling. Practical experience with GitHub Copilot agent workflows in Visual Studio or VS Code, plus familiarity with .NET/C#, Azure, SQL Server and GitHub or Azure DevOps delivery practices.
- Engineering quality and release controls. Ability to implement automated unit, integration and end-to-end testing, CI/CD checks, peer review, security controls, deployment verification and production troubleshooting for AI-assisted changes.
- Security and governance by design. Experience working within enterprise restrictions on source code, client data, secrets, tools, networks and access; understands prompt-injection risks, IP/licensing concerns and auditable approvals.
- Pragmatic engineering transformation. Evidence of helping established enterprise teams adopt agentic practices, working through legacy constraints, resistance to change and competing delivery priorities.
- Communication and mentoring. Strong ability to teach by pairing and demonstration, communicate with technical and non-technical leaders, constructively challenge assumptions and bring developers with you.
Desirable Experience:
- Regulated industries. Insurance, healthcare, financial services or similarly controlled environments, including evidence of compliant delivery, auditability, privacy and formal change management.
- Broader agentic tooling. Experience with additional coding agents or frameworks, agent orchestration, custom agents, hooks, MCP servers, sandboxing and evaluation harnesses.
- Advanced delivery automation. Infrastructure as code, secure build environments, observability, DevSecOps, platform engineering or repeatable software delivery templates.
- AI systems and assessment. Experience evaluating agent performance with repeatable tasks, automated checks, traces and failure analysis; familiarity with LLM-enabled product features is useful.
- Consulting and technical leadership. Experience coaching engineers across multiple enterprise teams or client engagements, developing reusable practices and advising stakeholders on trade-offs.
Personal Profile:
You are a hands-on, security-conscious engineer who enjoys complex, imperfect codebases. You modernise existing systems safely, teach others by example and know when agents require human oversight. You are practical, collaborative and accountable for production quality.
What Success Looks Like:
Existing client systems benefit from secure, tested agent workflows that meet enterprise release controls. Reusable harnesses reduce repetitive work without increasing defects or risk. Developers gain practical skills, and 8 West demonstrates measurable improvement across engagements.
Lead AI-Native Software Engineer in Belfast employer: 8 West Consulting
8 West Consulting is an attractive employer due to its focus on hands-on roles that allow employees to make a direct impact on client projects. The company emphasizes modern technologies and methodologies, providing opportunities for continuous learning and skill enhancement.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead AI-Native Software Engineer in Belfast
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at 8 West Consulting or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to 8 West Consulting.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like 8 West Consulting.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like 8 West Consulting that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Lead AI-Native Software Engineer in Belfast
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at 8 West Consulting.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at 8 West Consulting and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at 8 West Consulting
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If 8 West Consulting uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
