At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead AI strategy and engineering practices while owning the AI platform infrastructure.
- Company: Acorn Insurance, a forward-thinking company in Liverpool with a focus on AI innovation.
- Benefits: Up to 35 days holiday, mental health support, flexible working, and career growth opportunities.
- Other info: Join a collaborative team with excellent mentorship and career development prospects.
- Why this job: Shape the future of AI at Acorn and make a real impact in a dynamic environment.
- Qualifications: Strong engineering background in software, AI, or ML with a focus on reliability.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
Acorn Insurance is hiring a Lead AI Engineer. A senior individual contributor role responsible for the engineering practice, platform and infrastructure underpinning our AI Services function. You will help drive the AI strategy at Acorn, push our technical direction and platform decisions, and bring strong software engineering discipline to how AI gets built.
Salary: up to £60,000 depending on experience
Working hours: 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday
Location: Liverpool City Centre on a hybrid working basis
What you’ll be doing:
- Help lead AI strategy at Acorn alongside the Head of AI Services: shape direction, roadmap and the engineering vision for the function.
- Own a substantial share of the AI platform infrastructure: Azure, AKS, Terraform, Helm, Azure Pipelines. Lead its evolution, reliability and operational health.
- Lead engineering practice across AI Services: code review, testing, source control hygiene, deployment patterns, observability.
- Set and uphold observability, performance and governance standards for AI solutions across the business: DPIAs, model documentation, audit trails, evaluation harnesses.
- Integrate APIs cleanly: REST and webhook patterns, OpenAPI, authentication, retry / backoff, contract testing.
- Partner with the Conversational AI workstream to integrate internal APIs with Chat and Voice tooling (Boost.ai, ElevenLabs, comparable platforms).
- Lead evaluation of new platforms, frameworks and AI tooling; drive adoption decisions for the function.
- Act as technical escalation point for AI engineers across the wider function.
- Run cross-team forums to share patterns, new tooling and engineering practice.
- Lead expansion of AI capability into new business domains as the AI estate grows.
- Provide technical direction and mentorship to engineers across teams; raise the engineering bar.
- Operate within a regulated AI governance model: DPIAs, model documentation, observability, human‑in‑the‑loop where appropriate.
This is the technical seat in the AI function with the Group AI Team. You will support by owning the platform, setting the bar for engineering practice, and shaping how AI scales at Acorn across new domains and use cases.
What we’re looking for:
- Strong production engineering track record – software, AI or ML at scale, in environments where reliability matters.
- Real software development practice, not just AI tinkering.
- Working knowledge of LLM application patterns: RAG, structured extraction, evals, prompt and context engineering, agentic workflows.
- Comfort integrating APIs cleanly – REST / webhook, OpenAPI, authentication patterns, retry / backoff, contract testing.
- You understand how production integrations actually fail.
- Conversational AI awareness – familiarity with Boost.ai, ElevenLabs or comparable voice / chat platforms, and how to wire them up to internal systems sensibly.
- DevOps fluency: Azure (essential), AKS, Helm, Terraform, Azure Pipelines strongly preferred.
- Comfortable across the whole stack rather than purely application‑layer.
- Track record of putting observability, governance and audit story in place at scale.
- Awareness of the constraints of regulated environments: data residency, auditability, ZDR, model risk – design with them in mind from the start.
- Track record of mentoring engineers across teams and shaping engineering culture.
- Comfortable making and defending architecture / tooling calls; comfortable being challenged.
- Senior enough to operate as a credible technical co‑owner of the AI platform alongside the Head of AI Services.
Benefits:
- A maximum of 35 days’ holiday (depending on role and tenure) including bank holidays, with additional buy/sell options.
- 24/7 mental health support & free counselling available.
- Grow with us: Through career fairs, leadership programmes, and learning on the go!
- Flexible benefits, including early access to salary via our internal platform.
- Hybrid working options to support work‑life balance and individual needs.
- Recognition awards, social events & more.
Lead AI Engineer in Liverpool employer: Acorn Group
Acorn Insurance is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work environment in the heart of Liverpool City Centre. With a strong focus on employee growth through leadership programmes and flexible working options, we prioritise work-life balance while fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration in our AI Services function. Join us to shape the future of AI, backed by comprehensive benefits including generous holiday allowances and 24/7 mental health support.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead AI Engineer in Liverpool
✨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 Acorn Group 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 Acorn Group.
✨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 Acorn Group.
✨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 Acorn Group 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 Engineer in Liverpool
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 Acorn Group.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Acorn Group 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 Acorn Group
✨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 Acorn Group 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.
