Applied AI Engineer - Senior to Principal in London

About the Incubator for AI (i.AI) The Incubator for AI (i.AI) is a high-agency technical unit within the UK government. Our mission is to pioneer transformative applications of AI to build a better Britain. We operate under three core principles:

• Talent: We bring together the UK’s best AI talent across a range of functions. You will work alongside exceptional researchers and top government leaders, staying at the cutting edge of technology.
• Innovation: We set precedents for what is possible in government. We combine the pace of a start-up with the influence of being at the digital centre of government. You will test new ideas, expand what is possible, and leverage unique government data to create novel solutions.
• Impact: We are dedicated to using AI as a tool for public good - this can mean improving outcomes in schools, boosting housebuilding or providing more personalised support for those in need. With the backing of the Prime Minister, you will turn technical breakthroughs into real-world applications that affect millions of citizens.

About the role We are looking for Applied AI Engineers of all experience levels to join the Incubator for AI (i.AI). You will operate at the frontier of the industry, building products that leverage state-of-the-art methods to solve real-world problems for the public sector. You’ll be working on:

• Experimentation & Prototyping: Rapidly prototype AI solutions to test hypotheses, explore trade-offs, and de-risk new ideas. This involves designing and developing products that leverage the latest models.
• Model Development & Evaluation: Train, scaffold and adapt models in applied settings using rigorous evaluation methodologies. Define and implement metrics that capture real-world performance, including accuracy, robustness, latency, cost, and fairness.
• Applied AI Research & Iteration: Staying up to date with recent advances in AI, and assessing their applicability to real-world products. Iterate on models and approaches based on experimental results, user feedback, and production observations.
• Product-focused development: Translate ambiguous product and government problems into well-defined AI tasks. Work closely with Product Managers to translate product requirements into technical architectures and implement them. Select appropriate modelling approaches (e.g., classical ML, deep learning, foundation models, prompting, fine-tuning) based on data, constraints, and desired outcomes.

Our stack: Python, Typescript, Javascript Infra: AWS, with access to GCP and Azure services. Access to all of the latest models. We make extensive use of frameworks to assist building and evaluation like LiteLLM, Langgraph, Langchain, DSPy, Langfuse, Inspect.

Who are we looking for? We are looking to hire at all levels of experience and have multiple roles available. You may be a good fit if you have some of the following skills, experience and attitudes:

• Proven experience in rapidly developing and shipping AI products or models in fast-paced environments.
• Experience building benchmarks and datasets to train/evaluate AI systems or agents in production settings.
• Experience with AI infrastructure (e.g., model deployment, optimization, data processing) and cloud computing platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Hands-on experience with a range of AI concepts, such as LLMs, VLMs, RAG, Agents, MCP, computer vision, GraphML, recommendation systems or reinforcement learning.
• Familiarity with machine learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow etc).
• Strong proficiency in software development (Python preferred) and strong understanding of data structures and algorithms.
• Engineering excellence - writing high-quality, maintainable code.
• Track record of contributing to open source projects or publishing research.
• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or related field or equivalent industry experience.
• Ability to work in agile, user-centred environments.
• An entrepreneurial mindset and an ability to navigate ambiguity and create clarity from an undefined problem space.

Experienced Candidates For candidates applying to more senior positions, we expect to see:

• Experience working at the frontier: Deep, hands-on expertise in a specific area of AI at a frontier lab or similar leading organisation that can enable significant product advantage.
• Technical Ownership: Proven ability to design, build, and own the development of complex, production-grade AI systems from concept to launch, demonstrating mastery of system-level trade-offs.
• Technical Mentorship: Track record of mentoring more junior engineers and cultivating best practices in AI Engineering, MLOps and software engineering.
• Problem Definition: Exceptional ability to identify high-value opportunities and translate them into clear, technically feasible plans, securing buy-in from technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Cross-Functional Influence: Experience working with senior leadership across product, policy, and research teams.
• Risk & Ethics: Demonstrated ability to proactively identify, mitigate, and clearly articulate the technical, ethical, and safety risks associated with deploying frontier AI models in sensitive environments.

We recognise that great talent comes from diverse backgrounds. Even if you don’t meet every quality listed, we encourage you to apply if you have the core technical skills and a passion for our mission. The roles we are offering will be open on a rolling basis and will close once all positions have been filled.

What we offer:

• Career-defining projects with outsized impact.
• Backing from the Prime Minister and No10 to scope and build transformative AI projects.
• Unique opportunities to apply technology that could transform the public sector and impact citizens’ lives.
• Talented, supportive and mission-driven colleagues.

Resources & access:

• Access to frontier models and ample compute.
• Extensive operational, product, strategy, design and delivery support so you can focus on shipping.
• Work with experts across national security, policy, AI research and adjacent sciences.

Growth & empowerment:

• A team culture and development support that prioritises personal growth.
• Opportunities to own important products early and develop them in small empowered teams.
• 5 days off learning and development, annual stipends for learning and development and funding for conferences and external collaborations.

Life & family:

• Opportunity to work from London, Manchester or Bristol offices.
• Contract Type: Fixed-term (24 months) please feel free to ask about this.
• Hybrid working, flexibility for occasional remote work abroad and stipends for work-from-home equipment.
• Generous annual leave - 25 days plus one additional day for each year of service.
• Generous paid parental leave (up to 39 weeks full pay + option for additional unpaid time).
• On top of your salary, we contribute 28.97% of your base salary to your pension.
• Discounts and benefits for cycling to work, dental insurance, donations and retail/gyms.

Salary: Annual salary is aligned to role scope and relevant experience. Most offers land between £85,000 and £145,000 made up of a base salary plus a technical allowance (take-home salary = base + technical allowance). An additional 28.97% employer pension contribution is paid on the base salary. The full range of salaries are below:

• Level 4: £85,000- £95,000 (Base £44,195 + Technical Allowance £40,805- £50,805)
• Level 5: £105,000- £115,000 (Base £58,040 + Technical Allowance £46,960- £56,960)
• Level 6: £125,000- £135,000 (Base £71,525 + Technical Allowance £53,475- £63,475)
• Level 7: £145,000 (Base £71,525 + Technical Allowance £73,475)

Selection Process: Appointment is conditional on successfully completing UK Government SC clearance. Prior clearance is not required—we will sponsor and support you. You should normally have been resident in the UK for 2 of the past 5 years. Employment is conditional on obtaining and maintaining the required clearance(s). More detail on clearance eligibility can be found on the UK Government website: National security vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK. In accordance with the Civil Service Commission rules, the following list contains all elements of the selection process. Candidates should expect to go through some or all of the following stages once an application has been submitted:

• A short initial conversation
• Technical take home test
• Second interview in which we’ll review the technical test
• Third interview with wider representation from the team
• Final interview with members of the senior team

Diversity and Inclusion: The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. As part of the application process, we monitor statistics on D&I.