Senior Lead Agentic AI Engineer – Construction & Engineering

Senior Lead Agentic AI Engineer – Construction & Engineering

Full-Time 72000 - 88000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
IFS

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead a team to design and build AI-driven software for construction and engineering.
  • Company: Join IFS, a billion-dollar tech company with a global impact.
  • Benefits: Flexible work options, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Inclusive culture that values diversity and fosters innovation.
  • Why this job: Make a real difference in the world with cutting-edge AI technology.
  • Qualifications: Strong engineering skills, leadership experience, and fluency in AI tools.

The predicted salary is between 72000 - 88000 £ per year.

IFS is a billion-dollar revenue company with 7000+ employees on all continents. Our leading AI technology is the backbone of our award-winning enterprise software solutions, enabling our customers to be their best when it really matters - at the Moment of Service™. Our commitment to internal AI adoption has allowed us to stay at the forefront of technological advancements, ensuring our colleagues can unlock their creativity and productivity, and our solutions are always cutting-edge.

At IFS, we’re flexible, we’re innovative, and we’re focused not only on how we can engage with our customers but on how we can make a real change and have a worldwide impact. We help solve some of society’s greatest challenges, fostering a better future through our agility, collaboration, and trust. We celebrate diversity and understand our responsibility to reflect the diverse world we work in. We are committed to promoting an inclusive workforce that fully represents the many different cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints of our customers, our partners, and our communities.

As a truly international company serving people from around the globe, we realise that our success is tantamount to the respect we have for those different points of view. By joining our team, you will have the opportunity to be part of a global, diverse environment; you will be joining a winning team with a commitment to sustainability; and a company where we get things done so that you can make a positive impact on the world.

We’re looking for innovative and original thinkers to work in an environment where you can #MakeYourMoment so that we can help others make theirs. With the power of our AI-driven solutions, we empower our team to change the status quo and make a real difference. If you want to change the status quo, we’ll help you make your moment. Join Team Purple. Join IFS.

We're rebuilding how IFS ships software around autonomous, AI-native teams, and we're looking for someone to lead one. You'll write production code following agentic engineering principles, own it in production, and set the bar for a small team of engineers who do the same. The software you'll build runs the real world. It's the workforce management & planning, project delivery and scheduling systems that construction and engineering companies use to run major programs. The people using it are planners, schedulers, project managers and site teams whose decisions carry real cost and real risk. When your code is right, their projects land. That's the feedback loop, and it's a good one.

What makes this different? We treat AI-assisted development as a core capability, not a novelty. Claude Code and Cursor are part of the daily workflow here, not something on a 'tools we're evaluating' slide. We build agentic and LLM-backed features into the product, using RAG, agentic architectures, evaluation harnesses and context engineering, where they solve a real customer problem rather than chase a trend. If you've already changed how much you can ship and how fast because of the way you work with these tools, you'll be in good company.

We work in a forward-deployed way. You'll get into real customer environments, and shape the technical decisions, rather than working from a requirements document written by someone who's never been on site. Your goal will be to use these opportunities to bring customers the most value. And you'll own the whole thing: design, build, test, deploy and run. Modern general-purpose languages, full stack, on a cloud-native platform with Kubernetes, CI/CD, IaC/GitOps and observability. Quality and security are built in as you go, not bolted on by a downstream gate.

What you’ll do:

  • Lead a small, autonomous team by setting technical direction, driving delivery and quality, and growing the engineers around you.
  • Design and ship full-lifecycle features across front-end and back-end.
  • Build and consume the APIs and event-driven services that connect workforce, project, scheduling and financial data across IFS Cloud and customer systems.
  • Make performance and scalability decisions that hold under load.
  • Get into customer environments, test your assumptions against reality, and bring that evidence back into the build.
  • Document the why, not just the what, and help raise the practice of everyone you work alongside.

Qualifications:

A strong engineer who genuinely enjoys leading people and wants to stay close to the code while doing it. You take ownership without being asked, make progress when the brief is half-formed, and would rather ship and iterate than wait for perfect. You have depth in at least one area, whether that's front-end, back-end, data, quality, security, platform or applied AI, and the range to work across the stack. You’ve led or mentored engineers, and people tend to get better for having worked with you. You reason from the customer and commercial outcome as much as the technical one. And you’re genuinely fluent with AI tools and agentic patterns in real engineering work, not just familiar with them.

Nice to have:

  • A degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a related field, or the equivalent proof in what you’ve built.
  • Experience shipping AI-backed features such as LLM integration, RAG or agentic patterns.
  • Experience with enterprise, ERP or project-based software, or exposure to construction, engineering or other field-heavy industries.
  • Experience of agile delivery with globally distributed teams and leading them.

We embrace flexibility and hybrid work opportunities to support diverse needs and lifestyles, while also valuing inclusive workplace experiences. By fostering a sense of community, we drive innovation, strengthen connections, and nurture belonging. Our commitment ensures you can work in a way that suits you best, while also engaging with colleagues to share ideas and build meaningful relationships.

Senior Lead Agentic AI Engineer – Construction & Engineering employer: IFS

IFS is an exceptional employer that fosters a dynamic work culture where innovation thrives. With a focus on employee growth, we offer extensive opportunities for professional development and a competitive salary package, including flexible paid time off and comprehensive health insurance. Join us in a collaborative environment where your contributions directly impact enterprise customers and the future of AI solutions.

IFS

Contact Details:

IFS Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Senior Lead Agentic AI Engineer – Construction & Engineering

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 IFS 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 IFS.

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 IFS.

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 IFS 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 Senior Lead Agentic AI Engineer – Construction & Engineering

AI Tools Proficiency
Agentic Engineering Principles
Full-Stack Development
API Development
Event-Driven Services
Cloud-Native Platforms
Kubernetes

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 IFS.

Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at IFS 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 IFS

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 IFS 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.