AI Foundry Engineer: Copilot & LLM Orchestration in Bradford

AI Developer

6 Month contract initially

Based: 2-3 Days onsite in Leeds/Bradford

Rate - £Market rates p/d via Umbrella

We have a great opportunity with a world leading organisation where you will be provided with all of the support and development to succeed. A progressive organisation where you can really make a difference. We have a great opportunity for an AI Developer on a long term program of work.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, develop and maintain Copilot solutions, intelligent agents, plugins, connectors and LLM workflows (e.g., Copilot Studio).
• Build scalable components (prompt orchestration, retrieval layers, automation flows, model interfaces, validation pipelines).
• Integrate with enterprise systems/APIs/data platforms, ensuring security, resilience and architecture alignment.
• Conduct rapid prototyping to validate feasibility, model behaviour, UX and performance.
• Implement secure by design and responsible AI practices (guardrails, controls, monitoring, auditability).
• Develop/optimise RAG components, embeddings, vector queries and metadata strategies for accuracy/reliability.
• Implement observability: logging, telemetry and LLM monitoring for quality and incident triage.
• Create reusable assets (prompt libraries, agent templates, connectors, test harnesses) and documentation.
• Translate design artefacts into build ready specifications and aligned solution designs.
• Co define test strategies and model performance thresholds with the AI Test Lead.
• Contribute to cross functional design/architecture reviews and standards evolution.
• Mentor colleagues and enable pro /low /no code teams to adopt AI safely.
• Ensure responsible AI principles (e.g., transparency, explainability, ISO42001) are incorporated into all development.
• Provide insight to support business cases, investment decisions, risk assessments, and prioritisation discussions at AI governance forums.
• Collaborate with teams to ensure all AI development work is implementable, sustainable and aligned to enterprise architecture.
• Maintain a library of development artefacts, patterns and reusable assets to support repeatability and uplift maturity across the AI Foundry.
• Managing escalations supporting the wider Data & AI Leadership team.

Key Skills & Experience:

• Hands-on experience with Copilot. Ideally, candidates should have a strong background in Data Engineering or broader Engineering disciplines.
• It is essential that all candidates demonstrate solid, hands-on experience within the Microsoft ecosystem, specifically:
• Building and integrating agents within Copilot Studio.
• Leveraging PowerApps, Dataverse, Fabric, and Azure.
• Utilizing Foundry environments.
• Practical experience integrating agents, APIs, and associated components within these specific platforms.
• Higher education qualification (or equivalent experience) in Ethics, Law, Risk Management, Social Sciences, Data/Computer Science or relevant field.
• Proven hands‑on experience building solutions using LLMs, AI APIs, Copilot Studio or agent frameworks.
• Strong understanding of vector databases, embeddings, RAG architectures and retrieval optimisation.
• Experience implementing secure‑by‑design practices including authentication, authorisation, data protection and auditability.
• Experience working within Microsoft Foundry‑style model and agent engineering, including LLM orchestration, RAG component optimisation, agent lifecycle management, versioning, monitoring, drift detection, and building reusable model/agent components governed under enterprise controls.
• Experience working with Microsoft Azure AI and cloud-native engineering, including integration with Azure AI services, secure deployment patterns, observability, telemetry, vector search and embeddings, and alignment with enterprise-grade cloud architectures used across the AI Foundry.
• Familiarity with DevOps, CI/CD, IaC, observability, monitoring and modern engineering pipelines.
• Ability to translate complex requirements or user needs into scalable, maintainable technical solutions.
• Ability to debug unexpected AI or model behaviour, including hallucinations, variability and reliability issues.
• Strong documentation skills and ability to produce reusable code assets, templates and guidance.
• Collaborative working style with analysts, testers and architects throughout delivery.
• Comfortable learning and adapting to emerging AI technologies and engineering patterns.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, including senior‑level engagement.
• Commercial awareness and a value‑driven mindset.
• Familiarity with AI ethics, fairness, transparency and accountability principles.
• Use of professional networks and external influencers with clear evidence of learning and development to build and maintain skills and expertise.

This is an excellent opportunity on a great project of work. If you are looking for your next exciting opportunity, apply now for your CV to reach me directly, we will respond as soon as possible.

LA International is an award-winning partner of choice for many of the world's most influential companies and government organisations. Holding Enhanced Government Security Accreditation, we are recognised as the European market leader in the delivery of Security Cleared talent to organisations that demand the very highest levels of security, compliance and assurance.

A multiple award-winning organisation, having secured the prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise: International Trade over consecutive years. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace where everyone feels valued and supported. We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of background or identity, and we encourage candidates who may not meet every listed requirement to still apply. If you require any adjustments or support during the recruitment process, please let us know and we will work with you to ensure a fair and accessible experience.

Please Note: If a high volume of applications is received, only candidates shortlisted will be contacted.