Job Requirements
About the Role
Becrypt is creating a new, standalone Principal Architect – AI role to lead the
organisation's approach to artificial intelligence across the business. This is a senior
technical position for someone who can look across engineering, product, IT and
operations to identify where AI can genuinely improve how Becrypt builds, secures and
runs its platforms — and who can then design, build and govern the systems that make
that possible.
This is not a team-management role. It is a hands-on, principal-level individual
contributor position for someone who leads through technical depth, credibility and
influence — working closely with engineering teams, technical architects and internal IT,
and setting the policies, risk frameworks and compliance guardrails needed to adopt AI
responsibly.
What You'll Do
Strategic & cross-business
- Assess processes and systems across the business — engineering, product, customer-facing operations, internal IT — to identify where AI can add genuine value, streamline work, or reduce risk.
Platform & engineering delivery
- Design and build platforms for long-running agentic workflow systems, including AI gateways and supporting infrastructure services.
- Design Docker-based services using Linux container environments, Python, FastAPI, TypeScript, MCP/FastMCP, OpenAI and AWS Bedrock.
- Apply secure boundaries around credentials, service access, tool invocation and human-in-the-loop operation for AI/agentic systems.
- Build reusable services and integrations, and assess the security, isolation, maintainability and operational implications of emerging AI technologies before they're adopted.
- Actively probe AI systems, integrations and agentic workflows for vulnerabilities — thinking like an attacker to uncover weaknesses in credential handling, tool invocation and data exposure before they're exploited, and feeding findings back into design and policy.
- Get hands-on with difficult technical problems alongside engineers — investigating, diagnosing and making architectural calls that improve security, assurance, maintainability and long-term product direction.
What You'll Bring
- Experience in designing, building, securing and operating complex software platforms, Linux-based systems, distributed services, APIs and integrations.
- Strong, current hands-on experience with Docker/containerised environments, Python, FastAPI, TypeScript, and AI-specific tooling such as MCP/FastMCP, OpenAI APIs and AWS Bedrock.
- Practical experience building or integrating AI gateways, agentic workflow systems, or similar AI infrastructure — not just using AI tools, but architecting the systems around them.
- A track record of enterprise or platform architecture at principal/CTO-advisory level, ideally spanning regulated, security-conscious, or infrastructure-heavy environments (e.g. payments, cloud platforms, integration platforms).
- Demonstrated ability to design policy-based authorisation, credential/access boundaries, and secure-by-design controls for systems handling sensitive operations.
- Experience operating as a senior individual contributor — influencing engineering, product, security, customer-facing and leadership stakeholders without relying on formal team management.
- A working mental model that balances security (CIA), usability, customer needs, engineering effort, operational risk and product strategy when making architectural decisions.
- Comfortable writing and championing policy, risk and compliance documentation, not just technical designs.
Nice to Have
- Experience in a security-focused or highly regulated product company (Becrypt's own domain).
- Prior experience introducing AI/agentic capability into an existing engineering organisation from scratch.
- Familiarity with data-centre/on-prem as well as cloud (AWS) deployment models.
Success in This Role Looks Like
- A clear, prioritised view of where AI can and should be applied across Becrypt, backed by policy and risk frameworks that leadership and engineering trust.
- A working AI gateway / agentic platform in production use, built to Becrypt's security and operational standards.
- Engineering teams and internal IT with a clear, well-governed path to adopt AI capability safely and consistently.
Package & Discretionary Benefits:
- 25 days annual leave plus an additional 2 days after 2 years’ service
- 5 days additional holiday purchase available
- Private medical insurance
- Heath cashback plan with Healthshield
- Pension scheme
- Life cover 4 x salary
- Season ticket loan
- Salary exchange benefits (ride2work, pension
- Subsidised gym membership
- Employee referral scheme
Role will be subject to an employment screening process and will require
security clearance.
Principal Architect – AI employer: Leonardo S.p.A.
Leonardo UK is an exceptional employer, offering a collaborative and innovative work culture that empowers employees to tackle complex technical challenges in the aerospace sector. With generous benefits including a robust pension scheme, flexible working options, and extensive learning opportunities, employees are encouraged to grow and thrive in their careers while contributing to meaningful projects that enhance global safety. Located in Edinburgh, this role provides a unique chance to be part of a diverse team dedicated to shaping the future of technology.
