Senior AI Engineer

Successful candidates may be based in any of our office locations – Cardiff, Glasgow or London. We especially welcome applicants from Cardiff and Glasgow.

Across government, artificial intelligence is becoming a powerful enabler of improved services, operational efficiency and better decision-making. The opportunity now is to move beyond experimentation and build AI products that work reliably in real operational settings, with solutions that are secure, well‑governed, measurable and useful to the people who rely on them. Ofgem plays a vital role in the UK’s energy system, protecting consumers and enabling a more secure, fair and sustainable energy future, and applied AI is a key component of how we will modernise and innovate.

Within the Digital, Data and Security Services (DDSS) directorate, we are building a modern data and AI capability that embeds advanced technologies into products and services. This includes the use of large language models, AI assistants and agentic systems to support regulatory delivery, improve efficiency and enhance user experience, all within a strong framework of governance and responsible AI.

As a Senior AI Engineer, you will play a critical role in designing, building and operating AI‑enabled applications, shaping the engineering patterns, architecture and delivery practices that allow AI to be used safely at scale. You will work at the intersection of software engineering, data and AI, focusing on the practical application of advanced AI models within secure and scalable digital services. You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to take AI solutions from prototype to production, with a focus on reliability, observability, security, cost control and measurable user value. This is a genuinely hands‑on engineering role in a fast‑moving area, with the chance to build reusable patterns for how Ofgem designs, deploys and runs AI‑enabled services. You will combine engineering expertise with a strong understanding of AI capabilities, contributing to innovative solutions while ensuring that systems are reliable, secure and aligned with organisational standards.

Responsibilities

• Designing, developing and deploying AI‑enabled applications and services, using platforms such as Azure AI, Copilot Studio and Azure OpenAI.
• Building and operating advanced AI solutions, including retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) pipelines and agentic AI systems integrated with trusted data sources.
• Applying strong software engineering practices, including APIs, version control, CI/CD and automated testing, to ensure robust and scalable AI solutions.
• Evaluating and refining prompts, workflows and model configurations to optimise performance, reliability and user outcomes.
• Operationalising AI solutions into live services, ensuring performance, cost, security and compliance are effectively managed.
• Monitoring and maintaining AI systems in production, identifying issues and driving continuous improvement.
• Collaborating with data scientists, engineers and product teams to transition experimental AI capabilities into production‑ready services.
• Engaging stakeholders to identify AI use cases, assess feasibility and define expected value and outcomes.
• Ensuring compliance with Responsible AI, data governance and security requirements across all AI implementations.
• Designing for observability, evaluation and continuous improvement, including monitoring model behaviour, usage, performance, cost and quality over time.
• Creating reusable engineering patterns, technical documentation and reference implementations that help Ofgem scale AI delivery beyond individual prototypes.

We are looking for

A skilled, pragmatic AI engineer who enjoys turning emerging AI capabilities into production‑ready services that solve real user and organisational problems. You will bring strong software engineering experience, combined with hands‑on knowledge of modern AI technologies and platforms. You may come from software engineering, machine learning, data engineering or applied AI, but you will be able to demonstrate:

• Experience delivering AI‑enabled applications into production environments.
• Strong programming capability, particularly in Python and cloud‑based platforms.
• Practical experience working with large language models and modern AI systems.
• The ability to design and integrate AI solutions within complex digital architectures.
• Experience working within multidisciplinary teams in an agile or product‑led environment.
• Experience applying engineering discipline to AI systems, including testing, evaluation, monitoring, security and maintainability.

Experience within government or regulated environments, and familiarity with responsible AI practices, would be beneficial.

Person Specification

• Strong experience delivering AI‑enabled applications in production (Lead Criteria).
• Proven software engineering capability using Python and cloud platforms (Lead Criteria).
• Experience operating large language model‑based systems.
• Experience working in multidisciplinary delivery teams.
• Proven experience of developing AI use cases and recommendations.
• Experience delivering AI in regulated or public sector environments.
• Experience with agile or user‑centred delivery approaches.

Behaviours

• Changing and Improving
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside a salary of £49,452, Ofgem contributes £14,326 towards membership of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Ofgem can offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package, which includes 30 days annual leave after 2 years; excellent training and development opportunities; the opportunity to join the generous Civil Service pension; hybrid working (currently 1 day a week in the office but this is kept under review); flexible working hours and family‑friendly policies; and other benefits including clean and bright offices and engaging networks and teams.