Lead AI Engineer: Deliver Production-Grade AI Solutions

Softwire is looking for a Lead AI Consultant to help our clients turn the current wave of AI capability (especially LLMs) into real, valuable, maintainable software. Softwire is a leading UK technology and strategy consultancy. From enterprise to government, we help visionary organisations turn strategic ambitions into results at scale. Our practices cover AI transformation, data platforms, systems engineering, advanced CX, and experience design.

We focus on creating a great culture and working environment and we are looking for people who share our core beliefs about what makes a great place to work:

• That if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing properly.
• That work should be fulfilling but can also be fun.
• That kindness matters and should be extended to employees and clients alike.
• That by being trusting and trustworthy as an organisation and as individuals we can dispense with tedious bureaucracy and rules.

As a Lead AI Consultant, you’ll operate as a senior technical leader on client work, helping teams move from “AI curiosity” to working, production-grade solutions. You will:

• Work hands-on within multidisciplinary teams to design and deliver AI-enabled software.
• Help clients make the right calls on where AI adds value (and where it doesn’t).
• Use, advise on, and develop AI-related features such as:
• Intelligent search/retrieval experiences and RAG
• Summarisation and document comprehension at scale
• Context management
• AI agents, MCP servers, and best-practice configuration of, for example, AGENTS.md
• Advanced use of tools such as Claude Code and Codex
• Assistants and copilots embedded into workflows
• Classification, extraction, and decision support tooling
• Retraining and fine-tuning models
• Calculation/forecasting of token usage
• Well-formed opinions on and experience of AI-enhanced SDLCs
• Set teams up for sustainable success through:
• Strong engineering practices (testing, CI/CD, observability, quality)
• Clear system boundaries and maintainable architecture
• Safe and secure deployment patterns for AI components at scale
• AI performance, accuracy, and reliability monitoring through evals
• Coach and upskill client engineers on pragmatic, safe adoption of AI tools and techniques.
• Keep yourself and your team up-to-date on the latest AI techniques and technology.
• Contribute to Softwire’s internal capability building: patterns, accelerators, reusable approaches, and a strong culture of “learning by building”.

You’re a strong senior software engineer/tech lead who can take ownership of technical delivery end-to-end, working hands-on while also guiding others. You bring credibility with both engineers and stakeholders, and you’re comfortable being the person who turns ambiguity into momentum.

Your experience and strengths include:

• Senior engineering capability: You have significant experience building and shipping production software, and you’re confident working across architecture, implementation, deployment, and operational support.
• Technical leadership and delivery ownership: You can lead technical direction on a project: choosing appropriate patterns, establishing standards, helping teams make trade-offs, and ensuring work is built in a way that scales.
• Practical experience applying AI in real teams: You’re enthusiastic about bringing AI into development teams in ways that genuinely stick.
• Strong engineering fundamentals: You build with the discipline needed to keep software reliable and maintainable.
• Confidence working with AI uncertainty and risk: You understand that AI systems behave differently to deterministic software, and you build with that reality in mind.

Your approach to the role: You bring a strong balance of AI/engineering and client skills. With clients, you are great at bridging the gap between business needs and technical approaches. Your familiarity with the current AI landscape, focus on client needs, and ability to innovate enables you to quickly establish yourself as a trusted advisor.

Softwire operates transparent pay scales with generous compensation packages. Base salary from £67,700-£88,700 depending on your background and how many years of relevant experience you have. Additional benefits include 25 days annual leave (with the option to buy and sell), time off for company-wide morale activities, time off for charitable/CSR activities, free annual eye test, and opt-in health insurance, cycle to work scheme, and payroll charity donations.

We welcome applications from those with additional needs or caring responsibilities and will look at where adaptations can support success in the role.

Here at Softwire, we are always on the lookout for talented individuals to join our team. You’ll work with the industry’s smartest people and collaborate on leading-edge projects in a relaxed and informal atmosphere, refreshingly free of bureaucracy.