At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and deploy cutting-edge AI systems that make a real impact.
- Company: Exciting early-stage AI company with a fast-paced, innovative culture.
- Benefits: Competitive salary up to £140k, equity, and founding-level ownership.
- Other info: Dynamic environment with high expectations and real opportunities for growth.
- Why this job: Shape the future of AI products and influence engineering culture from day one.
- Qualifications: Strong software engineering skills and hands-on experience with LLMs.
The predicted salary is between 140000 - 140000 € per year.
We’re working with a well-backed early-stage AI company building enterprise-grade generative AI systems for complex, high-value workflows. The team is small, technical, and moving fast - they’re now looking for a Founding AI Engineer to help shape both the product and engineering culture from the ground up.
This is not a “maintain legacy systems” type role. You’ll be joining at the stage where architecture decisions still matter, product direction changes weekly, and exceptional engineers can have outsized impact.
The focus of the role is GenAI systems engineering - designing, evaluating, and deploying LLM-powered products that operate reliably in production environments.
What you’ll be doing:
- Building and improving LLM orchestration pipelines
- Designing prompt systems, evaluation frameworks, and feedback loops
- Working across retrieval, context management, agent workflows, and inference optimisation
- Deploying AI products into production with a strong focus on reliability and observability
- Collaborating closely with founders, product, and end users to rapidly iterate on features
- Helping establish engineering best practices, tooling, and technical direction early on
What they’re looking for:
- Strong software engineering fundamentals
- Hands-on experience building with LLMs and modern AI tooling
- Experience shipping real products, not just prototypes
- Someone comfortable owning problems end-to-end rather than waiting for detailed specs
- Engineers already using AI-native development workflows
- Ability to move quickly without sacrificing engineering quality
- Experience across AI engineering, backend systems, data infrastructure, or scalable SaaS platforms is all relevant.
The environment:
This suits someone who genuinely enjoys early-stage engineering. The pace is high, expectations are high, and there’s a strong bias toward ownership and execution. In return, you’ll get real influence over product, architecture, and technical culture from day one.
Package:
- Up to £140k
- Meaningful equity
- Founding-level ownership and autonomy
- London-based, in-office collaboration
If you’re interested in building production-grade GenAI systems in a genuinely high-calibre start-up environment, happy to discuss further.
AI / Machine Learning Specialist in City of London employer: SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™
As a Founding Engineer at this innovative AI start-up in London, you'll be part of a dynamic team where your contributions directly shape the product and engineering culture. With a focus on cutting-edge generative AI systems, the company offers a collaborative work environment that values ownership, rapid iteration, and exceptional engineering talent, alongside competitive compensation and meaningful equity opportunities. This is an exciting chance to influence the future of AI technology while enjoying the benefits of working in a fast-paced, high-impact setting.
Contact Detail:
SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™ Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land AI / Machine Learning Specialist in City of London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in the AI and machine learning space, especially those who are already working at companies you’re interested in. A friendly chat can lead to insider info and even referrals.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio showcasing your projects, especially those involving LLMs and generative AI. This gives potential employers a taste of what you can do and sets you apart from the crowd.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for technical interviews by brushing up on your fundamentals. Practice coding challenges and be ready to discuss your past projects in detail. We want to see how you think and solve problems!
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, we love seeing candidates who take that extra step to connect with us directly.
We think you need these skills to ace AI / Machine Learning Specialist in City of London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion for AI:When writing your application, let your enthusiasm for AI and machine learning shine through. We want to see that you’re genuinely excited about building innovative systems and tackling complex challenges in this space.
Highlight Relevant Experience:Make sure to showcase your hands-on experience with LLMs and any real products you've shipped. We’re looking for engineers who can demonstrate their ability to own problems end-to-end, so don’t hold back on those success stories!
Tailor Your Application:Customise your application to reflect the specific skills and experiences mentioned in the job description. We appreciate when candidates take the time to align their background with what we’re looking for, especially in areas like engineering best practices and AI-native workflows.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for this exciting opportunity to shape our engineering culture from the ground up!
How to prepare for a job interview at SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™
✨Know Your GenAI Stuff
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of generative AI systems, especially LLMs. Be ready to discuss your hands-on experience with building and deploying these technologies, as well as any challenges you've faced and how you overcame them.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
This role is all about ownership and execution, so be prepared to share examples of how you've tackled complex problems end-to-end. Highlight specific projects where you took initiative and made impactful decisions without waiting for detailed specs.
✨Emphasise Collaboration
Since the team is small and fast-moving, it's crucial to demonstrate your ability to work closely with others. Share experiences where you've collaborated with founders, product teams, or end users to iterate on features and improve products.
✨Be Ready for Technical Questions
Expect some deep dives into your technical skills, especially around software engineering fundamentals and AI-native development workflows. Prepare to discuss your approach to designing prompt systems, evaluation frameworks, and how you ensure reliability in production environments.
