Principal AI & Cloud-Native Engineer in Leeds

We’re looking for a Principal Engineer to join our team in Bradford or Leeds on a permanent basis, with some travel required. This is a hybrid role, with two days in the office and three days working remotely each week.

As a Principal Engineer you will report directly to the CTO and serve as a senior technical problem‐solver embedded within various business units and functional teams across Liberty Blume. Operating as a high‐autonomy individual contributor, you will diagnose operational challenges, design technology solutions, and lead their delivery by leveraging a central pool of shared engineering resources. This role is focused on identifying and unlocking high‐value business outcomes through technology, with a strong emphasis on AI‐enabled workflows, intelligent automation, and a cloud‐native development approach. You will partner closely with transformation teams within each function, converting operational pain points into practical, scalable solutions built on the organisation’s core platforms and standards. You will be expected to work with minimal supervision while consistently upholding the principles, guardrails, and standards defined by the CTO function.

What will you be doing?

• Analyse business processes and data flows to quickly pinpoint operational bottlenecks.
• Identify high‐impact opportunities for AI, automation, and data‐driven workflow improvement.
• Develop clear solution designs outlining architecture, delivery plans, and expected outcomes.
• Present recommendations to senior leaders, including C‐suite stakeholders.
• Design AI‐enabled workflows such as intelligent document processing, decision support, and LLM‐powered automation.
• Lead cross‐functional engineering teams and set technical direction and standards.
• Ensure solutions are cloud‐native, secure, observable, and aligned with enterprise patterns (GCP).
• Act as the primary technical partner for business teams, translating complex concepts into actionable insights.
• Build trust quickly and collaborate closely with transformation leads.
• Document reusable patterns and share learnings to strengthen the organisation’s technology capability.

We tend to look for people with:

Essential:

• Significant hands‐on engineering experience with a strong record of designing and delivering complex technical solutions.
• Deep technical expertise across cloud‐native architecture (GCP preferred), AI/ML integration, API design, data engineering, or automation.
• Proven ability to operate as a senior individual contributor in fast‐moving, ambiguous, high‐stakes environments.
• Strong architectural thinking, including microservices, event‐driven systems, API‐first design, and modern data patterns.
• Practical, real‐world experience with AI and LLM technologies, such as prompt engineering, RAG architectures, document intelligence, and integrating AI models into workflows.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to senior, non‐technical audiences.
• Experience working within or alongside back‐office functions such as finance, HR, procurement, compliance, or shared services.
• Comfortable working in a consulting-style delivery model—rapid onboarding, time‐boxed engagements, and outcome‐focused execution.

Desirable:

• Strong hands‐on experience with GCP services including Cloud Run, BigQuery, Vertex AI, DocAI, and Apigee.
• Familiarity with RPA platforms and intelligent automation patterns.
• Understanding of compliance and regulatory frameworks such as ISO 27001, GDPR, SOC 1, or the EU AI Act.
• Background in transformation or management consulting.
• Experience collaborating with offshore or nearshore engineering teams.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary + bonus
• 25 days annual leave with the option to purchase 5 more.
• Enjoy your birthday off, plus receive an additional 3 days of annual leave once you reach 5 years of service.
• Access to wellbeing and mental health benefits such as the Calm app, personal medical, critical illness cover and dental insurance, plus many more.
• Matched pension contribution up to 10%
• Access to our car benefit scheme
• Access to our online learning platform to continue to develop and grow your career with us
• The chance to join an innovative, fast-paced and passionate team

Who we are:

Liberty Blume, a Liberty Global company, is a rapidly growing business services provider, specialising in tech-enabled back-office solutions. Our mission is to deliver efficiency, scale and value to our customers through Business, Procurement and Financial Solutions. If you’re curious, customer centric and enjoy being one step ahead, join us on our scale up journey and unlock your freedom to grow!