At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the development of AI agents and enhance community services in Westminster.
- Company: Join Westminster City Council, a hub of innovation and connectivity.
- Benefits: Flexible working, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Inclusive workplace committed to diversity and supporting care leavers.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in residents' lives while advancing your tech career.
- Qualifications: Experience in AI agent design and strong leadership skills required.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
Location: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, Westminster, SW1E 6QP
Contract type: Temporary up to 18 months
Vetting requirements: Basic DBS Check
Closing date: 13 July 2026
About Us
Digital and Innovation in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories, where creative and enterprising people put local residents and businesses first. Today, Westminster is the most connected borough in London.
The Role
As a Lead Software Engineer, you can make your own powerful contribution to people across Westminster. Joining the council’s newly established AI Innovation Hub, you’ll act as the senior technical authority for AI agents — owning the most complex agent builds, setting the patterns the rest of the organisation follows, and running the Agent Ops operating model that keeps the council’s agent estate safe. Your day‑to‑day will be varied and dynamic, including everything from designing resident‑facing assistants and internal staff productivity agents, to responding to incidents and ensuring governance processes are followed. Acting as a mentor to less technical agent builders, you’ll raise the technical floor across the organisation, building community, sharing knowledge and supporting council teams to harness AI to deliver better outcomes for residents.
About You
An established professional with demonstrable experience designing and delivering AI agents or AI‑enabled automation in a production setting, you’ll bring hands‑on experience of Microsoft Copilot Studio and the Power Platform. You may have worked in a complex or regulated organisation in the past, and will be confident monitoring and evaluating AI agents, controlling cost, responding to incidents and applying an AgentOps‑style lifecycle. You’ll also have a strong understanding of the following:
- Agentic patterns.
- Prompt design, scripting and programming for integration and automation.
- AI safety, Responsible AI, prompt‑injection defences, data governance and privacy.
- APIs, JSON/XML, OAuth, Microsoft Graph, custom connectors, and Dataverse data modelling.
As a leader, you’ll be motivating and supportive, setting a high‑bar that inspires others to learn, grow and develop their own skillsets. On a personal level, you’ll have the ability to communicate technical concepts to non‑technical audiences, strong problem‑solving and analytical skills and a commitment to user‑centred design and inclusive service delivery.
This is a fantastic opportunity to join an innovative, supportive team, and to supercharge your career in the process.
What We Offer
Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three‑quarters‑of‑a‑million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision‑making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.
At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is Our Westminster Way.
As a forward‑thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working. The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.
We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.
Lead Software Engineer in City of Westminster employer: Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic and inclusive work environment where innovation thrives. As a Lead Software Engineer in the AI Innovation Hub, you'll have the opportunity to shape the future of technology while contributing to the community's well-being. With a commitment to employee growth, flexible working patterns, and a focus on diversity and inclusion, Westminster City Council ensures that every team member feels valued and empowered to make a meaningful impact.
