At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the development of AI agents and enhance community services in Westminster.
- Company: Join Westminster City Council, a forward-thinking organisation committed to innovation and inclusivity.
- Benefits: Flexible working patterns, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Diverse and inclusive workplace with a commitment to community engagement.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on residents' lives while advancing your career in AI technology.
- 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.
Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.
The Council is committed to achieving diverse shortlists to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. We especially encourage applications from a Global Majority (GM), people who are Black, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or have been racialised as ‘ethnic minorities’ background and, while the role is open to all applicants, we will utilise the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to appoint a candidate from a global majority background where there is a choice between two candidates of equal merit.
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.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead Software Engineer
✨Get Involved in Open-Source Projects
Diving into open-source projects is a brilliant way to showcase your skills and connect with other developers in the community. Not only will you beef up your GitHub profile but you might also catch the eye of someone at Westminster City Council who values hands-on experience over just theory.
✨Attend Local Tech Meetups
Tech meetups are gold mines for networking and discovering job opportunities, especially in the fast-paced world of software engineering. Check out local listings for events in your area and don’t shy away from introducing yourself. This could lead directly to a temporary position at Westminster City Council!
✨Showcase Your Work Online
With temporary roles, it’s all about standing out in a short space of time. Create a portfolio website where you highlight your projects and skills. Talk about your code, and provide links to your GitHub repositories. This will not only demonstrate your abilities but will also make it easier for recruiters at Westminster City Council to see what you bring to the table.
✨Leverage Temporary Job Boards
Don’t forget to check specialised job boards for temporary software development roles. Websites like We Work Remotely or Remote OK often list short-term gigs that can be a perfect fit. Apply directly through our website as well, making sure your application is sharp—temporary roles can move fast!
We think you need these skills to ace Lead Software Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Tech Skills:Make sure your CV highlights your tech stack and any programming languages you’re proficient in. Include specifics about any frameworks or technologies you’ve worked with; they can make you stand out in the sea of applicants. It’s all about showing that you have the chops we need at Westminster City Council!
Portfolio 2.0:Since you’re applying for a temporary gig, it’s super important to showcase a portfolio that highlights your best projects. Include links to GitHub or any personal projects that demonstrate what you can do in a real-world environment. This gives us a taste of your style and your problem-solving approach!
Keep It Brief and Relevant:With a temporary position, we want to see your ability to hit the ground running. Be concise in your CV and cover letter; stick to experiences that directly relate to the role. Highlight any previous temporary roles or freelance gigs that show your adaptability and quick learning!
Tailor Your Cover Letter:Don’t just send a generic cover letter. Personalise it for Lead Software Engineer at Westminster City Council! Mention why this temporary role excites you and how you see yourself contributing in the short run. Show us what you've got and why you're the one for this quick turn-around!
How to prepare for a job interview at Westminster City Council
✨Nail the Technical Skills
For a software engineering role, you'll likely face technical questions or coding tasks during your interview. Brush up on the relevant programming languages and frameworks that Westminster City Council uses, and don’t forget to practice some coding challenges on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank. Showing your coding prowess can really make you stand out!
✨Prepare for System Design Questions
Even for a temporary role, having a grasp of system design principles can be crucial. Be ready to discuss how you would architect a software solution, including discussing trade-offs, scalability, and performance considerations. Having examples from previous projects can really show off your analytical thinking.
✨Demonstrate Your Adaptability
Since this is a temporary role, you'll want to emphasise your ability to hit the ground running. Highlight experiences where you quickly adapted to new technologies or teams. Let’s make it clear to the interviewers at Westminster City Council that you can learn on the job and deliver results in a short timeframe!
✨Show Off Your Portfolio
Make sure to have a portfolio or GitHub ready showcasing your projects. Having tangible evidence of what you've done—be it personal projects, contributions to open-source, or previous work—can convey how capable you are. Tailor this for what might interest Westminster City Council, so it's relevant and sparks conversation during your interview.
