Senior AI Engineer

Contract Senior AI Engineer/ London Security Clearance: Active SC requiredThe OpportunityWe're looking for a Senior AI Engineer to design, build and run cutting-edge AI-enabled applications that drive real organisational impact. This is a hands-on engineering role focused on applying advanced AI (especially large language models) in live services-rather than developing new algorithms from scratch. Contract Senior AI Engineer/ London Security Clearance: Active SC requiredThe OpportunityWe're looking for a Senior AI Engineer to design, build and run cutting-edge AI-enabled applications that drive real organisational impact. This is a hands-on engineering role focused on applying advanced AI (especially large language models) in live services-rather than developing new algorithms from scratch. You'll work at the forefront of: • AI Assistants • Agentic systems • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) • Enterprise-grade AI solutions What You'll Be Doing • Designing and delivering AI-powered applications using modern cloud platforms • Building and operating LLM-based systems, including RAG pipelines and agents • Developing robust, scalable solutions using software engineering best practices • Integrating AI capabilities into existing systems and workflows • Monitoring performance, cost, reliability, and security of AI services in production • Collaborating with cross-functional teams to bring AI ideas to life • Ensuring AI systems meet ethical, governance, and compliance standards • Supporting experimentation, proofs of concept, and continuous improvement Tech & ToolsYou'll work with technologies such as: • Python • Azure AI / cloud platforms • Microsoft Copilot Studio • Azure OpenAI & AI Foundry • APIs, CI/CD pipelines, version control What We're Looking ForEssential: • Strong experience delivering AI applications into production • Solid software engineering background (Python, cloud-based systems) • Hands-on experience with large language models (LLMs) • Experience working in multidisciplinary delivery teams • Ability to shape and recommend AI use cases with real business value Desirable: • Experience in regulated or public sector environments • Familiarity with agile or user-centred delivery approaches What Makes This Role Different • Focus on real-world AI impact, not academic modelling • Ownership of solutions from design through to live operation • Opportunity to work on secure, scalable, and responsible AI systems • Exposure to emerging AI patterns like agentic workflows and assistants Key Skills • Software engineering & system integration • LLM application design & prompt engineering • Data ethics, governance, and security awareness • Stakeholder communication (technical & non-technical) • Understanding of product delivery and business value What You'll Deliver • Production-ready AI applications • Scalable and secure solution architectures • Measured and monitored AI systems • Reusable components and technical documentation Robert Walters Operations Limited is an employment business and employment agency and welcomes applications from all candidates