Job Detail

Lead AI Engineer

Kainos · GB
Data Science and AI Full–time
ID: #10648
Posted: 2026-03-02
Salary

Description

Join Kainos and Shape the Future At Kainos, we’re problem solvers, innovators, and collaborators - driven by a shared mission to create real impact. Whether we’re transforming digital services for millions, delivering cutting-edge Workday solutions, or pushing the boundaries of technology, we do it together. We believe in a people-first culture, where your ideas are valued, your growth is supported, and your contributions truly make a difference. Here, you’ll be part of a diverse, ambitious team that celebrates creativity and collaboration. Ready to make your mark? Join us and be part of something bigger. JOB PROFILE DESCRIPTION Kainos is recognised as one of the UK’s leading AI and data businesses, with a decade-long track record of delivering impactful, production-grade AI solutions for clients across government, healthcare, defence, and commercial sectors. Kainos is at the forefront of AI innovation, trusted by Microsoft, AWS, and others to deliver advanced AI and data solutions at citizen scale. Our 150-strong AI and Data Practice brings together deep expertise in machine learning, generative AI, agentic AI and data. We are pioneers in responsible AI, having authored the UK government’s AI Cyber Security Code of Practice implementation guide and we partner with leading organisations to ensure AI is deployed ethically, securely and with measurable business value. Our teams are at the cutting edge of AI research, and delivery, it is truly an exciting team to join Kainos as we further grow our AI capability. MAIN PURPOSE OF THE ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE BUSINESS: As a Lead AI Engineer at Kainos, you will architect, design, and deliver advanced AI solutions leveraging state-of-the-art machine learning, generative and agentic AI technologies. You will drive the adoption of modern AI frameworks, AIOps best practices and scalable cloud-native architectures. Your role will involve hands-on technical leadership, collaborating with customers to translate business challenges into trustworthy AI solutions and ensuring responsible AI practices throughout. As a technical mentor, you will foster a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and engineering excellence. It is a fast-paced environment, so it is important for you to make sound, reasoned decisions. You will do this whilst learning about new technologies and approaches, with talented colleagues that will help you to develop and grow. You will manage, coach, and develop a small number of staff, with a focus on managing employee performance and assisting in their career development. You will also provide direction and leadership for your team as you solve challenging problems together. MINIMUM (ESSENTIAL) REQUIREMENTS: • A minimum of a 2.1 degree in Computer Science, AI, Data Science, Statistics or in a similar quantitative field. • Demonstrable experience of deploying modern AI/ML solutions into production, including prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), model evaluation, and monitoring using metrics (e.g. precision, recall, NDCG and drift detection). • Strong Python skills with a grounding in software engineering best practices (CI/CD, testing, code reviews etc). • Experience developing solutions at scale on cloud platforms (Azure & AWS), containerisation and orchestration tools such as Kubernetes and Docker. • Expertise in data engineering for AI: handling large-scale, unstructured, and multimodal data. • Understanding of responsible AI principles, model interpretability, and ethical considerations. • Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to lead client projects and establish requirements in non-technical language. • We are passionate about developing people, you will bring experience in managing, coaching, and developing junior members of a team and wider community. DESIRABLE: • Demonstrable experience with modern deep learning frameworks (e.g. PyTorch, TensorFlow), fine-tuning or distillation of LLMs (e.g, GPT, Llama, Claude, Gemini), machine learning libraries (e.g. scikit-learn, XGBoost). • Experience with data storage for AI, vector databases, semantic search, and knowledge graphs. • Contributions to open-source AI projects or research publications. • Familiarity with AI security, privacy, and compliance standards e.g. ISO42001. Embracing our differences   At Kainos, we believe in the power of diversity, equity and inclusion. We are committed to building a team that is as diverse as the world we live in, where everyone is valued, respected, and given an equal chance to thrive.   We actively seek out talented people from all backgrounds, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or any other characteristic that makes them who they are.   We also believe every candidate deserves a level playing field. Our friendly talent acquisition team is here to support you every step of the way, so if you require any accommodations or adjustments, we encourage you to reach out. We understand that everyone's journey is different, and by having a private conversation we can ensure that our recruitment process is tailored to your needs.

Hard Skills 15
Skill Source Confidence
Vector Databases llm_hard
100%
Docker llm_hard
100%
Kubernetes llm_hard
100%
Large Language Models (LLMs) llm_hard
100%
TensorFlow llm_hard
100%
PyTorch llm_hard
100%
Scikit-learn llm_hard
100%
XGBoost llm_hard
100%
Prompt Engineering llm_hard
100%
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) llm_hard
100%
Azure ML llm_hard
100%
Python llm_hard
100%
AWS (SageMaker, EC2, S3) llm_hard
100%
Model Deployment llm_hard
80%
MLOps llm_hard
80%
Soft Skills 19
Skill Source Confidence
Verbal Communication llm_soft
100%
Adaptability llm_soft
100%
Learning Agility llm_soft
100%
Cross-Functional Communication llm_soft
100%
Explaining Complex Ideas Clearly llm_soft
100%
Stakeholder Communication llm_soft
100%
Leadership llm_soft
100%
People Management llm_soft
100%
Team Leadership llm_soft
100%
Mentoring llm_soft
100%
Coaching llm_soft
100%
Decision-Making llm_soft
100%
Collaboration llm_soft
100%
Problem-Solving llm_soft
100%
Critical Thinking llm_soft
100%
Analytical Thinking llm_soft
100%
Innovation llm_soft
100%
Written Communication llm_soft
80%
Self-Management llm_soft
80%
Apply Options
Publisher Direct Link
Kainos No Apply
Indeed No Apply
Glassdoor No Apply
SimplyHired No Apply
Experteer UK No Apply
BeBee GB No Apply
LinkedIn No Apply
Jooble No Apply
Kainos No Apply
API Logs for this Job
Query Country Status Response ms Created
Lead AI Engineer extracted 11161 2026-03-22 02:34
Lead AI Engineer classified 448 2026-03-21 21:02
junior deep learning engineer in Birmingham gb duplicate 4947 2026-03-21 17:12
junior deep learning engineer in United Kingdom gb duplicate 13733 2026-03-21 17:11
junior AI developer in Birmingham gb duplicate 3594 2026-03-21 17:07
junior AI engineer in Birmingham gb duplicate 11748 2026-03-21 17:04
junior AI engineer in United Kingdom gb duplicate 21364 2026-03-21 17:04
junior ML engineer in Birmingham gb duplicate 4558 2026-03-21 17:01
junior machine learning engineer in Birmingham gb processed 7506 2026-03-21 16:58
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