AI Engineer

We are seeking an AI Engineer for Autonomy to design, develop and deliver advanced Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions within complex and safety-critical environments. Working within a multidisciplinary AI and software engineering team, you will transform business and operational challenges into robust, scalable and secure AI capabilities.

This role offers the opportunity to contribute across the full AI lifecycle, from concept development and model design through to deployment and continuous improvement, while supporting innovation across high-profile defence and technology programmes.

Key Responsibilities

• Translate business and operational requirements into AI solution designs and measurable outcomes.
• Develop, train and evaluate AI and Machine Learning models across areas such as computer vision, autonomy, large language models and predictive analytics.
• Design and maintain robust data processing, training and evaluation pipelines.
• Apply Responsible AI principles, ensuring model robustness, explainability, security and compliance.
• Work closely with software engineers to deploy AI capabilities into production environments.
• Define and monitor model performance metrics, data quality indicators and model drift measures.
• Produce high-quality, secure and maintainable code following software engineering best practices.
• Generate technical documentation including architecture designs, model reports and implementation guidance.
• Develop reusable AI components and frameworks to accelerate future programme delivery.
• Support customer demonstrations, proof-of-concepts, technical workshops and bid activities.
• Collaborate with data engineers, architects and cyber security specialists to develop integrated solutions.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and promote continuous improvement and innovation.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Strong Python development experience within commercial or industrial environments.
• Experience developing AI and Machine Learning solutions using frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow or Scikit-Learn.
• Knowledge of autonomy frameworks such as ROS2 or equivalent technologies.
• Experience working with Computer Vision, Deep Learning, NLP/LLM or Time-Series Analytics solutions.
• Strong understanding of data analysis and manipulation using tools such as Pandas, NumPy and SQL.
• Experience deploying AI models into operational environments.
• Understanding of Responsible AI principles, model explainability and AI security considerations.
• Experience using Git and modern software development practices including testing and continuous integration.
• Knowledge of Agile development methodologies and DevOps/MLOps principles.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills with both technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Degree, Master's qualification or equivalent experience in Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, Data Science or a related discipline.
• Eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).

Desirable Skills

• Experience with MLflow, Weights & Biases or similar experiment-tracking tools.
• Experience with Spark or large-scale data processing platforms.
• Knowledge of ONNX, TorchScript, FastAPI or gRPC.
• Experience deploying AI solutions within Azure, AWS or Google Cloud environments.
• Experience using Docker and containerised deployment approaches.
• Experience developing software in C++ within safety-critical environments.
• Experience defining solution architectures or technical governance.
• Familiarity with large-scale data management and data-labelling strategies.
• MLOps experience supporting production AI deployments.
• Contributions to open-source projects, technical publications or patents.
• Relevant AI, cloud or Agile certifications.

With five strategic offices in Belfast, Chester, Farnborough, London and Oxford, we work in partnership with our customers UK-wide to deliver high-impact engineering solutions.

SII UK is a trusted Aerospace and Defence engineering partner, supporting the delivery of complex, mission-critical programmes while helping to shape the future of innovation across next-generation systems and technologies.

Our teams contribute daily to creating a fulfilling, stimulating and career development focused work environment.

True to our human-centred values, we are committed to making SII UK a Great Place To Work®, having been certified 5 years running.

Joining SII UK means being part of our collective goals, guided by our mission “Let’s Tech Together,” and helping to build a digital future that is sustainable, at the heart of an environment that values learning & collaboration.

Who are we?

With five strategic offices in Belfast, Chester, Farnborough, London and Oxford, we work in partnership with our customers UK-wide to deliver high-impact engineering solutions.

SII UK is a trusted Aerospace and Defence engineering partner, supporting the delivery of complex, mission-critical programmes while helping to shape the future of innovation across next-generation systems and technologies.

Our teams contribute daily to creating a fulfilling, stimulating and career development focused work environment.

True to our human-centred values, we are committed to making SII UK a Great Place To Work®, having been certified 5 years running.

Joining SII UK means being part of our collective goals, guided by mission “Let’s Tech Together”, and helping to build a digital future that is sustainable, at the heart of an environment that values learning & collaboration.