Senior AI Engineer - Centre of Excellence

Job Title: Senior AI Engineer - Centre of Excellence

Location:Home-based with travel to client site or Columbus offices as required 

Salary: Negotiable (We aim to improve your current package)

Bonus:Yes 

Holiday: 25 Days, Plus Bank Holidays (Increasing with Service)

Medical Insurance: Yes (terms apply) plus additional Health Cashback Plan

Hours: Full time (36.5 hpw)

Travel/Expenses: A car is required for travel to client sites - expensed at 55p per mile from home address (excluding travel to any Columbus Office within 35mi)

THRIVE, GROW and SHAPE THE FUTURE

People always come first at Columbus. We’re a global digital consultancy with a local presence, helping businesses transform and thrive through technology, data, and human insight. Just as importantly, we’re a workplace where careers are nurtured, and development is supported through clear, structured career paths.

Our culture is built on trust, collaboration, curiosity, and a shared commitment to delivering customer success. Whether you're an experienced professional or just starting out, you’ll find the freedom to explore ideas, challenge convention, and shape your own path.

Diversity and Inclusion are close to our hearts.

By joining our team, you will be part of a supportive network that values your voice, respects your ideas, and promotes a healthy work-life balance. Our average length of service in the UK is 8 years, as we are committed to cultivating an inclusive workplace culture that celebrates and supports career growth and advancement in becoming a Trusted Advisor. We provide equal opportunities for everyone, ensuring a level playing field for all candidates. We actively encourage applications from all backgrounds to apply for positions across our organisation, and in return, we will give you the tools and support toThrive with us,Grow your Skillsets, and be empowered toShape the Future.

About this role

Enterprise software is going through its biggest shift in decades. Applications are moving from deterministic workflows to intelligent, agentic systems that understand context, remember preferences, and act on behalf of users. This isn’t a future prediction, it's happening now, and Columbus is building at the frontier of it.

We're hiring a Senior AI Engineer to become a key part of our Group AI team. In this role, you'll help design and build the next generation of AI-powered systems that will transform how thousands of people work across the Nordics and beyond. You'll work directly with the VP Group AI. No layers. No committees. You build, you ship, you learn.

We're looking for a senior engineer who can operate across the full AI stack, from application design and intelligent agents to enterprise integrations, data platforms, and AI infrastructure. You combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution and thrive in an environment where you can influence both architecture and implementation.

This is not a consulting engagement or a proof-of-concept. It's production engineering at enterprise scale, on the Microsoft platform, using the most advanced AI models available today.

Travel and Hybrid Working

We have an environment that gives you the flexibility to achieve an effective work-life balance for you and your family, whether you want to work from home or at one of our luxury Cubo offices around the UK.  

We continue to offer our customers onsite consultancy time if requested, so flexibility around travel and overnight stays is expected, depending on the project requirements. Onsite time is planned ahead of time, within 2-week blocks, so you know well in advance where you will be working.

We encourage those in customer-facing roles to aim to come into the office at least once a month, and also for team meetings and client meetings; however, you can work from Nottingham HQ or any Cubo office regularly if you prefer, whichever suits you.

What you will bring

We are looking for someone who has:

• Strong expertise in LLM application design, including prompt engineering, agent frameworks, tool integration, and evaluation methodologies.

• A solid understanding of how data platforms and governance enable AI-driven insights and intelligent systems.

• Experience building scalable, production-grade AI solutions, with focus on context management, performance optimisation, observability, and cost control.

• Proven ability to design and implement agentic and multi-agent architectures in enterprise environments.

• Hands-on experience with Microsoft 365 technologies, including Graph, Teams, SharePoint, and cloud-native platforms such as Azure.

• Deep knowledge of retrieval systems, vector databases, embeddings, document processing, and RAG architectures.

• Experience building robust event-driven and API-first systems with strong focus on security, compliance, and enterprise-grade reliability.

• Strong understanding of AI Security, Responsible AI, and AI Governance principles.

• The ability to move confidently between AI applications, integrations, infrastructure, architecture, and engineering leadership.

You are comfortable operating across three key domains:

AI Applications

You design and build intelligent AI experiences powered by LLMs, agents, tools, and orchestration frameworks. You understand model behaviour, prompt engineering, evaluation strategies, context management, and how to create reliable AI solutions that deliver measurable business value.

AI Automation & Integration

You connect AI capabilities with enterprise systems through Microsoft Graph, Teams, SharePoint, APIs, workflows, and cloud services. You understand how to embed AI into business processes while maintaining security, governance, and operational excellence.

AI Infrastructure & Knowledge Systems

You build the foundation that makes enterprise AI possible. From vector search and document processing to RAG architectures, knowledge retrieval, and governance frameworks, you can design scalable and compliant AI platforms that perform in production environments.

While no candidate is expected to be a world-class specialist in every discipline, we're looking for a senior AI engineer who has strong experience across all three areas and can bring them together into practical, production-ready solutions.

What we can offer

You will be a part of both a local and global team, where you not only share knowledge but also a laugh or two. We value our employees and leave room for flexibility so that you can enjoy a work-life balance.

At Columbus, you will get;-

• 25 Days Annual Leave (Increasing with Service)

• Columbus Benefits Hub – Discounts on Tickets, Shopping, Car leasing, Holidays, Food and More

• Enhanced Maternity Pay

• Access to Free Training Courses Delivered by Columbus Academy

• Free Microsoft Certifications and access to Microsoft Learn

• Modern air-conditioned office spaces fully managed by Cubo (multiple UK locations)

• Free Barista Coffee and hot drinks made in-house

• Free Beer and Fizz every day (2 - 5pm)

• Casual Dress Code in our Offices

• Personal Pension Plan

• Life Assurance x4 Salary

• Cycle-to-Work Scheme

• £2,500 payment for successful candidate referrals (if eligible)

• Flexi-phone upgrade scheme (if eligible)

• Plus many, many more (check out our careers pages for details)

Employee Wellbeing Program (terms apply)

• Free 24/7 Access to Cubo Gym(s)

• Vitality Medical Insurance

• Westfield Health Cash plan (includes an Employee Assistance Line)

• Mental health first aiders

• Virtual suggestion boxes

Next Steps

If this sounds like the role for you, then please drop a copy of your CV over today via our website and “Apply for this job” or CV not up-to-date? Then apply using your LinkedIn profile in seconds.

You may also be prompted to "Connect with us", but please don’t worry if you don’t have the time; it does not impact your application.

In the meantime, check us out onInstagram orLinkedIn

STAYCURIOUS,COLLABORATE, BUILDTRUST, and DELIVERCUSTOMER SUCCESS

Gold Partner and Inner Circle

As a Microsoft Gold Partner for over 20 years, Columbus has access to a range of market-leading resources, training and certifications. As well as a host of awards, Columbus has twice been named partner of the year by Microsoft.

As a Microsoft Inner Circle member, Columbus has been recognised as part of an elite category of partners. This honour is only awarded to the very best in the industry for thought leadership, innovation and dedication, with Inner Circle partners representing only the Top 1% of the Microsoft ecosystem. 

With over 1,500 colleagues across more than 10 countries, we bring global perspectives and local understanding. What unites us is our belief in creating meaningful impact — for our people, our customers, and the journey ahead.