Technical Lead â?? AI & Software Engineering

Technical Lead â?? AI & Software Engineering Overview

Requirements

What we're looking for

On the technical side, you’ll have hands-on experience of building products with large language models, including retrieval over domain documents, structured or schema-constrained outputs, evaluating output quality against expert judgement, and running models in private or self-hosted cloud environments. You’ll also bring proficiency in areas like microservices, serverless, containerisation, and building web applications, with experience in observability, security standards, Infrastructure as Code, and CI/CD practices. We value transferable skills over specific tool expertise, as technical depth can be developed through our supportive learning environment; practical experience of taking language-model-based products into production, however, is essential. Ideally, you’ll also bring experience of knowledge graphs or ontologies, fine-tuning techniques, vision-language models or handwriting recognition and a background in assessment, education or other regulated, high-stakes environments. An interest in event-driven architecture (EDA) and Domain-Driven Design (DDD) is a plus.

Nice to have

• Leadership and Mentoring: Proven track record of guiding teams, fostering collaboration, and promoting a growth mindset to unlock team potential.
• Communication and Stakeholder Management: Skilled at articulating complex technical ideas to non-technical audiences, setting realistic expectations about AI, facilitating workshops, and building relationships to align on shared goals.
• Working with Domain Experts: Comfortable treating assessment experts and examiners as the owners of quality, turning their judgement into clear acceptance criteria and evaluation measures.
• Adaptability and Collaboration: Thrive in dynamic settings, adapting to evolving priorities and a fast-moving AI landscape while collaborating across functions to drive innovation and resolve challenges.
• Problem-Solving and Resilience: Approach issues with a holistic, user-centred mindset, balancing technical feasibility with business impact.

Pay & benefits

What you'll get

Job Title: Technical Lead – AI & Software Engineering

Salary: £53,100 – £70,950

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package , featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Group personal pension scheme
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
• Green travel schemes

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be 23 November 2026. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place from theweek commencing 30 November 2026.

If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect:

• First stage and final stage virtual interviews via MS Teams.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long-term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter.

Visa & relocation

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

The role

We are recruiting a Tech Lead for each of two projects. Each Tech Lead will work within a POD led by the Technical Product Manager for their project, reporting to the Solutions Lead.

What you'll do

• Deliver AI-Enabled Solutions: Build end-to-end products that use securely hosted language models, from data and retrieval through to user interfaces and integration with existing assessment systems, while communicating design rationale to diverse stakeholders for buy-in and feedback.
• Ground and Validate Outputs: Use retrieval over approved assessment content, structured outputs and rule-based validation so that results are accurate, traceable and consistent with syllabus requirements, working with assessment experts owners to agree what “correct” looks like.
• Measure Quality: Build evaluation sets and quality gates alongside assessment experts, using them to select and compare models and to show each release is fit for use, fostering a team culture of shared accountability and continuous improvement.
• Keep Experts in Control: Design review workflows with examiners and assessment experts so they make every final decision, with every AI suggestion and human decision recorded for audit.
• Protect Sensitive Content: Champion secure practices aligned with industry standards, ensuring models, data, prompts and logs stay within approved secure environments, and influencing stakeholders to prioritise security in decision-making.
• Shape Cloud-Native Architecture: Design scalable, resilient architectures on AWS using approaches like microservices, serverless, containerisation and GPU-based model hosting, using Infrastructure as Code for cost-effective, repeatable deployments.
• Drive Observability: Implement robust observability covering system performance, reliability and the quality of AI outputs, so issues are found and resolved proactively.
• Integrate with our Enterprise Platforms: Design solutions that integrate with our event-driven exam processing platform and with content management and item banking systems, collaborating with cross-functional groups to keep solutions decoupled and scalable Build Web-App Solutions: Develop responsive, high-performance web applications that make assessment experts and examiners faster and more confident, adapting to user feedback and business priorities through iterative collaboration.
• Lead Automation and CI/CD: Drive automation through CI/CD pipelines to accelerate delivery and minimise technical debt, promoting agile ways of working that encourage team input and adaptability.
• Mentor and Collaborate: Guide engineers, foster a culture of learning and inclusivity, and collaborate with Technical Product Manager for their project, the other project team, platform and schema owners, and the Solution Lead so that shared components and formats stay consistent.
• Facilitate Stakeholder Engagement: Act as a key liaison in stakeholder groups, translating technical concepts including what AI can and cannot reliably do into actionable insights, resolving conflicts, and building consensus to ensure project success.

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition.

How you'll work

Location: Cambridge, UK – Hybrid (at least 2-3 days per week in the office)

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week

About You

As a hands-on Tech Lead, you’ll bring broad expertise in cloud-native architecture and in building products that depend on language models, coupled with exceptional soft skills to thrive in collaborative environments. Your experience includes taking AI-enabled solutions into production, with a realistic understanding of their strengths, limitations and failure modes, and a focus on horizontal skills like problem-solving, adaptable design thinking, and leading through influence. You excel in agile, cross-functional teams, where your ability to communicate effectively, mentor diverse groups, and work alongside domain experts is as critical as your technical acumen. You will be expected to apply your technical skills directly-writing code, architecting systems, and solving complex technical challenges alongside your team.

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

For a detailed job description, please refer to the link at the bottom of the advert on our careers site.

Visa sponsorship: check with employer