Applied AI Engineer (Defence)

• Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
• Security clearance: must be eligible for UK SC-level security clearance (UK national)
• Visa sponsorship: we are not able to sponsor visas for this role
• Closing date: applications reviewed on a rolling basis

The role

We’re looking for Applied AI Engineers to put AI to work inside real defence applications and workflows. This is a hands-on engineering role where you will have impact across a wide variety of projects. Potential projects might include fully engineered solutions, Proof of Concepts (POCs), and applied research to support future defence-relevant capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Integrate AI components into applications and workflows, from POCs to fully engineered solutions
• Evaluate model performance, identify failure modes, and design mitigations
• Test and debug non-deterministic systems, building the tooling and evidence needed to trust them
• Provide technical expertise when it is required within the organisation and in client engagements
• Demonstrate flexibility in taking on work aligned to evolving company priorities
• Play an active role in sharing expertise to raise and re-use capability

What makes a great candidate

You don't need to meet every requirement to apply. If this role excites you, we'd like to hear from you.

Applied AI Engineer:

• Experience integrating AI components into applications and workflows, such as building Retrieval Augmented Generation systems
• Experience designing prompts and managing context for LLM applications
• A working understanding of LLM principles and transformer architectures, backed by core machine learning concepts and statistical methods
• Practical experience evaluating LLMs and mitigating their weaknesses
• Experience running AI applications in production, including monitoring and optimisation
• Experience fine tuning or adapting models for specific scenarios, such as for a specialist application or deployment to low power hardware
• Experience building agentic systems, where models plan and act across several steps
• Judgement about the risks and limitations of AI, including knowing when a statistical model or deterministic logic is the better choice

General:

• Strong programming skills, typically in Python, with the flexibility to pick up other modern languages
• A solid grounding in software engineering best practices and a commitment to maintain high engineering standards in all your work
• Excellent verbal and written communication, including the ability to explain technical aspects to non-technical colleagues
• Ability to work effectively with ambiguity, while maintaining a disciplined, outcome-focused approach
• Experience working as part of a team, with enthusiasm for sharing knowledge and collaborating
• Strong academic foundations, typically a first-class from a leading university in Computer Science, Mathematics, AI, or a data related discipline
• Experience in defence or national security is a strong plus

What you can achieve

• Contribute to AI solutions that strengthen UK defence and national security
• Build a strong foundation in POC and production AI systems and engineering best practices that will shape your career
• Develop your skills across the full AI engineering stack and a variety of technologies
• Learn from experienced AI and software engineers who are invested in your growth
• Contribute to meaningful technical decisions as part of a collaborative, low-ego engineering team

Travel

Neptune North works with clients across the UK’s defence sector. Many engagements involve regular travel and time on client site. This could mean two to three days per week over an entire assignment, or shorter periods of full-time on-site working anywhere in the UK, at sites including Cheltenham, Bristol, Glasgow, Portsmouth or other defence hubs. We support travelling staff with full expenses and hotel arrangements, and we discuss client placements with you in advance. We are looking for engineers who see this variety as part of the appeal of consultancy work rather than a downside.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

At Neptune North we are committed to a work environment that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion. We believe diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences help us attract, develop and retain the best talent. We do not discriminate based on gender, age, race or ethnicity, identification as an LGBTQIA+ individual, religion, disability, or any other characteristic protected by relevant local law.