Principal GenAI Engineer (AI)

TL;DR

Principal GenAI Engineer (AI): Shaping the technical architecture and strategic direction of GenAI platforms with an accent on agentic workflows, RAG, and LLM-powered tooling. Focus on designing high-stakes AI systems, establishing architectural standards, and ensuring responsible AI governance at scale.

Location: On-site in London with flexibility to work from home up to 1 day per week.

Company

hirify.global is the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace, connecting private sellers with verified dealers through a technology-led platform.

What you will do

• Set the overarching architecture for GenAI, including patterns for prompt design, RAG, and agent orchestration.
• Design and build the most complex technical components, leading high-risk, high-reward AI initiatives.
• Hold sign-off authority on architectural decisions for complex GenAI systems.
• Advise leadership on build-vs-buy strategies for AI infrastructure and vendor selection.
• Drive cost, latency, and throughput optimization across production systems.
• Define responsible AI principles and ensure alignment with regulatory frameworks like the EU AI Act.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience building production AI/ML systems, with at least 2 years in GenAI.
• Strong engineering fundamentals in Python and modern API-driven architectures on cloud infrastructure (AWS).
• Hands-on expertise with LLM APIs, prompt engineering, RAG, agentic architectures, and evaluation frameworks.
• Proven track record of setting architectural standards adopted across multiple engineering teams.
• Experience aligning engineering decisions with responsible AI frameworks like NIST AI RMF or the EU AI Act.
• Ability to communicate complex technical strategy to executive and board-level audiences.

Nice to have

• External technical presence through publications, open-source contributions, or conference talks.
• Experience leading organizations through major AI paradigm shifts.
• Working knowledge of ML Engineering and platform layers.
• Background in regulated, safety-critical, or trust-heavy domains.

Culture & Benefits

• Stock options to share in company growth.
• Comprehensive health insurance through BUPA and fitness discounts.
• Generous parental benefits including 6 months full paid maternity leave.
• Pension scheme through NEST.
• Budget for personal development, books, and conferences.
• Cycle to work scheme and regular social events.