Founding Engineer

Oscar Technology
London, United Kingdom
Last week
Job Type
Permanent
Work Location
Hybrid
Seniority
Senior
Education
Degree
Posted
22 May 2026 (Last week)

Benefits

Bonus Equity

Founding AI Engineer

Location: London (Hybrid / Flexible)
Salary: Competitive DOE + Bonus + Equity

Company Overview

We are working with an early-stage technology company building AI-native systems that help large organisations better understand, govern, and secure complex data and identity ecosystems.

Operating at the intersection ofAI, cyber security, and enterprise data platforms, the business is focused on transforming how organisations model access, risk, and data relationships across increasingly distributed cloud environments.

The team is small, highly technical, and product-focused, with a strong bias toward ownership, rapid iteration, and building systems that operate in complex, real-world enterprise environments. Engineering sits at the centre of everything, and individuals are expected to have a direct impact on product direction and architecture.

The Role

We are seeking aFounding AI Engineer / Engineering Lead to join the business at a pivotal stage as the platform moves from early MVP into scalable production use with enterprise customers.

This is ahands-on technical leadership role, not a product management position.

You will be responsible for designing, building, and scaling core components of an AI-driven enterprise platform, working across data, machine learning, and distributed systems. You will also work directly with early customers to understand real-world use cases and translate them into robust, scalable product capabilities.

This role suits someone who still enjoys building and shipping code, but is comfortable influencing architecture, mentoring engineers, and shaping technical direction.

You will have significant influence over:

  • Core system architecture
  • AI/ML strategy and implementation
  • Data modelling and enterprise integration patterns
  • Early product design decisions
  • Engineering standards and scalability approach

Key Responsibilities

  • Design and build core components of an AI-native enterprise platform from the ground up
  • Develop and deploy machine learning and LLM-based systems in production environments
  • Build scalable data and AI pipelines across complex enterprise datasets
  • Work closely with early enterprise customers to refine requirements and shape product direction
  • Define and implement system architecture for AI, data, and integration layers
  • Build agentic AI workflows and knowledge-driven systems using modern LLM frameworks
  • Implement robust MLOps pipelines for model training, deployment, monitoring, and governance
  • Contribute directly to production code in Python and related AI/data tooling
  • Support technical decision-making around cloud architecture, scalability, and system design
  • Help establish engineering best practices in a fast-moving early-stage environment

Tech Stack

  • Python
  • TensorFlow / PyTorch
  • LLM frameworks (LangChain, LangGraph, or similar agentic AI tooling)
  • AWS / Azure cloud platforms (including AI services such as Bedrock)
  • Data engineering tools (e.g. AWS Glue or equivalent)
  • NLP, embeddings, vector databases, RAG architectures
  • MLOps tooling for model deployment and monitoring
  • Experience with distributed data systems and APIs

Required Skills & Experience

  • Several years' experience in software engineering, data engineering, or AI engineering roles
  • Strong academic background in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or similar
  • Experience working in aproduct-led technology environment (SaaS, AI platform, or similar)
  • Proven ability to ship production-grade AI or data systems
  • Strong Python engineering capability
  • Experience with modern ML / LLM systems and frameworks
  • Exposure to cloud-based AI/ML platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
  • Comfortable working in early-stage environments with ambiguity and ownership
  • Strong communication skills and ability to work directly with technical and non-technical stakeholders

Bonus Experience (Highly Valued)

  • Cyber security / identity / access management (IAM / IdAM) exposure
  • Cloud operations, DevSecOps, or infrastructure-heavy environments
  • Experience in regulated or enterprise-scale domains
  • Knowledge of enterprise data governance, data modelling, or integration architecture

How You Work

  • Highly hands-on and enjoys building systems end-to-end
  • Comfortable operating in ambiguity and shaping problems as well as solving them
  • Strong bias toward delivery, iteration, and practical engineering outcomes
  • Collaborative, but able to take full ownership of technical decisions
  • Interested in building foundational systems, not just features

What We Offer

  • Highly competitive base salary (DOE) + bonus
  • Equity / stock options in a high-growth early-stage business
  • Private medical insurance
  • Hybrid working (London-based, flexible model)
  • High ownership role with significant influence on product and architecture

Oscar Associates (UK) Limited is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

To understand more about what we do with your data please review our privacy policy in the privacy section of the Oscar website.

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Founding Engineer

Tracebit London, United Kingdom
On-site

Founding Customer Success Engineer

Tracebit London, United Kingdom
On-site

Security Engineer (Access Control / CCTV)

Rise Technical Recruitment Edinburgh, Alba / Scotland, United Kingdom
£37,000 – £40,000 pa On-site

Senior Analytics Engineer - UK

Immersive United Kingdom
Remote

Senior Security Researcher

Xact Placements Limited London, United Kingdom
£70,000 – £95,000 pa Remote

Senior Security Consultant

Xact Placements Limited London, United Kingdom
£70,000 – £95,000 pa Remote

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Where to Advertise Cyber Security Jobs in the UK (2026 Guide)

Where to advertise cyber security jobs UK in 2026: the specialist boards, communities and channels that reach offensive, defensive and GRC security talent. The candidate pool is small, heavily vetted and in high demand across government, financial services, critical national infrastructure and the private sector simultaneously. Many of the strongest candidates hold active security clearances, are not actively job-searching through general platforms, and move primarily through specialist networks and trusted referrals. General job boards reach a broad audience but lack the specificity that security professionals expect. Specialist platforms, government-affiliated channels and cleared candidate networks each serve a different part of the market. This guide, published by CybersecurityJobs.tech, covers where to advertise cyber security roles in the UK in 2026, how the main platforms compare, what employers should expect to pay, and what the data says about hiring across different role types.

Cyber Security Jobs UK 2026: What to Expect Over the Next 3 Years

Cyber Security Jobs UK 2026: roles, salaries and the threat intelligence, cloud security and zero-trust hiring trends shaping UK cyber careers. Cyber security is one of the few sectors where demand for talent has never once dipped. Every major technological shift of the past decade — cloud migration, remote working, AI adoption, the proliferation of connected devices — has expanded the attack surface that security professionals are expected to defend. And every expansion of that attack surface has generated more jobs. But the cyber security jobs market of 2026 is not simply a larger version of what it was three years ago. It is a structurally different market. The threats have evolved, the technologies used to combat them have changed, the regulatory environment has tightened considerably, and the roles being created reflect all of that. A job seeker who understands only the cyber security landscape of 2023 is already working with an outdated map. The candidates who will thrive over the next three years are those who understand where the sector is heading — which specialisms are attracting the most investment, which technologies are reshaping defensive and offensive security practice, and how the definition of a cyber security professional is broadening well beyond the traditional image of a network defender in a SOC. This article breaks down what the UK cyber security jobs market is likely to look like through to 2028 — covering the titles emerging right now, the technologies driving employer demand, the skills that will matter most, and how to position your career ahead of the curve.