Principal Software Engineer (AI/ML)

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To be considered for an interview, please make sure your application is full in line with the job specs as found below.

Job Description:

Salary Range: £54,000 - £70,000

Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity.

Your Impact

Are you a software engineer with a working knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)? Are you interested in developing software for some of the most cutting-edge defence and aerospace projects in the UK? If the prospect of developing software for projects such as a sixth-generation stealth fighter jet or a revolutionary Laser Directed Energy product excites you, then Leonardo would like to hear from you.

Leonardo is seeking to recruit Senior or Principal Software Engineers with an interest in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to join our well-established software community within our Electronics UK business. Successful candidates will contribute to the delivery of leading-edge solutions for challenging civilian and military projects.

Leonardo has a significant interest in exploiting AI/ML technologies. In this role, you will support our systems engineers on research projects while developing deployable software solutions that leverage AI/ML capabilities.

What youll bring

You will have experience of, and a passion for, AI/ML. You should hold a degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline, combined with practical experience in delivering high-integrity software products within a regulated environment.

We are looking for candidates with the following technical skills:

• Industry experience working on Agile projects across the full software life cycle.
• Proficiency in machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch and TensorFlow, as well as tools for model integration.
• A strong foundation in AI/ML, including transformer architectures, tokenisation, embeddings, and fine-tuning large language models (LLMs). xwwtmva
• Experience building scalable pipelines, including APIs, vector databases, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and orchestration frameworks.