Lead / Principal AI Engineer
AKQA, London
About the job
At AKQA (part of WPP), we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to design a better future. Our Technology teams combine engineering excellence, creativity and innovation to build intelligent digital products, platforms and experiences for some of the world's most ambitious brands.
As a Lead / Principal AI Engineer, you'll design, build and deliver production-grade AI systems, intelligent workflows and agentic solutions that power modern digital experiences. From consumer-facing applications and connected digital products to intelligent marketing platforms and bespoke enterprise tools, you'll turn emerging AI capabilities into reliable, scalable and commercially valuable solutions.
This is a highly hands-on engineering role within AKQA's London studio, combining deep technical expertise with architecture and technical leadership. You'll spend the majority of your time designing and building solutions, while also working closely with clients, creative teams, strategists and engineers to translate ambitious ideas into production-ready technology.
You'll bring a strong background in backend or platform engineering, alongside recent, practical experience delivering generative AI and agentic systems into live environments. You'll understand that building a successful AI solution goes far beyond a prototype, requiring robust architecture, evaluation, security, observability and careful management of cost, performance and reliability.