Shawbrook is a specialist bank driven by a purpose to power up ingenuity to create opportunity, every single day.             

We offer a diverse range of savings and loan products. From personal and business savings accounts and loans for weddings and new cars, to complex financial credit facilities for businesses requiring significant investment and mortgages for landlords with multiple properties – no two customers are ever the same.     

We give our customers the best-of-both worlds; uniquely combining strong digital capabilities with human expertise and ingenuity to deliver the best outcomes. We rise to the challenge of a complex case or unconventional circumstances, and we love to make things happen. By being creative, practical, and personal, we know we can always find the right solution for our customers.

If you’re willing to roll up your sleeves, contribute new ideas and believe anything is possible, you’re our kind of person

Work with us because you:

• Want to be part of a bank built for the dynamics of the modern world
• Relish a challenge and enjoy a fast-paced, innovative, and hardworking culture
• Enjoy finding new and better ways to solve complexity and make things happen
• Want to belong to a diverse culture that stands shoulder to shoulder with minority and underrepresented groups
• Care about society and the environment and want to be part of a business that cares too
• Want to continue to grow professionally and be the best version of yourself

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior AI Software Engineer with deep expertise in Python and a proven track record of building production-grade systems. This role is at the intersection of software engineering and applied AI, where you’ll design and deliver end-to-end AI applications, integrate large language models (LLMs), and provide technical leadership across teams.

The ideal candidate is a strong engineer first and foremost, with the ability to write clean, scalable, and maintainable code in Python, while also keeping pace with the fast-moving AI landscape.

Responsibilities

• End-to-End Development: Design, implement, and deploy AI-powered applications with a strong emphasis on backend Python engineering.

• Backend Systems: Build and maintain production services using Python (FastAPI, SQL), ensuring modularity, reliability, and scalability.

• AI/LLM Integration: Apply deep technical skills in LLM development (prompt engineering, RAG, vector databases, agentic frameworks) to real-world problems.

• Engineering Best Practices: Drive high standards in CI/CD, testing, version control, and code quality to ensure production readiness.

• Standardisation & Reuse: Establish reusable frameworks and components to accelerate AI solution development across teams.

• Technical Leadership: Provide architectural direction, perform in-depth code reviews, and act as a trusted consultant to internal teams.

• Mentorship: Mentor junior engineers, fostering strong engineering skills and AI literacy.

• Continuous Learning: Stay at the forefront of both Python engineering practices and emerging AI technologies.

Required Skills & Experience

• Education: MSc (or equivalent) in Computer Science, AI, or related field.

• Experience:

  • 5+ years of professional experience as a software engineer with strong Python development skills.

  • 2–3 years hands-on experience with Generative AI/LLMs.

• Technical Strengths:

  • Advanced Python programming skills (data structures, concurrency, performance optimization).

  • Backend frameworks (e.g., FastAPI) and relational databases (SQL).

  • Strong understanding of LLMs, embeddings, prompt engineering, and agentic frameworks.

  • Expertise in CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and production deployments.

  • Experience with cloud platforms (Azure, GCP, AWS).

• Soft Skills:

  • Excellent communicator, able to explain complex systems to diverse audiences.

  • Strong leadership and mentoring abilities.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• AI evaluation and quality assurance experience.

• MLOps skills, including fine-tuning and monitoring AI models.

• Cloud infrastructure management for AI workloads.

• Frontend development (React/JavaScript).

• Multi-cloud deployment expertise (Azure, GCP, AWS).

• MSc (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or related field.

• 5+ years of professional experience as a software engineer with strong Python development skills.

• 2–3 years hands-on experience with Generative AI/LLMs.

Your Wellbeing - We take your health and well-being very seriously by providing a range of benefits to give you and your family peace of mind. These include:

• Market leading family friendly policies such as access to our Maternity, Adoption and Paternity policies from Day 1 of your employment
• Free access to Headspace, a mindfulness & meditation digital health app
• Free access to Peppy digital health app that offers personalised support through fertility treatment becoming a parent or menopause
• EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) - Offering you support on a wide range of subjects including financial concerns, mental wellbeing and more general queries around family, work, housing, and health
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounts on gym membership
• Contributory pension scheme & death in service

Your Lifestyle - It’s important you strike the right balance between your work and personal life. We provide benefits to support you when at work and when you’re enjoying your leisure time.

• Minimum of 27 days holiday per year
• Option to buy or sell holiday days through our flexi-holiday scheme
• Discounts on gym membership nationwide
• Access to discounts on a range of high street and online brands
• Community support and charitable giving

Your Contribution - We’re focused on rewarding those that go the extra mile in helping us achieve our goals.

• Participation in our annual discretionary bonus scheme designed to reward your contribution to our success
• Proudly Shawbrook recognition scheme focused on recognising our role models and thanking our colleagues for a job well done