Principal Engineer – AI Productivity Lab

JOB TITLE: Principal Engineer – AI productivity lab

LOCATION: London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds or Manchester

HOURS: Full-time – 35 hours

WORKING PATTERN: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least two days per week, or 40% of our time, at one of our office sites. Colleagues with disabilities can be supported with workplace adjustments including hybrid working expectations in line with our Flexibility Works policy. 

What you’ll be doing…

We’re looking for Principal Engineers to join our new AI Productivity Lab, focused on accelerating employee productivity and process automation through cutting‑edge agentic co‑working technologies. This is a hands‑on leadership role, designing and building domain‑specific agents, tools and reusable capabilities, and taking solutions from prototype through to operational MVP. Working closely with the Head of the Lab and business stakeholders, the role will embed AI agents into real team workflows, SOPs and tooling, driving measurable impact. It will also shape a scalable repository of skills, tools and operating procedures, while mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction. Based within the CTO’s Data & AI unit, the role contributes to the Group’s AI strategy and helps develop new, practical ways of working powered by applied AI innovation.

If you want to build and scale real-world AI solutions that change how people work every day, we’d love to hear from you—apply now and help shape the future of productivity.

Why Join us?

If you think all banks are the same, you’re wrong. We’re a pioneering, fast-changing business that’s shaping finance as a force for good. If you’re after a role where you can have an impact and do the best work of your career, you’ve just found it

What we’re looking for?

• Experience of leading the delivery of technology solutions to business areas in complex production environments, with ownership of business outcomes 

• Extensive knowledge and hands-on experience of solutions architecture, software engineering and business process automation 

• Strong hands-on experience with agentic coding and/or coworking technology and ecosystem (e.g. Claude Code and/or Cowork, OpenClaw, GitHub Copilot) 

• Strong understanding of operational processes and risk management (Financial Services preferred) 

• Ability to influence stakeholders and guide teams through ambiguity, translating productivity opportunities into clear technical direction and MVPs 

• Expertise in knowledge management, enterprise ontology and knowledge graph technology 

• Business process optimisation experience (e.g. Business Process Modelling, Lean Six Sigma)

• Experience with applied research / experimentation

We know that great talent comes from many backgrounds. Whilst this job advert may reference specific years of experience, we recognise that skills are developed in many ways, so if you have relevant, transferable experience, we encourage you to apply.

This is a place for you…

We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns. And, as a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for a fair and proportionate number of applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role with a disability, long-term health or neurodivergent condition through the Disability Confident Scheme.

We also offer a wide-ranging benefits package, which includes…

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%

• An annual bonus award, subject to Group performance

• Share schemes including free shares

• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping

• 30 days’ holiday, with bank holidays on top

• A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies

Ready for a career where you’ll learn and thrive? Apply today and find out more.