Lead AI Research Engineer

Lead AI Research Engineer

London | £170,000 - £220,000 + Significant Growth Opportunity

I'm currently working exclusively with an exceptionally well-funded and highly ambitious technology business that's building next-generation AI solutions at the intersection of machine learning, quantitative research, and financial markets.

This is a genuinely rare opportunity to join a business where AI isn't a support function, it's at the core of the product, strategy, and future direction.

The company has already built the foundations of its proprietary trading platform and is now entering a significant growth phase. Their focus is shifting towards cutting-edge AI research, autonomous agents, machine learning-driven trading models, and advanced quantitative analytics. As part of this growth, they're seeking their first dedicated Lead AI Research Engineer to take ownership of technical direction whilst leading and mentoring a highly capable team of AI researchers and engineers.

The Opportunity

This is a unique role for someone who wants to remain hands-on whilst stepping into a genuine leadership position.

You'll lead a growing team of AI and machine learning specialists, shaping research strategy, overseeing project delivery, mentoring engineers, and acting as the bridge between executive leadership and technical teams. The successful candidate will help define the company's AI roadmap whilst continuing to contribute directly to some of the most challenging research problems in the market.

Current initiatives include:

• Developing AI-powered trading agents capable of analysing vast quantities of market data and supporting investment decision-making.
• Building machine learning models and autonomous systems designed to identify and exploit market opportunities.
• Designing and deploying LLM-powered research and strategy-generation capabilities.
• Driving experimentation, evaluation, model monitoring, and production deployment of AI systems.
• Collaborating closely with quantitative researchers, engineers, and executive leadership to translate commercial objectives into scalable AI solutions.

What We're Looking For

We're keen to speak with experienced AI, Machine Learning, Quantitative Research, or Data Science leaders who combine strong technical credentials with excellent communication and leadership skills. This role will suit somebody who enjoys operating between deep technical problem-solving and stakeholder management.

You'll likely bring:

• Experience leading and mentoring high-performing AI, ML or Data Science teams.
• Strong expertise in LLMs, agentic AI systems, machine learning, and production AI engineering.
• Excellent Python development skills and experience with modern AI tooling and frameworks.
• A strong understanding of financial markets, quantitative research, systematic trading, or adjacent market-facing environments.
• The ability to communicate complex concepts effectively with senior stakeholders and business leaders.
• Experience taking ideas from research through to production deployment.
• A strong academic background in Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, or a similarly quantitative discipline. MSc preferred, PhD advantageous.

Why Join?

This opportunity offers significantly more than a typical leadership position.

You'll be joining at a pivotal point in the company's growth journey, working directly alongside senior leadership to influence both technical and commercial strategy. The successful candidate will inherit a talented team, gain exposure to genuinely frontier AI research, and have a clear pathway towards a future Head of AI, Head of Machine Learning, or broader leadership position as the business scales.

What's on Offer

• £170,000 - £220,000 base salary, with flexibility for exceptional candidates.
• Leadership responsibility from day one, managing an established team with planned future growth.
• Significant influence over AI strategy, research direction, and technology decisions.
• A highly collaborative environment with direct exposure to executive leadership.
• The opportunity to work on research-led AI products at the cutting edge of machine learning and financial technology.
• The chance to shape and scale an AI function with genuine commercial impact and significant long-term growth potential.

Apply

If you're an experienced AI leader who wants to combine cutting-edge research, hands-on engineering, team leadership, and genuine commercial impact, I'd be delighted to discuss this opportunity in confidence.

Please get in touch directly for further information. From a recruitment perspective, this is one of the most exciting AI leadership opportunities I've been briefed on this year.