Lead AI Engineer

Acorn Insurance is hiring a Lead AI Engineer. This is a senior individual contributor role responsible for the engineering practice, platform and infrastructure underpinning our AI Services function. You will help delivery on the AI strategy at Acorn, pushing our technical direction, platform decisions, and bringing strong software engineering discipline to how AI gets built.

The role spans the AI platform end-to-end: infrastructure, observability, governance, and the toolset that supports AI delivery across the business. You will work directly with the Head of AI Services on AI strategy and platform direction, with the Conversational AI workstream on integration work, and act as the technical escalation point for engineers across the AI function. The role is expected to set and uphold the engineering and governance standards that the AI function runs to.

Job title: Lead AI Engineer

Salary: up to £60,000 depending on experience

Working hours: 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday

Location: Liverpool City Centre on a hybrid working basis

What you’ll be doing:

• Help lead AI strategy at Acorn alongside the Head of AI Services: shape direction, roadmap and the engineering vision for the function.
• Own a substantial share of the AI platform infrastructure: Azure, AKS, Terraform, Helm, Azure Pipelines. Lead its evolution, reliability and operational health.
• Lead engineering practice across AI Services: code review, testing, source control hygiene, deployment patterns, observability.
• Set and uphold observability, performance and governance standards for AI solutions across the business: DPIAs, model documentation, audit trails, evaluation harnesses.
• Integrate APIs cleanly: REST and webhook patterns, OpenAPI, authentication, retry / backoff, contract testing.
• Partner with the Conversational AI workstream to integrate internal APIs with Chat and Voice tooling (Boost.ai, ElevenLabs, comparable platforms).
• Lead evaluation of new platforms, frameworks and AI tooling; drive adoption decisions for the function.
• Act as technical escalation point for AI engineers across the wider function.
• Run cross-team forums to share patterns, new tooling and engineering practice.
• Lead expansion of AI capability into new business domains as the AI estate grows.
• Provide technical direction and mentorship to engineers across teams; raise the engineering bar.
• Operate within a regulated AI governance model: DPIAs, model documentation, observability, human-in-the-loop where appropriate.

What we’re looking for:

• Strong production engineering track record - software, AI or ML at scale, in environments where reliability matters. Real software development practice, not just AI tinkering.
• Working knowledge of LLM application patterns: RAG, structured extraction, evals, prompt and context engineering, agentic workflows.
• Comfort integrating APIs cleanly - REST / webhook, OpenAPI, authentication patterns, retry / backoff, contract testing. You understand how production integrations actually fall over.
• Conversational AI awareness - familiarity with Boost.ai, ElevenLabs or comparable voice / chat platforms, and how to wire them up to internal systems sensibly.
• DevOps fluency: Azure (essential), AKS, Helm, Terraform, Azure Pipelines strongly preferred. You should be comfortable across the whole stack rather than purely application-layer.
• Track record of putting observability, governance and audit story in place at scale.
• Awareness of the constraints of regulated environments: data residency, auditability, ZDR, model risk - design with them in mind from the start.
• Track record of mentoring engineers across teams and shaping engineering culture.
• Comfortable making and defending architecture / tooling calls; comfortable being challenged.
• Senior enough to operate as a credible technical co-owner of the AI platform alongside the Head of AI Services.

This is the technical seat in the AI function with the Group AI Team. You will support with owning the platform, set the bar for engineering practice, and shape how AI scales at Acorn across new domains and new use cases.

Executive backing and a real mandate to do the engineering properly. Acorn delivers non-standard insurance for a non-standard world; this role is the engineering anchor for that ambition.

Grow with Acorn 

At Acorn Insurance, we’re proud of our Liverpool roots — and even prouder of how far we’ve come. As part of the Acorn Group, we bring over 40 years of specialist insurance expertise to the table. From humble beginnings, we’ve grown into a national leader, now employing 1,700+ people across the UK and reached a milestone £750 million in total value of insurance policies written in 2024. 

We’re growing fast, with new opportunities emerging every week. That growth is largely due to the values we share: 

• 🦏 We run through walls for our customers and each other 

• 🐐 We challenge the status quo 

• 🐧 We succeed when we help those around us succeed 

• 🐆 We decide quickly when the smart thing to do is use our judgement 

Benefits: 

• 🌴 A maximum of 35 days’ holiday (depending on role and tenure) including bank holidays, with additional buy/sell options 

• 🧠 24/7 mental health support & free counselling available 

• ☝ Grow with us: Through career fairs, leadership programs, and learning on the go! 

• 💸 Flexible benefits, including early access to salary via our internal platform 

• 🏡 Hybrid working options to support work-life balance and individual needs 

• 🎉 Recognition awards, social events & more  

Our Commitment to our colleague’s:  

These aren’t just words — they’re the principles we live by. And we’re proud to back them up with real action, earning recognition and accreditation from leading organisations that share our commitment to people and growth: 

• 🧠 Mindful Employer – championing mental health and wellbeing 

• ♿ Disability Confident Level 1 & 2 – creating accessible, inclusive opportunities 

• 🌸 Menopause Friendly accredited – supporting every stage of life 

• 🎖️ Armed Forces Covenant signatory – honouring those who serve 

• 🎖️ Armed Forces Defence employer recognition scheme - Supporting those who serve 

• 🏆 Great Places to Work 2024/25 – fostering an engaging and positive workplace culture 

• 📈 Best Place to Work for Development – proud to be investing in people’s future 

• 👩‍💼 Best Place to Work for Women – breaking down barriers to women's career progression 

If you’re looking for a company with a strong culture, real career progression, and a people-first approach — all rooted in the heart of Liverpool — Grow with Acorn. 

A Few Things to Know Before You Apply 

We’re really excited that you’re considering joining Acorn! To help everything go smoothly, here are a couple of things to keep in mind: 

If your application is successful, we will commence relevant employment checks prior to you commencing employment with us. These will include a standard criminal record check and an insolvency register check. 

🌍 Visa Requirements 
Because our training is quite comprehensive, we can only consider applicants who have at least one year remaining on their Graduate or Post-Study Work visa. At the moment, we’re not able to offer visa sponsorship. 

💬 We’re Here to Support You 
We’re committed to creating an inclusive, supportive workplace where everyone can flourish. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process—or once you’re part of the team—just let us know. Whether it’s flexible hours, adapted equipment, or a bit of extra support, we’ll work with you to make sure you can do your best work. 

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