Principal AI Engineer - Microsoft Technologies

At Ingentive, we are a Microsoft Elite Partner recognised as one of the Great Places to Work, and proud to hold all seven Microsoft solution designations. As a member of the Microsoft Inner Circle, we rank in the top 1% of partners globally, and were recently named Microsoft’s #2 enterprise partner for driving advanced agentic AI transformations. We specialise in transforming business systems through AI-led application development and process optimisation, with a strong focus on both Power Platform, the Dynamics 365 stack for CRM and ERP. Our mission is to help organisations unlock value by combining intelligent agents, natural language interfaces, and low-code platforms to build scalable, governed solutions that solve real business challenges. Award-winning and innovation-driven, we are at the forefront of the shift from traditional low-code to intelligent business applications empowering fusion teams to deliver faster, smarter, and more impactful. The Role As Principal AI Engineer, you'll be the engineer the CTO hands the hard problems to. You'll take the complex, multi discipline deals and projects that today can only be shaped by the CTO, and own them end to end: discovery, solution design, estimate, Statement of Work, and then the build. This is a hands on role for a full stack engineer who has added AI and data engineering to a strong software foundation, understands the Microsoft business applications stack well enough to design across it, and has the commercial sense to produce proposals a client will sign. You'll set the technical bar for AI delivery at Ingentive and free the CTO to focus on strategy and the wider business. Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Experience Essential - Engineering first. 8+ years of hands on software engineering, now applied to AI and the Microsoft business applications stack. You learned the applications on top of an engineering foundation, not the other way round - Full stack software engineering: modern backend and frontend development (for example C#/.NET, TypeScript, Python, React), APIs, integration, and cloud native design on Azure - Applied AI engineering: LLM applications, agents and orchestration, retrieval augmented generation, evaluation and guardrails, using Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, Copilot Studio, and open source frameworks - Data engineering: data modelling, pipelines, and lakehouse patterns using Microsoft Fabric, Dataverse, and SQL - General technology breadth across infrastructure, networking, identity, security, devices, and hardware, with the confidence to work from an edge device up to a tenant wide Entra design - Working knowledge of Power Platform, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and Copilot, and how they fit together in a client estate - Commercially minded: estimates work accurately, understands margin and risk, and can hold a pricing or scope conversation with a client - Produces excellent written client documents: proposals, Statements of Work, high level designs, and option papers - Credible with C level stakeholders and with engineers alike; runs workshops, presents, and negotiates scope - Learns new technology at speed and applies it on live client work within weeks - updates. Desirable - Consultancy or Microsoft partner experience, including pre sales - Experience transitioning solutions into managed service or support - Microsoft certifications such as Azure AI Engineer, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Fabric Analytics Engineer, or Power Platform Solution Architect - Experience with IoT, edge, or hardware integrated solutions - Background working with regulated industries such as financial services, public sector, or healthcare - Experience leading or technically directing a small engineering team Behaviors and Competencies Performance Measures We'll review your performance together against your personal and team objectives, the responsibilities above, and the following measures: - Complex opportunities shaped and converted without CTO involvement, measured by value and win rate - Quality and accuracy of Statements of Work, designs, and estimates, including variance between estimated and actual effort - Engineering quality on the solutions you build and review: defect rates, client feedback, CSAT scores, and managed service handover - Utilisation and billable contribution against your agreed targets - Reduction in CTO time spent on deal shaping and technical delivery - Reusable IP and accelerators contributed, and growth of the engineers you mentor - Behaviour in line with Ingentive's values Objectives and Responsibilities You'll work across the areas below, in line with Ingentive's delivery standards and technology strategy. The mix will vary by engagement and client, but you should expect the majority of your time to be hands on: shaping, designing, and building. Complex Solution Shaping and Pre Sales - Lead the technical side of complex and non standard opportunities from first conversation to signed Statement of Work - Run discovery sessions and technical workshops with client stakeholders to establish requirements, constraints, integration points, and target architecture - Produce proposals, Statements of Work, high level designs, and estimates to the standard clients currently expect from the CTO - Advise the CCO and Sales on pricing assumptions, delivery models, and technical risk Hands On AI, Data, and Software Engineering - Design and build AI solutions: LLM applications, agents, retrieval pipelines, evaluation, and guardrails on Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, and Copilot Studio - Build the full stack around them: APIs, integration, data pipelines, front ends, and infrastructure as code on Azure - Take technical ownership of the complex projects you shape, through to handover to managed services - Build reference implementations, prototypes, and accelerators that the wider team can reuse Engineering Standards and Mentoring - Set and maintain the engineering standard for AI, data, and pro code delivery: architecture patterns, coding standards, testing, DevOps, and security - Review designs, code, and estimates from AI, Data, and Pro-code engineers - Mentor engineers and consultants, and drive adoption of AI assisted engineering tooling across delivery CTO Office Support - Stand in for the CTO in client, Microsoft, and internal technical meetings when required - Contribute to technology strategy, capability planning, and recruitment for technical roles - Contribute to Ingentive's internal tooling, IP, and engineering playbooks - Represent Ingentive externally through events, content, and Microsoft partner activity where appropriate Quality Measures Quality will be assessed against the consistency, robustness and reliability of delivered work, including how effectively solutions are designed, assured, documented and transitioned into support. - Solutions are designed with clear architecture principles, appropriate governance, security controls and future scalability in mind. - Technical outputs are peer reviewed, tested and validated before handover, with risks, assumptions and dependencies clearly identified. - Implemented solutions demonstrate low defect levels, strong operational stability and alignment with agreed client requirements. - Documentation is accurate, complete, version controlled and suitable for both technical teams and client stakeholders. - Delivery follows Ingentive standards for configuration, security, naming conventions, knowledge transfer and support readiness. - Recommendations and design decisions are evidence-based, clearly explained and proportionate to the client’s environment, constraints and desired outcomes. - Client handover is clear and effective, enabling successful adoption, maintainability and ongoing operational ownership. - Lessons learned, quality improvements and reusable patterns are captured and shared to improve future delivery consistency. - Work is delivered with professional attention to detail, with issues escalated early and corrective actions followed through to closure. Teammates’ benefits: - Bonus Schemes - Life Assurance + Private medical cover - Group income protection - Great Company Pension - Enhanced Sick Pay - Enhanced Family Leave Pay - Volunteering Leave - Recognition and loyalty award scheme - 24/7 access to EAP including Wisdom AI app - Bright Exchange marketplace - Hybrid working from our Central London Office Our Purpose and Values Vision - Empowering enterprises to their full potential with intelligent Microsoft solutions Mission - To create frontier enterprises Values – Passion, Performance, Partnership Successful applicants must have the right to work in the UK and a basic DBS check is required for this position. Ingentive are committed to equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates. As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we will provide reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process to ensure equal access to applicants with disabilities. Please contact us about your needs so that we can discuss these with you to make sure that suitable adjustments are made, where possible.