Job Openings Azure AI Development Specialist

About the job Azure AI Development Specialist

AI Development Specialist (Azure)

6-Month Contract | Enterprise Financial Services Programme
Contract Period: 02 February 2026 – 31 July 2026

Role Overview

We are seeking a senior AI Development Specialist to lead the design, build, and deployment of production-grade AI solutions on Microsoft Azure for a large-scale enterprise programme within the financial services sector.

This is a hands-on, delivery-focused contract role where you will own end-to-end AI solution delivery — from data ingestion and model development through to secure deployment, observability, and operational readiness.

You will work closely with architecture, data, security, and platform teams to ensure solutions are scalable, compliant, cost-effective, and production ready.

Key Responsibilities

  • Design and implement AI solutions using Azure AI services, including Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search, and Azure Machine Learning.

  • Build and deploy Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions with optimized prompts and performance tuning.

  • Develop secure, scalable APIs and event-driven integrations using Azure API Management and Event Hub.

  • Containerize AI workloads and deploy to AKS, Azure App Service, or Azure Functions.

  • Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines supporting DevOps and MLOps best practices.

  • Ensure observability, reliability, cost optimisation, and performance monitoring of AI workloads.

  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver solutions aligned to enterprise standards.

  • Produce and maintain architecture diagrams, runbooks, and operational documentation.

  • Apply Responsible AI principles, security controls, and compliance requirements throughout the solution lifecycle.

Core Technology Stack

AI & Machine Learning

  • Azure OpenAI Service

  • Azure AI Studio

  • Azure AI Search

  • Azure Machine Learning

Data & Integration

  • Azure Data Lake Storage

  • Azure Synapse / Microsoft Fabric

  • Azure Data Factory

  • Azure Event Hub

  • Azure API Management

Compute & Hosting

  • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

  • Azure Functions

  • Azure App Service

  • Infrastructure as Code (Bicep, ARM, or Terraform)

DevOps / MLOps

  • Azure DevOps and/or GitHub Actions

  • MLflow integration

  • Monitoring and telemetry dashboards

Languages & Frameworks

  • Python (required)

  • C#/.NET or TypeScript/Node.js

  • LangChain and/or Semantic Kernel (preferred)

Required Experience

  • 7+ years in software engineering and/or machine learning engineering.

  • 3+ years delivering production AI solutions on Microsoft Azure.

  • Demonstrated experience shipping enterprise-grade AI solutions, supported by architecture diagrams and runbooks.

  • Strong expertise in:

    • RAG architecture design

    • Prompt engineering

    • Model performance optimisation

  • Solid data engineering capabilities and secure system integration patterns.

  • Practical experience applying Responsible AI, governance, and compliance standards.

Core Competencies

  • Strong problem-solving skills with an outcome-driven mindset.

  • Excellent communication skills and ability to engage senior technical and business stakeholders.

  • Collaborative leadership style with mentoring capability.

  • Comfortable working in environments with ambiguity and incremental delivery.

Nice to Have

  • Experience with Microsoft Fabric and/or Databricks on Azure.

  • Background in financial services or regulated environments.

  • Azure AI Engineer Associate certification or equivalent.

Qualifications

  • Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field
    OR equivalent proven industry experience.

Equal Opportunity Statement

We are committed to building diverse and inclusive teams. All qualified candidates will be considered based on skills, experience, and potential, without regard to any protected characteristics.


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