Associate AI Engineer - Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - HEO

Darlington, London, Wolverhampton

We are MHCLG

Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people's lives. Whether it's through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we're all part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda. We have ambitious and far-reaching outcomes to achieve this year and, if you're thinking of joining us, there's never been a more exciting time.

AI technology is rapidly evolving and there is immense opportunity to harness this capability to transform delivery at MHCLG. The new AI directorate at MHCLG is driving forward AI development and adoption across the department and support to partners in local government. We are looking for a passionate and enthusiastic junior AI engineer to join our team and be at the leading edge of AI delivery in a central government department, to deliver high-impact projects at pace to improve outcomes and productivity. You will help to unlock new approaches through the adoption of AI tools and techniques to build the evidence base that drives smarter, more impactful decisions.

You will contribute to the discovery, pilot, implementation and scaling of AI projects by the Directorate, developing models for secure, ethical and effective AI tools that deliver high value opportunities and improve outcomes. You will join a multi-disciplinary team of technical experts (including data engineers, data scientists, developers, user research, delivery managers, service owners) with an ambitious and exciting remit to harness the potential of AI, working on high impact projects that deliver operational efficiencies and support policy development through the rapid prototyping and scaling of products and services.

You will be forward deployed, working collaboratively across the organisation, interacting with a range of stakeholders to explore, build and maintain foundational AI capability and champion the role of AI in the process.

Find out more about our Digital teams and what they are working on through our MHCLG Digital blog . Please note that MHCLG do not offer visa sponsorship and applicants will need a valid visa for the duration of your employment.

As an Associate AI Engineer, you'll:

• Work within agile, multidisciplinary teams to develop, configure and deliver AI / machine learning capability through new products and services, delivering minimum viable products (MVPs) and iterating based on user needs
• Develop, configure and deliver AI prototypes and scaling to production, supporting testing and system integration as required, helping to ensure expected performance requirements are met
• Listen, interpret and respond to feedback from customers about the services provided. Involve a diverse range of colleagues, stakeholders and delivery partners to integrate and improve. Establish relationships and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure approaches are appropriate and outputs meet end-user expectations
• Apply your knowledge of policies relating to AI ethics and responsible use. Research and apply developments in data ethics and privacy to improve compliance and processes. Identify risks and resolve issues efficiently. Promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation
• Confidently develop, implement, maintain and review AI delivery in line with best practice and standards. Use agreed specifications to design, code, test and document programs or scripts, using the right standards and tools.
• Work with others to identify areas for improvement and simplify processes. Continuously improve delivery by identifying potential efficiencies and savings in existing processes
• Champion your role in AI, show positivity and enthusiasm, encouraging others to do the same and have a curiosity for the latest trends in GenAI, agentic AI, LLMOps, and ML more broadly
• Relevant professional experience working in AI or related field, or a combination of qualifications/certifications and experience that demonstrates technical capability

You'll be someone who is motivated, flexible, enthusiastic and passionate about utilising data and AI responsibly for the public good.

As an Associate AI Engineer You'll have:

• An understanding of building end-to-end LLM applications (prompt engineering, data models, API integration, input/output handling, training, monitoring)
• Coding expertise: an understanding of core python libraries and clear, modular, reusable code with error handling and logging
• Cloud and tooling: experience working with Azure; and familiarity with version control (Git/GitHub), command line, and IDEs
• Software engineering practices: unit testing (e.g. pytest), code reviews, and general good practice in collaborative development
• Applied AI/ML: awareness and a willingness to learn and apply a range of standard techniques (supervised/unsupervised ML, cross-validation, time-series, NLP basics, SQL)
• Communication skills: able to explain technical work clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences, manage active and reactive communication, support or host difficult discussions within the team or with diverse senior stakeholders
• Delivery and collaboration: proactive, self-motivated, organised, and effective at working to deadlines as part of a team