Interim Head of Engineering and AI
Leading Buy-Side Investment Firm | London | 12 Months contract position
The Opportunity
Join a leading buy-side investment firm as Head of Engineering and AI , taking ownership of proprietary investment and operations platforms while driving the transformation to AI-augmented development.
This is a hands-on leadership role for an engineering leader who treats software as a craft, has strong opinions on modern application architecture, and is energized by building AI-native delivery capabilities.
What You’ll Own:
Proprietary Applications
- Lifecycle ownership of core investment and operations systems
- Application portfolio including architecture, technical roadmap, framework modernization
- Decommissioning legacy components and driving technical evolution
AI-Augmented Delivery
- Drive adoption of Claude Code , agentic pipelines, and AI-generated testing across the development lifecycle
- Productionize existing PoCs (unit test generation, codebase documentation, ADO-to-GitHub automation)
- Build AI-native delivery model reducing external supplier dependency
MCP & Integration Architecture
- Build MCP connector layer exposing proprietary systems to firm’s AI estate
- Implement governance, audit trails, and access controls
- Enable secure, governed AI integration with core platforms
Team & Supply Model
- Lead small senior in-house engineering squad augmented by selected contractors
- Set engineering standards, code review culture, and delivery cadence
- Reduce dependency on external development suppliers through AI-augmented in-house capability
Governance & Audit Readiness
- Ensure institutional investor scrutiny standards met
- AI code provenance, container hardening, change control, full audit trails
- FCA regulated environment compliance without slowing delivery
We’re Looking For
An engineering leader who has done the work, not just managed it.
Essential:
- Strong track record building and running proprietary applications in financial services
- Experience of managing onshore and offshore teams.
- Deep .NET background with modernization programme experience
- Multi-language fluency – .NET, Python, TypeScript, SQL
- Hands-on AI tooling experience – Claude Code, Cursor, or equivalent AI-native development tools with clear POV on effective use
- MCP, agent frameworks, or LLM integration – practical production experience
- Cloud & data platforms – Azure and Databricks fluency
- Team leadership – experience leading small senior teams and managing supplier relationships
- In-house ownership bias – proven track record reducing external dependency for critical IP
- FCA regulated environment – judgement to maintain compliance without blocking velocity
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