{"id":66298,"url":"https://alion.io/job/ifs-lead-software-engineer-ai-native-applications","title":"Lead Software Engineer – AI-Native Applications","company":{"id":4263,"name":"IFS","domain":"ifs.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/ifs","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"SmartRecruiters","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":32,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":40,"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"}},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["London, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":94000,"max_usd":191000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":49},"experience_years_min":6,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Agentic Workflows","optional":false},{"name":"AI Agents","optional":false},{"name":"Apache Kafka","optional":false},{"name":"AWS","optional":false},{"name":"Azure","optional":false},{"name":"ChatGPT","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"Claude","optional":false},{"name":"Claude Code","optional":false},{"name":"Copilot","optional":false},{"name":"Cursor","optional":false},{"name":"Function Calling","optional":false},{"name":"Go","optional":false},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":false},{"name":"Model Context Protocol","optional":false},{"name":"Node JS","optional":false},{"name":"Platform Engineering","optional":false},{"name":"PostgreSQL","optional":false},{"name":"Prompt Engineering","optional":false},{"name":"RAG","optional":false},{"name":"React.js","optional":false},{"name":"Redpanda","optional":false},{"name":"Rest API","optional":false},{"name":"TypeScript","optional":false},{"name":"JavaScript","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-20T13:23:12Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-20","last_verified_at":"2026-10-23T22:34:18Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":64,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":64},"description":"At IFS, we're building the next generation of AI-native enterprise software, transforming how some of the world's largest organisations manage assets, operations and critical services.\nThis is an opportunity to work at the forefront of modern AI engineering, building intelligent products that combine Large Language Models (LLMs), agentic AI and cloud-native technologies to solve complex, real-world business challenges at enterprise scale.\nWe're looking for engineers who are passionate about building production AI systems and excited by the opportunity to shape the future of enterprise software.\nPlease note that this role requires demonstrable, hands-on experience designing, building and shipping production AI applications.\nThis role requires strong, demonstrable experience applying Domain-Driven Design (DDD) and specification-driven development in complex production software environments.\nCandidates should be able to demonstrate hands-on experience defining domain models and bounded contexts and using specifications to drive software design and implementation.\nCandidates whose AI experience is limited to using tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor or GitHub Copilot to assist software development, without demonstrable experience building AI-powered products or systems, will not meet the requirements for this role.\nIFS is a billion-dollar revenue company with 7000+ employees on all continents. Our leading AI technology is the backbone of our award-winning enterprise software solutions, enabling our customers to be their best when it really matters-at the Moment of Service™. Our commitment to internal AI adoption has allowed us to stay at the forefront of technological advancements, ensuring our colleagues can unlock their creativity and productivity, and our solutions are always cutting-edge.\nAt IFS, we’re flexible, we’re innovative, and we’re focused not only on how we can engage with our customers but on how we can make a real change and have a worldwide impact. We help solve some of society’s greatest challenges, fostering a better future through our agility, collaboration, and trust.\nWe celebrate diversity and understand our responsibility to reflect the diverse world we work in. We are committed to promoting an inclusive workforce that fully represents the many different cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints of our customers, our partners, and our communities. As a truly international company serving people from around the globe, we realize that our success is tantamount to the respect we have for those different points of view.\nBy joining our team, you will have the opportunity to be part of a global, diverse environment; you will be joining a winning team with a commitment to sustainability; and a company where we get things done so that you can make a positive impact on the world.\nWe’re looking for innovative and original thinkers to work in an environment where you can #MakeYourMoment so that we can help others make theirs. With the power of our AI-driven solutions, we empower our team to change the status quo and make a real difference.\nIf you want to change the status quo, we’ll help you make your moment. Join Team Purple. Join IFS.\nWe're looking for experienced software engineers who combine strong Domain-Driven Design and event-driven architecture with modern AI-native engineering practices.\nYou'll analyse complex enterprise problems using DDD, design event-driven solutions, use specification-driven AI workflows throughout software development, and build production applications where native AI capabilities form an integral part of the customer experience.\nIf you don't have demonstrable DDD, spec driven experience on your CV, you will be rejected.\nThis is not an AI research or MLOps role. We're looking for software engineers who have demonstrable experience shipping production-grade AI-native applications and who use AI as part of both how software is built and what the resulting product can do.\nWe are looking for a talented Lead/Senior Software Engineer to join our Enterprise Asset Management team and play a leading role in designing, building and evolving modern enterprise software.\nYou'll help deliver scalable, secure and high-quality software that solves complex customer challenges while applying modern engineering practices and AI capabilities where they create genuine business value.\nWe're looking for experienced Lead/Senior Software Engineers who have built and shipped complex production systems and who understand how emerging AI technologies can be successfully integrated into enterprise products. This is not an AI research or AI platform engineering role. Instead, you'll work on real customer problems, building domain-driven software where AI enhances product capabilities and customer outcomes.\nThe ideal candidate will demonstrate strong technical leadership, excellent problem-solving and communication skills, and a proven track record of delivering high-quality enterprise software at scale. You'll work closely with Product, Design and Engineering teams to build intelligent Enterprise Asset Management solutions, mentor engineers, drive engineering excellence and help shape the future of enterprise software at IFS.\nEngineering Mindset\nYou are first and foremost a software engineer who enjoys solving complex business problems through well-designed software.\nYou understand how to design scalable systems, model complex business domains and build software that is reliable, maintainable and easy to evolve.\nYou recognise AI as an important capability within modern software engineering and understand how technologies such as Large Language Models (LLMs) can enhance enterprise applications when applied to genuine customer problems.\nYou balance innovation with simplicity, maintainability, security and operational excellence, making pragmatic engineering decisions that deliver long-term value.\nAbove all, you care about building great software that customers rely on every day.\nBusiness Mindset\nAligns engineering decisions with business goals, focusing on initiatives that deliver measurable customer value.\nUnderstands the commercial impact of technical decisions and identifies opportunities where AI and modern technologies can improve business processes, user experiences and operational efficiency.\nBalances innovation with practicality, helping teams make decisions that support long-term product success.\nBuilds for Customers\nDemonstrates a customer-first mindset by making technical decisions based on customer needs and business outcomes.\nWorks closely with Product Management and stakeholders to understand operational challenges and designs software that simplifies workflows, improves decision-making and delivers measurable value.\nApplies AI capabilities thoughtfully where they genuinely improve customer experiences rather than adopting technology for its own sake.\nDrives Progress with Accountability\nTakes ownership of delivering high-quality software by removing blockers, maintaining engineering standards and supporting teammates.\nDelivers on commitments while communicating risks early and making pragmatic decisions around technical debt, architecture, quality and delivery.\nChampions continuous improvement across engineering practices, software quality and team collaboration.\nTechnical Skills\nRequired\nSoftware Engineering\nStrong hands-on experience with Go and modern backend development, ideally alongside TypeScript/Node.js.\nExperience designing and building distributed systems, microservices and RESTful APIs.\nStrong understanding of Domain-Driven Design (DDD), bounded contexts, event-driven architecture and service decomposition.\nExperience building scalable cloud-native applications using technologies such as Kubernetes, Kafka, Redpanda, PostgreSQL and MongoDB.\nExperience working with AWS and/or Azure.\nStrong understanding of CI/CD, automated testing, observability and production operations.\nExperience designing secure software, authentication and authorisation mechanisms and applying DevSecOps principles.\nStrong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to mentor engineers and lead technical initiatives.\nApplying AI in Enterprise Software\nExperience integrating AI capabilities into production software to solve real customer or business problems.\nHands-on experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) within enterprise applications.\nUnderstanding of modern AI application patterns such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), tool calling, prompt engineering and agentic workflows where appropriate.\nExperience evaluating AI-enabled features for quality, reliability, performance, security and operational readiness.\nExperience using AI-assisted engineering tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor or Claude Code to improve software development workflows.\nAppreciation of responsible AI practices including governance, monitoring and observability.\nBeneficial\nExperience with React and modern frontend development.\nExperience building Enterprise SaaS or ERP products.\nExperience working with Model Context Protocol (MCP) or similar AI integration standards.\nExperience with vector databases, AI observability or AI evaluation frameworks.\nExperience designing and delivering enterprise-scale AI platforms or AI-powered products.\n A degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or Information Technology along with minimum 6 years' experience in a similar role.\nExcellent communication and multi-tasking skills along with an innovative mindset.\n We embrace flexibility and hybrid work opportunities to support diverse needs and lifestyles, while also valuing inclusive workplace experiences. By fostering a sense of community, we drive innovation, strengthen connections, and nurture belonging. Our commitment ensures you can work in a way that suits you best, while also engaging with colleagues to share ideas and build meaningful relationships.","description_format":"text","description_chars":9934,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":6,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"English","level":"All levels","optional":false}]},"benefits":["Hybrid work"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["ERP & Business Management Software","Field Service Management Software","Manufacturing & Industrial Software"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-08-20T13:23:12Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":18,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.495,"p_room":0.36,"age_days":63,"expected_fill_days":40,"reasons":["conf:1","stale_co","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/ifs-lead-software-engineer-ai-native-applications","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/ifs-lead-software-engineer-ai-native-applications.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-23T23:21:13Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":6676,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-24T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":4263},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=4263"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fifs-lead-software-engineer-ai-native-applications"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fifs-lead-software-engineer-ai-native-applications"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fifs-lead-software-engineer-ai-native-applications"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/ifs-lead-software-engineer-ai-native-applications\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fifs-lead-software-engineer-ai-native-applications"}]}