Junior AI Engineer

ABOUT VERIAN Verian is a world-leading, purpose-led and independent research, evidence, evaluation and communications agency, providing services to governments and the public realm. We combine expertise in human understanding with advanced technologies and data science to help clients solve complex public policy challenges. At Verian, we are looking for a Junior AI Engineer / Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to help build and deploy AI solutions alongside researchers, project teams and clients. This is a hands-on role at the intersection of AI engineering, applied research and real-world problem solving. Depending on the project and your strengths, you may focus on LLM applications and agentic systems, machine learning and data science, experimentation, client-facing solution development, or AI-enabled policy research. If you are early in your career, enjoy learning by building, and want to apply AI to complex questions with real societal impact, this could be a strong next step. WHAT YOU WILL DO Our projects vary, so your day-to-day work may span several areas. You will initially receive guidance on more complex or ambiguous tasks and take on increasing ownership as your skills grow. AI engineering and agentic systems: Build LLM applications and agentic workflows for research and analysis, including agent harnesses, context and memory systems, tool integrations and orchestration, with appropriate permissions and human oversight.Solution scoping and experimentation: Help define problems, test alternative architectures and compare approaches such as agentic RAG, GraphRAG, single- or multi-agent systems, or simpler solutions when they are more appropriate. Use evidence to balance quality, reliability, complexity, cost and research needs.Technical implementation and testing: Turn promising prototypes into reliable, deployable tools. Build pipelines, APIs and interfaces; test performance and failure handling on realistic tasks; and support data protection, reproducibility and monitoring.Research and analysis: Work with policy researchers to apply AI and data science methods to real research questions. Validate results against expert judgement and simpler methods, preserve source references and reproducible workflows, and contribute to analytical outputs.Client engagement and communication: Work with project teams and clients to understand needs, define requirements and success criteria, demonstrate solutions, gather feedback and support adoption. You may also contribute to technical proposals and policy-relevant findings. WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR We welcome talented recent graduates and early-career applicants. You do not need to arrive with expertise in every area; we are looking for strong foundations, curiosity and evidence that you learn quickly. Relevant foundation: A degree in computer science, artificial intelligence, data science, statistics, computational social sciences, economics or a related field. Other backgrounds and equivalent practical experience are welcome when supported by relevant skills and projects.Evidence that you like to build: Experience creating and testing AI applications, ML models or analytical workflows through studies, personal projects, internships or professional work. We are interested in what you contributed, how you evaluated the result and what you improved.Programming skills: Working knowledge of Python and confidence learning or working with JavaScript/TypeScript. Familiarity with APIs, version control and structured development practices is valuable.AI curiosity and practical judgement: You follow relevant AI research, model releases and developer tools, test new approaches yourself, challenge assumptions constructively and use evidence to decide what is worth adopting, improving or stopping.Research mindset: Curiosity about research questions, data quality, evidence and the limitations of an analysis. An interest in public policy, social research or how governments make decisions is important.Communication and ownership: Full professional proficiency in English, strong written communication, and the ability to take ownership of well-scoped work while asking for guidance when needed. NICE TO HAVE (NOT ESSENTIAL) Experience with model APIs, RAG or GraphRAG, agent orchestration, MCP tool integrations, context or memory systems, structured outputs, evaluations or execution traces.Exposure to cloud services, deployment, permissions, monitoring or production AI workflows.Familiarity with policy evaluation, EU institutions or public-sector decision-making processes. GROW WITH US Our AI team offers significant autonomy and dedicated time for experimentation, supported by training, coaching and feedback. We want you to explore methods, test tools, share what works and what does not, and become increasingly independent over time. Meaningful impact: Apply your skills to evidence and tools that help governments and third-sector organisations address societal challenges and improve people’s lives.Training and coaching: Develop through practical experimentation and feedback across AI engineering, machine learning, data science, policy research methods, cloud services and project delivery.Room to experiment: Propose ideas, test approaches and learn from both successful and unsuccessful experiments.Salary: GBP 1,600 – 2,500 gross per month, depending on your qualifications and experience.Flexibility and wellbeing: We operate with no fixed office hours and offer remote-working options. For office-based employees, remote work is available for up to half of the time. Additional benefits include private employee health insurance*, extra days off and access to the Mindletic Emotional Intelligence Training App.*For office-based employees. DON’T SELF-SELECT OUT We do not expect candidates to meet every single requirement. We value complementary strengths and, especially at junior level, your trajectory matters: how you learn, respond to feedback and turn new understanding into better work. If you are strong in some of these areas and motivated to develop in others, we encourage you to apply. HOW TO APPLY Please submit your CV through our application system. Where relevant, include links to GitHub, a portfolio or projects that help us understand what you have built. We review applications based on relevant skills, experience, projects and motivation. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We value diversity and welcome applications from people with different backgrounds and experiences. If you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.