Applied AI Engineer

Role at a Glance 

Reporting To: Head of Engineering

Location: Hybrid — with 1 day per week in Belfast Office

Employment Type: Full-Time, Permanent

Department: Engineering — Applied AI

Salary: Competitive — dependent on experience

Team: Engineering

About the Role 

This is a new and a senior role. We are standing up CloudGuard’s applied AI function and the person we hire builds it and sets its direction. 

Day to day you will be hands-on in Python and Azure — training models, taking agentic workflows from prototype into secure production deployment, and building the search and retrieval layers underneath them. 

You will also be trusted with the wider decisions that come with the role: what we train on, how we secure every input surface that reaches a model, and how we satisfy ourselves that an output is correct rather than plausible. We are asking for experience because you will be making those calls as you grow the role. You will have people to think with: an engineering team that has built and shipped this platform, analysts who run our SOC every day, and a CTO close to the work. 

Key Responsibilities 

Model Development & Production Delivery 

• Build and train ML models in Python using PyTorch, sklearn and TensorFlow, and own the data work behind them: sourcing, cleaning, encoding and vectorisation. 

• Take agentic workflows from prototype into secure, production-grade deployment, and support them once they are live. 

• Design and maintain search and retrieval systems as our data needs grow. 

• Build on Azure as the platform’s primary AI tooling. 

Security & Model Protection 

• Apply model security across every input surface: jailbreak prevention and prompt injection defence wherever untrusted input reaches a model. 

• Extend the platform’s model guardrails as you add new capability. 

• Flag risk early — “here’s the gotcha” or “consider doing it this way” — rather than waiting to be asked. 

Leadership & Strategic Input 

• Own the technical direction of CloudGuard’s applied AI function, including which problems we take on next. 

• Advise on our data strategy and on the architecture of the secure interfaces that sit in front of our models. 

• Validate and improve existing AI capability so we can stand behind what it produces. 

• Act as a second, deeper line of technical judgement alongside the engineers already reviewing this work. 

About CloudGuard 

CloudGuard is a UK-based Microsoft Security specialist MSSP – built differently from the ground up. Operating dual Security Operations Centres in Manchester and Belfast, we combine deep Microsoft security expertise with human-led operations to deliver security that is measurable, scalable, and continuously evolving. We exist to close the gap between the security organisations think they have and the security they actually need. ‘Security. Done Different.’ is not a tagline, it’s how we operate every day. 

What We’re Looking For 

Experience & Background 

• Python at production standard, with hands-on modelling experience in PyTorch and at least one of sklearn or TensorFlow. 

• You have owned the full modelling lifecycle yourself: sourcing, cleaning, encoding and vectorisation, including how raw text becomes something a model can use and the decisions that get baked in at that first layer. 

• Agentic workflows you have taken into production and then supported, rather than prototypes built against a frontier model. 

• Model security you have applied in production: jailbreak prevention and prompt injection defence across every point where untrusted input reaches a model. 

• Production experience building agents, workflows and model deployments on a major cloud AI platform. Ours is Azure, and equivalent depth on AWS Bedrock or similar transfers. 

• Vector databases you have run in production, and search and retrieval systems that stayed accurate as the data behind them grew. 

• Hands-on with MCP or an equivalent agent-tooling protocol. 

Skills & Qualities 

• Judgement alongside execution — able to lead the function, not just staff it. 

• Genuine industry experience of the gap between “works in a demo” and “works in production.” 

• Security-aware by instinct, treating every input as hostile until proven otherwise. 

• Curious and proactive — brings new ideas rather than waiting to be assigned them. 

• Comfortable owning ambiguity in a function that’s still being defined. 

Qualifications 

• Degree-level education in a relevant field, or equivalent practical experience. 

• Eligible to work in the UK. 

• Willing to undergo standard employment vetting checks common to an MSSP handling customer security data. 

What You Can Expect from CloudGuard 

• Real ownership of CloudGuard’s applied AI function from its earliest stage. 

• Direct exposure to CloudGuard’s platform strategy, working closely with the CTO. 

• A technically credible interview process, with genuine depth rather than box-ticking. 

• The opportunity to shape a multi-year platform with real strategic ambition behind it. 

• Dual SOC operations in Manchester and Belfast — a business with real scale, real clients, and real ambition. 

• Competitive salary and benefits package, reviewed regularly as the business grows. 

How to Apply 

Send your CV and a brief cover note explaining why CloudGuard and this role are the right fit for you. We are more interested in who you are and what you’ve delivered than a perfectly formatted application. 

CloudGuard is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to building a team as diverse as the clients we protect.