Principal AI-Native System Enigneer

BT Group is hiring a Principal AI-Native System Engineer to lead the technical direction of cloud-native, data-intensive, AI-enabled systems that support network operations across RAN, Core, data and automation domains. The role sits in DD Ops as a senior technical lead and is based onsite at BT’s UK-wide offices, including London, Manachester, Bristol, Ipswich or Birmingham. If you enjoy translating complex business problems into solid technical designs and guiding high-stakes delivery, this could be a good match.

BT is moving away from large, coordination-heavy delivery toward small expert engineering pods that use AI agents as force multipliers. In this setting, the Principal owns the system engineering discipline, ensuring AI-assisted delivery remains governed, secure, testable and outcome-focused while translating business needs into robust technical architectures.

The role is hands-on and spans from concept to production. You’ll work directly with users, architects, product owners, software engineers, test engineers and technical business analysts to ensure the right solution is specified, built, validated and operated.

Shaping AI-native systems for BT's networks

You will define the end-to-end architecture for AI-native, cloud-native and data-heavy systems, outlining boundaries, interfaces, data contracts, resilience patterns and operational controls. You’ll collaborate with stakeholders to convert business problems into clear specifications, acceptance criteria and non-functional requirements, then lead delivery that uses AI agents to speed up design, coding, testing, documentation, infrastructure and deployment while keeping human accountability for quality intact. You’ll set engineering standards by creating reusable patterns, guardrails, templates and governance criteria for AI-assisted software, and you’ll design distributed, scalable, secure systems that span cloud platforms, APIs, event-driven data flows and observability. You’ll team up with AI-Native Test Engineers to verify that both AI-generated and human-authored outputs meet safety, performance, resilience and production-acceptance requirements. You’ll translate complex ideas for senior stakeholders, engineers and business users, and you’ll coach others in systems thinking, AI-native practices and accountable technical decision-making. Finally, you’ll turn delivery learnings and production signals into improved specifications, agent workflows and reusable accelerators to drive ongoing improvements.

What you’ll need to bring

Must-have capabilities

• Deep experience designing and delivering complex software systems, including distributed architectures, data platforms or cloud-native services
• A hands-on AI-native engineering mindset, with practical use of AI-assisted tools or coding agents to speed up delivery, testing or design work
• Strong grounding in algorithms, data structures, concurrency, operating systems, networking, APIs, integration patterns and performance trade-offs
• Solid familiarity with cloud compute platforms, preferably AWS, and understanding of architecture patterns, security, observability, deployment and cost concerns
• Comfort with system-level or strongly engineered languages such as Go, Rust, C/C++, Java, with Python experience helpful for data and automation tasks
• A track record of setting technical direction, resolving tough design trade-offs and guiding teams through ambiguity
• Experience embedding secure-by-design, test-first, observable and compliant practices into delivery workstreams
• Clear communication with users, engineers, product owners and senior leaders, bridging business outcomes and technical decisions
• A demonstrated curiosity about how systems work beneath abstraction layers and the ability to learn new technologies quickly

Nice-to-haves

• AWS Solutions Architect Associate or Professional certification, or equivalent cloud-architecture experience
• Experience in telecoms, network operations, RAN/Core analytics, data engineering, AIOps, anomaly detection, RCA or operational automation
• Experience with event-driven architectures, lakehouse patterns, streaming data, model-assisted development or agent orchestration patterns

The package and practical details

The role comes with a comprehensive set of benefits designed to support growth and wellbeing. The package includes a 15% on-target bonus, a choice between a company car or £5,500 cash alternative, private healthcare for you and your family, and a BT Pension scheme with 5% Employee contribution and BT contributing 10%. From January 2025, family leave becomes equal for all parents: 18 weeks of full pay, 8 weeks at half pay and 26 weeks at the statutory rate. You’ll start with 25 days of annual leave, which increases with service, plus a broad array of flexible benefits such as cycle-to-work schemes and a season-ticket loan. BT also offers world-class training and development opportunities, the option to join BT Shares Saving schemes, and discounts on broadband, mobile and TV packages along with access to hundreds of retail discounts including the BT shop.

BT Group is the UK's leading communications group and the parent company of brands like BT, EE, Openreach and Plusnet. Its mission is to connect for good, serving consumers, businesses and public sector organisations. The company focuses on simplifying operations, using technology and AI to work smarter, and organizing teams to serve customers and grow sustainably. The culture centers on being customer-first challengers who are committed, clear and connected, uniting the organisation to deliver for colleagues, customers and stakeholders.

Joining BT Group means working at the heart of a business that matters to the country, with real influence over decisions and outcomes. The environment values collaboration, practical problem-solving and accountability, with an emphasis on growth and long-term impact.

Advice for applicants

Highlight your end-to-end ownership of complex designs. Start your resume with a concise section that shows you’ve led AI-native, cloud-native or data-intensive systems from framing to production, including the key outcomes you achieved.

Demonstrate how you prove the must-have capabilities. Share a specific example where you defined data contracts, interfaces and governance for an AI-assisted project, then show how you ensured security, performance and operational readiness throughout deployment.

Prepare to discuss your approach to standards and guardrails. Be ready to talk about reusable engineering patterns, prompts, review criteria and governance practices you’ve defined for AI-driven delivery, plus how you’ve measured success.

Ask a targeted question that shows you’re thinking about the role’s practical impact. For instance, you could inquire how the team balances AI-assisted speed with human accountability, what a typical agent workflow looks like in production, and how governance is maintained across multi-pod delivery.