Change your career, change lives
The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).
About the Role
This GenAI Engineer role is a key position within the Data & Student Analytics team. You'll be at the forefront of designing, building, and deploying innovative solutions powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI.
Working within a collaborative team, you will be responsible for engaging with end-users to develop and productionise a suite of GenAI-based applications. These solutions will focus on improving operational efficiencies for our staff and enhancing the learning experience for our students at The Open University. This will be delivered within the Microsoft Azure ecosystem, leveraging cutting-edge services like Azure AI Foundry and adhering to robust LLMOps principles and practices.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and deploy end-to-end Generative AI-driven products from proof-of-concept to scalable production systems.
- Implement and maintain robust CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps and YAML to automate the build, testing, and deployment of AI models and applications.
- Utilise Docker for containerising applications to ensure consistency across development, testing, and production environments.
- Establish and manage pipelines for the continuous monitoring, evaluation, and inference of LLMs in production to ensure performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.
- Adhere to and promote best practices for version control using Git, including effective branching strategies.
- Work in a cross-functional team of Data Scientists, Product Managers, and other engineers to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
- Conduct code reviews and implement optimisations for the performance, latency, and cost of GenAI services.
- Stay current with the latest advancements in the GenAI field and prototype new approaches to solve complex challenges.
About You
Essential:
- Degree or equivalent experience in a numerical or technical field (e.g. Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Engineering).
- Proven experience with Microsoft Azure, especially the Azure AI ecosystem (e.g. Azure AI Studio, Azure Machine Learning, Azure OpenAI Service), and deploying Generative AI applications in production.
- Strong skills in building CI/CD pipelines using YAML in Azure DevOps, with solid Git version control knowledge.
- Hands-on experience with Docker and containerised application development.
- Excellent Python skills, with familiarity in libraries/frameworks like LangChain, LlamaIndex, FastAPI, and Semantic Kernel.
- Demonstrated ability to independently lead and deliver technical projects with minimal supervision.
- Proactive, detail-oriented, and eager to learn in the fast-evolving GenAI space.
- Able to clearly explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Strong team player who thrives in collaborative environments and values diversity and inclusion.
- Committed to data protection, information security, and organisational policies.
Desirable:
- Familiarity with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures and vector databases (e.g. Azure AI Search, Pinecone, ChromaDB).
- Knowledge of prompt engineering, fine-tuning techniques, and model evaluation metrics specific to LLMs.
- Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Bicep or Terraform.
- Proficiency in SQL for data manipulation and analysis.
Support with your application
If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.
What's in it for you?
At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).
Flexible working
We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.
It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We’d expect this to be approximately 2-3 times per month.
Next steps in the Recruitment process
We anticipate that interviews for this role will be taking place online via Microsoft Teams during the week commencing 17 November 2025.
Early closing date notification
We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We would therefore encourage early applications.
How to apply
To apply for this role please submit the following documents:
- CV
- A personal statement of up to 1000 words. You should set out in your statement why you are interested in the role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the essential requirments for this role as detailed in the job description.
You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.
