Senior AI Developer

At WorkNest, we don’t stand still. We’re constantly exploring how AI and machine learning can strengthen cybersecurity from automating threat detection to improving how we protect our clients’ data. We turn ambitious ideas into practical solutions that organisations rely on to stay secure, all as part of the wider WorkNest family.

WorkNest Secure is a CHECK and CREST accredited consultancy leading the way in innovation. We specialise in Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS), delivered through our award winning GuardNest platform, and we’re expanding it into a full Security Operations Portal. As part of WorkNest a trusted name in compliance, HR, and safety we share a commitment to simplicity, smart design, and collaborative security. We’re now investing heavily in AI to take our services to the next level, and we’re looking for someone to help drive that progress.

The Role:

This is a hands-on engineering role in a forward-thinking team driving AI adoption in cybersecurity at enterprise scale. As our AI Developer, you’ll be pioneering how AI is used in cyber transforming how we detect and respond to threats, optimising security operations, and unlocking new proactive defense capabilities across WorkNest’s offerings. Y

You will be involved in every stage of the AI solution lifecycle from initial ideation and prototyping, through model training and validation, to production deployment and continuous improvement of AI-driven security solutions.

If you are excited by the idea of building intelligent systems that stop cyberattacks before they happen and working at the cutting edge of tech, this role is for you.

What You’ll Do:

AI Solution Development :

Design, develop, and implement scalable AI/ML solutions to tackle cybersecurity challenges. This could mean building models for anomaly detection, automating penetration testing tasks, or integrating large language models (LLMs) and intelligent agents into our platforms to identify vulnerabilities and recommend fixes in real-time. You’ll ensure these solutions are maintainable, secure, and deliver measurable improvements in risk mitigation.

Full AI Lifecycle Ownership:

Own the end-to-end AI development lifecycle. You will gather and prepare data (from threat intelligence to vulnerability scan results), develop and train machine learning models, evaluate their performance, and deploy them into our production environment. Once deployed, you’ll monitor and tune these models for optimal performance. Throughout, you’ll apply Responsible AI practices to ensure our solutions are ethical, fair, and compliant with security and privacy standards.

Innovation & Research:

Stay at the cutting edge of AI and cybersecurity. You’ll continuously research emerging AI techniques (from reinforcement learning to the latest in generative AI) and evaluate how they can apply to our domain. Whether it’s using an LLM to automate security report generation or experimenting with agent-based systems for autonomous threat hunting, you’ll have the freedom to prototype creative solutions that could shape the future of cyber defense.

Standards & Reusability:

Contribute to defining best practices, templates, and tools for AI engineering within our team. You’ll help build out reusable assets for example, creating an “AI Security Cookbook” of common patterns and models to accelerate AI adoption across WorkNest. You’ll also help put governance guardrails in place to balance rapid innovation with security, ensuring all AI systems meet our high standards for quality and compliance.

Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing:

Work closely with cross-functional teams from our penetration testers and security analysts to software engineers and product managers. You’ll translate cybersecurity needs into AI solutions, gathering requirements from domain experts and ensuring your models address real-world problems. You’ll also demystify AI concepts for colleagues and clients, explaining how an algorithm works or what an “anomaly score” means in clear terms. As a senior technical voice, you’ll mentor other developers in AI techniques and foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation.

Platform Integration:

Help embed AI capabilities into our existing products and workflows. For instance, you might integrate a machine learning module into GuardNest to prioritise vulnerabilities based on risk, or develop a smart chatbot to assist clients on the platform. You’ll ensure these AI features are seamlessly integrated, well-documented, and observable (with proper logging/monitoring) so we can trust and verify their decisions.

What You’ll Bring:

Strong Software Engineering Skills:

Proven development experience with Python (and ideally one other language). You write clean, efficient, and well-documented code. Experience with frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or scikit-learn is a plus.

AI/ML Expertise:

Hands-on experience developing and deploying machine learning or AI models to solve real problems. You understand the end-to-end process – from data preprocessing and feature engineering through model training, evaluation, and tuning. Experience with NLP or LLMs (e.g. using OpenAI APIs or frameworks like LangChain) and knowledge of vector databases for semantic search would be highly advantageous.

Cybersecurity Interest :

While not strictly required, a strong interest or background in cybersecurity will help you hit the ground running. Terms like OWASP, CVE, or SIEM don’t scare you. You are eager to learn about penetration testing, vulnerability management, and threat analysis so you can build AI solutions that truly fit the domain.

Cloud & DevOps Experience:

Familiarity with deploying applications or models on cloud platforms (AWS, Azure). Experience using cloud AI services or containers (Docker, Kubernetes) to scale solutions in production. Knowledge of MLOps tools (such as MLflow, CI/CD pipelines for ML) is a plus, as we value automation and reproducibility.

Analytical Mindset:

You bring excellent problem‑solving skills with a strong focus on performance, reliability, and accuracy. In cybersecurity, where false positives and false negatives can have serious consequences, you recognise the importance of precision and rigorous model validation. You’re able to investigate and resolve complex issues, whether the root cause lies in data quality, model behaviour, or system integration, ensuring AI solutions operate safely and effectively.

Passion and Curiosity:

A genuine enthusiasm for AI innovations and their applications. You stay updated on the latest research and enjoy experimenting with new technologies in your spare time. You have a growth mindset and proactively seek opportunities to expand your skills whether that’s obtaining certifications, attending industry conferences, or engaging with the open-source community.

Communication & Collaboration:

Great communication skills and a team-player attitude. You thrive in a collaborative environment, welcome peer review and feedback, and are willing to coach others in your areas of expertise.

Degree and Experience:

A degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering or related field is preferred. Prior experience in an AI/ML engineering role (or similar) delivering projects end-to-end in a production environment. If you’ve worked on security related projects or in a regulated industry, that’s a bonus.

Why Join Us

Joining WorkNest Cyber means you’ll be at the forefront of a pivotal change in the cybersecurity industry the infusion of AI into cyber defence. You’ll be innovating with purpose, knowing that your work helps businesses stay secure against ever-evolving threats. We offer a flexible hybrid work environment (our main tech hub is in Leeds, and we’d love to see you in person a couple of days a week to collaborate). Most importantly, you’ll be part of a passionate, growing team where your ideas can shape the future of our products and where continuous learning is part of the job.