AI & Engineering Lead

Senior AI Developer (Founding Engineer / Technical Lead)

Location: Brighton, UK (Remote-first, occasional team meetups)

Type: Part-time (3-4 days/week to start) | Strategic Leadership Role

Compensation: Flexible structure + Meaningful Equity

Build with us from the ground up

Cleverfox AI is an emerging AI consultancy built for the real world — practical, lean, and fast-moving. We help ambitious companies harness AI through bespoke strategy and hands-on implementation, working across large language models, automation, machine learning, and custom agent systems.

We're now at a pivotal inflection point — with growing demand, strong client traction, and a need to solidify our technical foundations before we scale.

We're looking for a founding-level AI developer to join the leadership core and help shape what Cleverfox becomes — technically, commercially, and culturally.

This is a rare opportunity to join early, help build the engine, and grow with us.

Why this is different

• Founding-level opportunity — you'll shape the architecture, process, and technical DNA from day one
• Meaningful equity — not just a line in a contract, but a real stake in what we're building
• Rapidly growing client base — we're seeing strong inbound demand and repeat business
• Flexible structure — start with 3-4 days/week, grow with us as we scale
• Real ownership — no layers of abstraction, no fluff, just high-trust, high-impact work

The Role

We're looking for someone who can lead hands-on technical delivery while contributing strategically to how we build, scale, and innovate. You'll work closely with the founder, product strategists, and clients to bring powerful AI systems to life — while also laying the technical foundations for a future team.

This role suits a senior AI/ML developer or technical lead who wants more meaning, more ownership, and more direct impact — without the bloat of a larger org.

You'll be responsible for

• Designing and developing end-to-end AI systems for clients and internal initiatives
• Leading on LLM implementation, agent design, automation, and ML pipelines
• Advising on AI strategy, architecture, and product possibilities in early client discovery
• Building scalable, maintainable frameworks to accelerate future delivery
• Integrating third-party APIs, open-source tools, and foundation models (e.g. GPT-4, Claude, LLaMA)
• Helping define our technical standards, governance, and delivery approach
• Shaping our future team: mentoring, hiring, and influencing culture

You might be a fit if you…

• Have 5+ years of AI/ML experience and a track record of delivering production-grade systems
• Are deeply comfortable in Python and frameworks like PyTorch, scikit-learn, Hugging Face
• Have hands-on experience with LLMs, prompt engineering, vector databases, agent workflows
• Understand MLOps principles, automation tools (Zapier, n8n, Make), and cloud deployments
• Are entrepreneurial by nature — proactive, independent, and resourceful
• Enjoy solving problems collaboratively and explaining complex ideas simply
• Want to be involved in something early — shaping not just what's built, but how

What we offer

• A real seat at the table: influence, equity, and trust
• A fast-moving pipeline of meaningful, applied AI projects
• A small, focused team that moves quickly and prioritises quality over noise
• Space to operate independently, think strategically, and build what matters
• A flexible, part-time structure to start — with the option to scale up

How to apply

Send your CV, a short intro, and any relevant work samples (GitHub, case studies, demos, links) to -

Use the subject line: Senior AI Developer Application – [Your Name]

Job Type: Temp to perm

Contract length: 6 months

Pay: £40,000.00-£95,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Employee stock ownership plan
• Flexitime
• Work from home

Application question(s):

• This role involves joining client calls, understanding their needs, and explaining technical ideas clearly in English.

In 3–4 sentences, describe a time you worked with a client or stakeholder to solve a problem. What was the situation, and how did you communicate your solution?

Work Location: Remote

Reference ID: Senior AI Developer (Founding Engineer / Technical Lead)