AI Development Engineer - AI Innovation

We are looking for an AI Development Engineer to lead technical innovation and development across Conversational Analytics and emerging analytical AI products. You will combine hands-on engineering with technical direction, turning business opportunities into governed, testable and scalable AI-enabled analytical capabilities.

This is a senior individual-contributor role at E2 level. You will help establish the Centre of Excellence for Conversational Analytics, shape product direction for conversational analytical use cases and prototype new AI capabilities such as analytical agents, anomaly detection and process intelligence. You will work across business, data, engineering, governance and risk teams to embed solutions safely and effectively across the Society.

At Nationwide we offer hybrid working wherever possible. More rewarding relationships are supported through our hybrid approach, bringing colleagues together across our UK wide estate, whilst also supporting generous access to home working. We value our time in the office to solve problems, to learn, and to feel connected.

For this job, you'll spend at least two days per week, or if part-time, you'll spend 40% of your working time, based at our Swindon, London or Glasgow office. If you’re based at our Glasgow office, this will apply from 1 April 2027 and ahead of that there will be a need to regularly connect with colleagues for collaboration events. If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works.

You can also find out more about our approach to hybrid working here.

Whilst these locations are where we are primarily looking to fill the role, if you’re an internal applicant based in a different location, we would welcome your application and, if successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this could work for this specific role.

Nationwide is committed to the redeployment of our employees impacted by change, as such applications for redeployment candidates will be prioritised in this recruitment process.

If you’re a colleague on long-term absence (for example, on parental leave) or a temporary worker, please use your personal email address to submit an application.

What you’ll be doing

You'll help shape the technical and product direction for Conversational Analytics and Genie-based analytical use cases, establishing reusable engineering patterns, standards and guardrails that support adoption across the Society. Working closely with business stakeholders and analytical teams, you'll identify high-value opportunities, understand user needs and develop solutions that are usable, explainable and measurable. You'll enable governed metrics, semantic layers and consistent business definitions to ensure conversational experiences are built on trusted, well-understood data.

You'll lead proof-of-concepts for emerging Conversational Analytics technologies, assessing their feasibility, value, risks, scalability and potential routes to production. You'll also design and implement controls that support accuracy, appropriate interpretation and responsible use, including evaluation frameworks, benchmark datasets, testing approaches and ongoing performance monitoring. Using technologies such as Python, SQL, APIs, GitHub, automated testing and workflow orchestration tools, you'll build and maintain robust analytical solutions.

A key part of the role will involve creating technical documentation, reference implementations and reusable assets, while sharing knowledge and best practice across AI, analytics and engineering communities. You'll work closely with governance, risk, security, privacy and architecture colleagues to ensure solutions meet required standards, controls and regulatory expectations.

You'll also play a leading role in AI innovation and development, helping to shape, prototype and evaluate analytical agents, intelligent workflows and AI-enabled products. This will involve exploring opportunities in areas such as anomaly detection, process intelligence, root-cause analysis, decision support and automated insight generation, turning ambiguous business challenges into testable hypotheses, rapid prototypes and evidence-based recommendations on whether to stop, iterate or scale an idea.

Working alongside product owners and delivery teams, you'll compare models, tools and design approaches against agreed measures of quality, accuracy, robustness, cost and user value. You'll engineer modular, reusable components that can evolve from experimentation into controlled production solutions, while helping define technical roadmaps, dependencies and adoption requirements. You'll stay connected to developments across AI and analytics, translating relevant advances into practical opportunities that deliver value for Nationwide.

About you

You are a senior, hands-on engineer who is excited by emerging AI but rigorous about evidence, controls and production quality. You can move between discovery, prototyping and engineering, explain complex concepts clearly and influence product and technical direction without losing sight of the user problem. You are comfortable creating clarity where technology and requirements are still evolving.

Minimum skills and experience:

• Proven experience owning, developing, and delivering digital, data, analytics, AI, or technology products, with end-to-end accountability for product outcomes, benefits realisation, and successful delivery
• Demonstrated success in defining product strategies, roadmaps, and priorities, translating business objectives, user needs, and technical requirements into deliverable backlogs and scalable solutions
• Strong experience in stakeholder engagement, user discovery, and requirements gathering, with the ability to influence and build alignment across senior business, technology, data, security, and risk stakeholders
• Proven ability to make evidence-based prioritisation, investment, and product decisions, balancing business value, risk, technical constraints, and delivery objectives
• Proven experience developing and deploying production-ready solutions using Python, SQL, APIs, and cloud technologies, with a strong understanding of software development methodologies, architectures, and best practices
• Experience integrating systems and services through APIs, building automated data, analytics, and AI workflows, and managing technical dependencies within complex enterprise environments
• Strong understanding of data modelling, semantic layers, business intelligence, analytics, data governance, authentication, and enterprise data flows
• Experience developing, prototyping, evaluating, and implementing AI, machine learning, or conversational solutions, including testing, validation, and quality assurance activities
• Proficiency with GitHub or equivalent version control platforms, including code reviews, testing frameworks, and CI/CD practices
• Demonstrated ability to assess emerging technologies through proof-of-concepts and translate findings into scalable, production-ready solutions
• Experience working within multidisciplinary Agile teams, collaborating closely with product, engineering, data, and business stakeholders to deliver high-quality outcomes
• Experience defining and validating user experiences through wireframes, prototypes, and usability testing, ensuring solutions meet user needs and drive adoption

Our customer first behaviours put customers and members at the heart of how we work together. They are the set of behaviours that every colleague needs to display, in every role:

• Feel what customers feel - We step into our customers’ shoes, using their feedback and insights to empathise with them and to understand their needs, so that every decision we make starts and finishes with our customers in mind
• Say it straight - We are brave in speaking out and saying what we think – we’re honest and direct with good intent, openly sharing diverse perspectives to reach the best conclusions and using language everyone can understand
• Push for better - We don’t settle for mediocrity, we challenge the status quo, taking responsibility for continuous improvement and personal development
• Get it done - We prioritise what will have the greatest impact, we are decisive, and we take accountability for delivering brilliant customer outcomes

You can strengthen your application by showing how our customer first behaviours resonate with you, and where you may have already demonstrated these.

The extras you'll get

There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:

• 25 days holiday, pro rata
• Private medical insurance
• A highly competitive pension to help you build a strong foundation for retirement
• Access to an annual performance-related bonus
• Training and development to help you progress your career
• A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Life assurance to provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones in the event of your death
• Wellhub – access to a range of free and paid options for health and wellness
• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year

Banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society

We forge our own path at Nationwide.

As a mutual, we’re owned by our members - those customers who bank, save or have a mortgage with us. We challenge the financial sector status quo. We don’t see customers as the engine of our own profit. We share our profits with them and put their needs first. Always there when they need us. Supporting them and their lives.

If you’re inspired by fairer finances, passionate about making a meaningful impact, and truly care about our customers, you’re one of us.

At Nationwide, you are challenged to grow and rewarded for doing so. Valued. Recognised. Inspired to be your best. As a community, we want our working lives to count. As a team, we celebrate what we achieve. As a standard-setter, we work for the good of customers, communities, and broader society.

We are purpose-driven. Uncompromisingly customer. Unstoppably Nationwide.

What to do next

If this role is for you, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button. You’ll need to attach your up-to-date CV and answer a few quick questions for us.

We respond to everyone, so we will be in contact shortly after the closing date to let you know the outcome of your application.

Keeping your data and personal information confidential is important to us. To find out more about how we use and process your data, please read our Privacy policy.

If you want to find out more about using AI in our recruitment process, please read more here.

Disability Confident

We’re not just guided by data, we’re driven by the real experiences of our people. We’re a Disability Confident Level 3 Leader, the highest level.

That’s why we’re constantly evolving our policies and practices to make sure everyone feels genuinely supported, valued, and empowered to champion inclusion. Whatever your needs, we’re here to support you. If you need any additional support throughout your application journey, email our team at Recruitment Support.

Apply safely with Nationwide

Recruitment scams can look convincing, so take a moment to check the role is listed on our official careers site and read our guidance on Don’t be conned by a job scam.

The hiring manager for this role is Karen Birchall, and the main recruitment contact is Sameena Rehman.

Interviews for this position are expected to take place from 11th November. We will let you know the outcome of your application shortly after the closing date. If you are shortlisted, we will share further details with you about the interview process.

Please note that should you be successful in securing this role, the job title on our internal systems will be Engineer – E2.