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Job title
AI First Principal Consultant
Dae.mn Reference
Labels
Core Skills
Technical team leadership
Strategic software engineering proficiency
Problem solving & critical thinking
AI agent & tooling aptitude
Experimentation mindset
Iterative, collaborative ways of working
Please define Permanent/Associate
Permanent
Business area
Centres of Excellence
Short Description
As the Principal Consultant for our pioneering AI First Team, you will provide strategic oversight and lead client engagement for experimental, high-impact projects. Leveraging your strong software engineering background, you'll guide the team in using AI-first approaches to solve client challenges rapidly, ensuring high-quality outcomes. This role demands a leader with a "fail fast, learn fast" attitude, eager to push the boundaries of AI tooling and methodology to drive efficiency and uncover new ways of working.
The AI First Squad project is a 12-month initiative designed to test the hypothesis that using AI agents and tooling can drive significant efficiency gains in software engineering without compromising quality and develop a grounded opinion on AI First ways of working. A dedicated team will be given unrestricted access to AI tools to undertake experimental client projects and internal research. The primary goals are to develop an informed opinion on AI's practical application by gaining hands-on experience, drive forward AI-first engineering practices, and create a framework for leveraging AI tooling more broadly within Daemon and at clients. The team will tackle a mix of internal and client challenges (1-3 month projects), aiming to deliver solutions much faster using AI-first methods and quantify the efficiency improvements.
Learnings will be disseminated throughout Daemon via regular presentations, case studies, and tooling recommendations.
Daemon’s all about helping people use technology to make the world a better place. We love building trusted partnerships with our clients, and helping them embrace the tech that can make their business better. For that we need our people to embrace the Daemon way – doing great work in a great place, with diverse talents, all united by our shared values.
We’re looking for tech heroes with the va-va-voom to help us unite teams behind one vision, empower their potential, and inspire them with our One Team spirit.
The aim is to get everyone to the future faster. By turning teams into the movements that power digital transformation.
Our core set of client-centric solutions are designed to smash client’s problems and make tech work harder for them. They include:
Digital engineering
Cloud adoption, migration and optimisation, including performance engineering
Data, ML and AI enablement
We tie this all together with a little thing we call ‘delivery excellence’, backed up with performance engineering, DevOps, and design thinking. And lashings of Daemonite energy, of course…
You'll be a key leader in the AI First Team, a small, dynamic squad focused on exploring the potential of AI in software engineering and consulting. Expect a fast-paced, experimental environment where you'll define and lead short, high-impact client projects. You will have unfettered access to cutting-edge AI tools and the autonomy to test novel approaches. You'll work closely with your team, the Project Sponsor, Chief Growth Officer (CGO), and client stakeholders in a hybrid work setting. Success involves not just project delivery, but also generating insights, disseminating learnings across Daemon, and distilling those into a flexible framework that can be implemented at clients.
We're looking for an experienced consultant with a strong software engineering background, capable of ensuring the quality of AI-assisted development work. You must possess excellent client engagement and strategic oversight skills. While direct experience using AI tools as a primary driver for building technology is ideal, it's not mandatory; a deep curiosity and willingness to learn rapidly are key. We need someone who thrives on exceptionally fast feedback cycles, embraces a "fail fast, learn fast" mentality, and has the drive to constantly push boundaries. You need to be comfortable leading a small team and managing client relationships effectively, creating an environment where the team are empowered to experiment, and feel safe to share (and occasionally fail) as part of a learning loop This requires more than an expert programmer, you will be responsible for the execution and refinement of the team’s ways of working across the full software development lifecycle; from inception through to delivery and adoption.
You're an excellent spoken and written communicator, comfortable working with client teams and senior internal stakeholders like the Project Sponsor and CGO. You lead by example: you're pragmatic and productive but also creative and willing to experiment. You embrace change and possess a "fail fast, learn fast" attitude, seeing setbacks as learning opportunities. You can motivate a small, focused team, understand what they need to grow, and maintain high standards of quality even when working at pace. You have the experience to quickly understand client challenges, propose innovative AI-first solutions, and manage engagements effectively. You have an entrepreneurial mindset, enjoy exploring new frontiers, and take pride in driving impactful outcomes.
Our values affect everything we do – and yours will too. So we’ll need you to have integrity (of course) and be a passionate, approachable pragmatist who’s always looking for ways to shake things up.
You'll be responsible for a wide range of activities including:
Providing strategic oversight for the AI First Team's activities.
Leading client engagement, identifying suitable low-risk, high-impact challenges for the team to tackle.
Defining and managing experimental client projects, focusing on rapid delivery using AI-first approaches.
Ensuring the overall quality of technical solutions delivered by the team.
Guiding the team in leveraging AI tooling effectively and ethically.
Measuring and reporting on efficiency gains achieved through AI-first methods.
Building strong relationships with client stakeholders and internal sponsors.
Driving the capture and dissemination of learnings, case studies, and tooling recommendations to the wider Daemon business.
Leading the development of frameworks for leveraging AI tooling in full-scale projects.
You’ll report to our Project Sponsor
Proven background in software engineering, with the ability to assess code quality and technical solutions.
Experience leading technical projects or small teams.
Demonstrable experience in consulting and client stakeholder management.
Comfortable engaging with senior stakeholders, both internal and client-side.
Track record of working in fast-paced, potentially ambiguous or experimental environments.
A strong interest in AI and its application in software development and consulting; direct experience with AI development tools is a plus.
Experience with Agile methodologies and rapid feedback cycles.
Ability to think strategically and identify high-impact opportunities.
You can show good knowledge and skills in:
LLMs: ChatGPT Pro/Enterprise, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity
Code Assistance/Review: CodiumAI, Codeium, Claude Code
AI Dev IDEs: Replit, Cursor
Documentation Assistance: Whisper / Speech-to-Text AI
Cloud Platforms: AWS, Azure, GCP
Agile methodologies
You will lead the AI First Team, working directly with a Senior Consultant and a Consultant. You will collaborate closely with client teams, the Project Sponsor, and the Chief Growth Officer. You will also play a role in sharing the team's findings with the wider Daemon community. You will report to the Project Sponsor.
We pay competitive salaries with some great benefits (which we’re always reviewing):
25 days paid annual leave
Competitive pension contributions
Private healthcare (extended to family members), including mental health cover, plus gym discounts
Dental cover (extended to family members)
Death in service policy (4 x annual salary)
Electric vehicle incentive scheme
Certification bounties (bonuses for completing tech certification)
Remote Working
We’ve been powering digital transformations since 2007, when Calum Fitzgerald and Steve Bennett first founded Daemon Solutions. Now, we’re up to 160+ Daemonites, beavering away on the tech visions that’ll make all the difference for our clients – who include quite a few names you’ll know.
We live and work by our values – in everything we do, we work with integrity, and we’re approachable, pragmatic, progressive and passionate. Because we know that fostering shared values and a One Team spirit can be contagious. We’re out to create movements.
Find out more here..Working at Dae.mn
Because movements power digital transformation.
smells like One Team spirit
We’re all about the energy that comes from confidence, camaraderie and a shared purpose. About unearthing the full potential of every engagement, to inspire and empower our clients, and leave them stronger than when we arrived.
So we empower you to deliver, with an open, honest culture where you can be yourself. And we give you mentoring, training, and plenty of scope for collaboration. Because we also want Daemon to be all about you.
But it’s not all work, work, work – we’re always finding excuses to get together, with regular socials, clubs and team lunches. When the time is right we throw seasonal parties, with gifts from us for everyone, and awesome extras. Like the Daemon FestDVal: we invite you, your friends and family (and dogs) to fool around with silly stuff like a drum workshop, laser tag and bouncy castles, listen to live music, and stuff yourselves with jerk chicken, veggie curry and donuts. Nice!
training and development
We love it when Daemonites want to get certified in new or existing technologies. Not only will we pay for you to do it – there might even be a bit of a bonus in it for you. We also make sure that you get internal training on the new products you need.
big client experience
You’ll get the chance to work with enterprise clients on different types of engagements, so you can hone your fabulous skill set and get to grips with all the latest tech.
Plus you’ll find:
The Daemon buddy system to support you in your first six months
Support from a team of super-experienced consultants
A promotion and pay rise panel that sit every six months
hackajob is partnering with Daemon to fill this position. Create a profile to be automatically considered for this role—and others that match your experience.