Applied AI Engineer

Dentons is recruiting an Applied AI Engineer to join its Innovation & AI team within the Solutions function in London.

The role focuses on designing, building and productionising AI-enabled applications, automations and internal tools that support legal and business services delivery.

The Applied AI Engineer will work closely with lawyers, business stakeholders, product teams, engineers and other delivery teams to identify practical applications for AI and translate business requirements into reliable technical solutions. The work spans Python applications, cloud workflows, enterprise platforms, AI skills, agents, integrations and automations.

The Innovation & AI Team

The Innovation & AI team is responsible for identifying, developing and scaling innovative solutions, including AI and legal technology, to improve client service delivery and internal efficiency.

The team works with IT, the Office of the General Counsel, Procurement, Solutions/Helix and Dentons' practice groups to pilot, implement and embed new technologies and ways of working across the firm.

Key Responsibilities

The Applied AI Engineer will:

• Design, build and maintain AI-enabled applications, automations and internal tools using Python, cloud services and enterprise platforms.

• Work with stakeholders to understand business problems and assess potential AI use cases.

• Translate business requirements into practical technical designs.

• Build integrations between internal systems, enterprise platforms, external applications and AI services.

• Develop reusable AI skills, agents, workflow components and automation patterns that can be adopted across the firm.

• Build document-focused AI workflows involving extraction, summarisation, search, retrieval and due diligence support.

• Develop and improve AI pilots so that they are reliable, maintainable, testable and suitable for wider use.

• Design and implement multi-step AI workflows, including tool-using and agentic workflows where appropriate.

• Work with product, UX, engineering, cloud, innovation and business teams to deliver production-ready solutions.

• Apply appropriate engineering standards when working with confidential client information.

• Consider privacy, security, governance and responsible AI requirements when developing solutions.

AI and Legal Technology

The position sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, software engineering and legal services.

The role involves applying technologies such as large language models to practical legal and business problems. Areas of work can include retrieval-augmented generation, document processing, information retrieval, summarisation, due diligence, workflow automation and agentic AI.

The focus is on taking AI concepts beyond experimentation and developing solutions that can be reliably used within an enterprise environment.

Candidate Requirements

Candidates should have professional Python software engineering experience, including experience developing applications, integrations, automations or internal tools.

Experience building or implementing AI, machine learning or LLM-enabled solutions in production or near-production environments is required.

Candidates should also have experience working with:

APIs and SDKs.
Cloud services.
Enterprise platforms.
Prompt engineering.
RAG and LLM workflows.
Agentic or multi-step AI patterns.
Testing and debugging.
Git and software documentation.
Maintaining reliable technical systems.

Candidates must also be able to work directly with stakeholders, understand business processes and translate those requirements into technical solutions.

Strong communication and problem-solving skills are required because the role involves working with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Desirable Experience

The following experience would be advantageous:

• Experience working in a law firm, professional services organisation or other document-intensive enterprise environment.

• Experience with document-processing pipelines.

• Experience working with unstructured data and knowledge retrieval systems.

• Experience with orchestration frameworks and AI agents.

• Experience developing reusable AI skills and workflow components.

• Experience with enterprise AI platforms.

• Knowledge of governance, security, privacy and responsible AI considerations.

Personal Attributes

The role requires someone who is pragmatic and delivery-focused and who can turn ambiguous ideas into working solutions.

Candidates should be comfortable asking questions, challenging assumptions constructively and working across multidisciplinary teams. Adaptability is important because AI technologies and business requirements are developing rapidly.

Clear communication is also essential, particularly when explaining technical concepts and solutions to non-technical stakeholders.

Working Environment

The position is hybrid and based in London. It is a permanent, full-time opportunity within Dentons' Solutions function.

The role provides exposure to AI development within a global law firm and involves working across legal, technology, innovation and business functions.

Diversity and Inclusion

Dentons welcomes applications from candidates from a wide range of backgrounds and is committed to providing equal opportunities.

The firm is a Disability Confident employer and provides candidates with the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments or other support during the recruitment process. Dentons also welcomes discussions about flexible working arrangements.

How to Apply

Applications should be made directly through the Dentons careers portal.

For enquiries about the role or recruitment process, candidates can contact recruitment.matters@dentons.com. Applications are not accepted by email.