Contract AI Systems Architect

Contract AI Systems Architect Duration: 3-6 months IR35 Status: Outside IR35 Location: Fully Remote Working We are partnering with an ambitious start-up venture building a next-generation AI-powered decision intelligence platform for cybersecurity leaders. They are seeking an experienced contract AI Systems Architect to lead the architecture and delivery of a structured, guard railed AI engine designed for enterprise use. This is a high-impact contract role suited to someone who thrives at the intersection of product logic and advanced AI systems design. The successful contract AI architect will oversee the build of the core intelligence system, working directly with the founders. Key Responsibilities Architecture & System Design Define the end-to-end AI pipelines Design structured JSON schemas for inputs and outputs Architect a robust RAG framework (vector database, chunking strategy etc) Design domain and geography-aware retrieval logicAI Orchestration & Guardrails Develop modular, section-based prompt orchestration Enforce structured JSON outputs Implement hallucination controls and citation enforcement Introduce prompt version control Build section confidence scoring and validation logicRetrieval & Evidence Framework Define ingestion structures for curated regulatory and incident sources Oversee embedding and chunking strategy Implement evidence weighting tiers Ensure citation traceability and validationTechnical Leadership Act as technical lead across the offshore development team Define sprint scope and architectural standards Review pull requests and technical decisions Ensure delivery aligns with product logic Maintain pragmatic scope controlKey Experience Proven experience building production-grade LLM systems Hands-on RAG implementation Experience with OpenAI and Anthropic APIs Strong vector database experience Backend architecture expertise (Node.js or Python) Experience designing structured JSON pipelines Experience working with offshore development teams B2B SaaS background would be highly desirableThis is a unique position that allows a contractor the opportunity to architect a structured AI intelligence system from first principles in a high-autonomy environment. If you're a UK-based contract AI systems architect with deep RAG experience and strong product logic instincts, please apply to the role immediately. Spectrum IT Recruitment (South) Limited is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy