Lead AI Engineer – AI in SDLC & Platform Engineering
The Future of Hospitality is Agentic. Join Us.
At IHG Hotels & Resorts, we are not just hosting guests; we are pioneering the next generation of hospitality technology. As a
Lead AI Engineer, you will be at the forefront of our most ambitious technical shift: integrating Agentic AI into the very fabric of our Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
We are looking for a visionary engineer who thrives at the intersection of LLMs, autonomous systems, and enterprise-scale DevOps. Your mission is to move us beyond simple automation toward a truly intelligent, self-optimizing SDLC ecosystem.
The Role: Architect, Builder, and Catalyst
As a Lead on the team, your primary focus will be the end-to-end lifecycle of
AI Agents. You won't just be prototyping; you will be building production-grade intelligence that accelerates how we deliver features to millions of guests worldwide.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design & Operate: Architect, debug, and manage high-performance AI agents that support every phase of the SDLC—from requirement analysis and code generation to automated testing and cloud deployment.
- Accelerate Delivery: Identify bottlenecks in our current delivery pipelines and engineer AI-driven solutions to radically compress lead times for feature delivery.
- Define the Archetype: Continuously evolve our AI Agent Archetype. As technology and industry standards shift, you will refine the building blocks, security guardrails, and operational frameworks that define what an agent is at IHG.
- Cross-Pollinate Innovation: Act as a technical bridge across IHG's global engineering pods. You will share best practices, harvest successful patterns from individual teams, and scale them across the enterprise.
- Industry Liaison: Stay ahead of the curve. You will keep IHG at the cutting edge by integrating emerging AI research and tools into our internal ways of working.
What We Are Looking For
- The Agent Mindset: Deep experience with LLM orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangChain, AutoGPT, CrewAI) and a proven track record of building agents that do more than just chat—they act.
- SDLC Mastery: You understand how software is built at scale. You are comfortable in the worlds of GitHub Cloud, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud-native infrastructure.
- Systems Thinker: You don't just solve isolated bugs; you design systems that prevent them. You are passionate about testing non-deterministic outcomes and securing AI at scale.
- Collaborative Leader: You can translate complex AI concepts into actionable strategies for product owners and developers alike.
Why IHG
You will be part of a team that values
Innovation, Security, and Scale. This is an opportunity to re-imagine the SDLC for one of the world's largest hotel companies, impacting thousands of developers and millions of travelers.
At IHG Hotels & Resorts, we work together to deliver True Hospitality for Good on a global scale. With corporate offices and over 6,000 hotel destinations worldwide, a career at IHG is the perfect way to broaden your horizons. You'll experience our unique culture and brilliant colleagues who will support and inspire you. With a host of corporate opportunities to choose from, wherever you are on your career journey, and whatever you want to achieve there's Room for You at IHG.
Over recent years, we've transformed our company. We have bold ambitions to drive performance and maintain our relentless focus on growth in order to be the hotel company of choice that guests & owners love.
We are a hospitality business at our core and value connections and being together helps us foster a unique sense of belonging that also supports productivity. That's why here at IHG, we give our colleagues flexibility and balance – working in a hybrid way, blending office and remote working collectively. We recognise that every role is different, that's why leaders work with teams to determine how and when they collaborate.
We provide a wide range of benefits designed to help you live your best work life. These include impressive room discounts across our many properties, recharge days and volunteering days throughout the year. Through our myWellbeing framework, we are committed to supporting wellbeing in your health, lifestyle, and workplace. We offer a unique and inclusive culture, where there is always Room for You to belong, grow and make a difference.
Our mission is to welcome everyone and create inclusive teams where we celebrate difference and encourage colleagues to bring their whole selves to work. IHG Hotels & Resorts provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other category protected by applicable laws. We promote a culture of trust, support, and acceptance. Always welcoming different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
Don't quite meet every single requirement, but still believe you'd be a great fit for the job We'll never know unless you hit the Apply button. Start your journey with us today.
