Research Fellow in AI Engineering and Commercialisation

The Health Data, MLTC and AI Group (HMAI) is based in the University of Southampton’s Primary Care Research Centre. We combine complex data with AI and clinical expertise to understand health and transform care. Our work spans population health intelligence, digital phenotyping and product innovation — translating research into scalable technologies for more personalised, predictive and preventative healthcare.

About the role

You will contribute to the development and commercialisation of AI-enabled healthcare tools, combining hands-on software engineering and system architecture with product development, evaluation and implementation.

Working closely with the Chief Investigator and clinical, academic and industry partners, you will design and implement technical architectures connecting diverse datasets, research algorithms, AI components and external services. You will build, test and deploy software, incorporating large language model and agentic AI capabilities where appropriate, and translate clinical and user requirements into practical product features.

Alongside technical delivery, you will support product planning, commercial partnerships, customer discovery, business models, demonstrations, funding applications and pilot delivery. You will maintain robust engineering workflows and documentation, addressing interoperability, security, governance and responsible AI throughout development.

The post is part-time (20 hours per week) fixed-term until 30/04/2027, at Level 4 with potential for extension

About you

You will hold a relevant PhD or equivalent professional experience in software engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence or a related discipline.

Strong programming skills and demonstrable experience of building functioning software are essential. You will have practical experience of system architecture, APIs, databases, testing and deployment, alongside experience of integrating AI into applications.

You will combine technical rigour with commercial awareness and an interest in translating research into usable products. You will be able to organise development activities, deliver agreed milestones and explain technical decisions clearly to clinical, academic and commercial colleagues.

Experience of digital health, commercial product development, industry partnerships, customer discovery or university spin-outs would be advantageous. We value collaborative working, user-centred development and a commitment to safe, inclusive and reproducible innovation.

For an informal discussion, contact Dr Hajira Dambha-Miller at H.Dambha-Miller@soton.ac.uk.

Further details:

• Job Description and Person Specification

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