Whitespace Global Plans 40 Belfast AI Jobs Paying an Average of £78,500

Whitespace Global, an AI company headquartered on Linenhall Street in Belfast, plans to create 40 new jobs over the next three years, doubling its Northern Ireland workforce. The new roles carry an average salary of £78,500 and span software, AI and machine learning, data and cloud engineering, product management, and design and delivery consulting. This is a hiring plan spread over three years, not 40 vacancies open this week. For Metaintro readers who build software, train models or run data platforms in Northern Ireland, the useful detail sits on the primary pages behind the headline, in the roles named, the pay, the hybrid setup, the company's own careers pages and the UK vetting rules that defence work can bring. Here is what those pages show.

What Did Whitespace Global Announce?

Whitespace Global will double its Northern Ireland workforce with 40 new jobs, in plans made public on 30 September, 2026, when Invest Northern Ireland's Anne Beggs visited the company's headquarters on Linenhall Street in Belfast. Whitespace is a GB AI company building technology for Defence and National Security. Anne Beggs credited the investment with strengthening its product development capabilities and anchoring high-value intellectual property and engineering leadership in Northern Ireland.

Invest NI has offered the company £240,000 toward the creation of 40 new jobs over the next three years.

Invest NI said it had worked to secure the expansion for Northern Ireland instead of London, Dublin or southeast England, which the company had also considered.

Whitespace was set up in 2015 by Andy McCartney and Paul Jenkinson, and its clients include the UK Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy. The company completed a Series A funding round last year, securing a total investment of $13 million.

Which Roles Will the 40 New Jobs Cover?

The new roles span software engineering, AI/ML engineering, data engineering, cloud engineering, product management, and design and delivery consulting. That is a broad spread, so the plan is not limited to research scientists or model builders.

Here is how each named area shows up in Whitespace's own listings and product pages:

• Software engineering. This area already shows up as a Lead Backend Engineer listing on the Whitespace jobs board.
• AI and machine learning engineering. There is an AI Engineer role on the same jobs board.
• Data and cloud engineering. The company's platform is designed for cloud, edge, on-premise, and air-gapped environments.
• Product management. A copy of a Whitespace AI Product Manager listing on the StudySmarter jobs site describes a role that would lead the evolution of Collective, which it calls the company's flagship AI Operating System. That role is not on Whitespace's own jobs board.
• Design and delivery consulting. Client delivery runs through the company's Solutions Engineering model, with steps to understand, co-create, deploy and sustain capabilities for customers.

The Invest NI release names the role areas but gives no split by discipline or seniority, so there is no count for any single job family.

How Much Will the New Roles Pay?

The headline figure is an average. The new roles carry an average salary of £78,500. The release does not publish a range, a starting salary or the pay for any single job title.

Because the figure is an average across engineering, product and consulting jobs, it describes the overall pay level of the plan, not a single offer. When you come to negotiate, the AI skills gap and what it means for your salary explains how documented AI work can support a stronger pay case.

For a local yardstick, median advertised salaries for AI roles in Northern Ireland stood at approximately £61,000 in the first half of 2026, in the AI Capability Census 2026 commissioned by the Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre. That census figure covers job adverts across the region, while the Whitespace number is an average for one company's planned roles, so the two measure different things.

Belfast gives us talent and ambition to match our own, and these 40 roles are a chance to prove that on a global stage, Whitespace Global chief financial officer Ruth Hengari said, according to the Invest NI announcement.

What Will People in These Jobs Actually Build?

The core product is Collective, which Whitespace calls its AI operating system and which enables organisations to develop, deploy and govern AI across cloud, edge and air-gapped environments while keeping control over their data, models and infrastructure.

Whitespace describes Collective as a sovereign AI operating system that connects knowledge, context, workflows, and AI into a trusted operational environment. Its operational capabilities include Operational Learning and Decision Support.

Whitespace builds technology for Defence and National Security. Chief financial officer Ruth Hengari said the company builds sovereign AI infrastructure for the UK's most sensitive environments, from classified and air-gapped systems through to heavily regulated markets.

Whitespace's work has £69m annual savings identified across a Strategic Command portfolio through explainable analysis of complex operational and financial data, a figure the company publishes about its own work.

For engineers, the practical takeaway is the setting. One engineering team member on the Whitespace careers page describes building systems that operate under constraint, under scrutiny, and sometimes without connectivity.

Will These Jobs Need Security Clearance?

The Invest NI announcement does not mention security clearance. You should not assume every one of the new roles will need it, and you should not assume none will.

A copy of one Whitespace listing, for an AI Product Manager on the third-party StudySmarter jobs site, asks for security clearance (SC) or eligibility to obtain SC clearance due to client requirements. The role does not appear on Whitespace's own jobs board. That is one listing, with no posting date on the page, so read it as a sign of what client work can demand rather than a rule for every new job.

SC, or Security Check, is one of the UK's national security vetting clearance levels. It is used for posts that require long-term, frequent and uncontrolled access to SECRET assets and/or occasional, supervised access to TOP SECRET assets, and also for people who could not make reasonable career progress without that access.

The checks for SC are set out by the UK government. They include:

• Successful completion of the Baseline Personnel Security Standard, which covers identity, right to work in the UK, employment history and unspent convictions.
• A security questionnaire completed by the individual, plus a departmental or company records check.
• A check of both spent and unspent criminal records and a check of credit and financial history with a credit reference agency.
• A check of Security Service records, and exceptionally an interview if there are unresolved security concerns or if the Security Service recommends one.

UK residency may affect the checks undertaken for the baseline standard, so time spent living outside the UK may change which checks apply.

How Does the Clearance Process Work If a Role Asks for It?

Clearance starts with a sponsor. First, you need a sponsor, who is usually your human resources officer or company security controller, and that sponsor must confirm the role requires clearance and that the baseline checks are done.

Once those checks are made, the sponsor creates the clearance application and you receive a link to fill out a security questionnaire. After you submit it, United Kingdom Security Vetting carries out cross-checks that may include crime and security databases, credit reference agencies and your referees and supervisors.

Two details matter for anyone weighing an offer. First, security clearance is not owned by you as an individual, because the sponsoring authority owns it. Second, the UKSV Helpdesk is unable to provide exact timescales for an application, since every case is different. Clearance also has a shelf life, because under Cabinet Office policy an SC clearance must be formally reviewed after 10 years (7 years for non-FSC contractors).

The product listing accepts eligibility to obtain SC clearance, so for that role, candidates who do not yet hold SC are not ruled out by the wording. The same listing asks for between four and six years of experience in product management, ideally in technology, AI, or enterprise software, and it is marked as a Mid-Senior level, full-time role.

You won't be asked to chase trends or ship throwaway demos, according to the Whitespace careers page.

Is the Work Hybrid, Remote or Office Based?

Invest NI's chief commercial officer Anne Beggs described the new roles as high-quality jobs that will provide valuable opportunities for people across Northern Ireland thanks to its hybrid working model.

The Partner Manager and both AI Solutions Engineer roles are hybrid, the Lead Backend Engineer is onsite and the AI Engineer is remote, according to Whitespace's current jobs board.

The office itself is part of the pitch. The Belfast HQ is described as an active, social space for problem-solving, debate and getting things done.

Where Do You Apply, and What Is on the Jobs Board?

Recruitment for the new roles will take place over the next three years, with opportunities advertised through the Whitespace careers page. The company runs two career pages, its own careers page at white.space and a job openings board.

Five roles are listed on Whitespace's current jobs board, which are Partner Manager, AI Engineer, Lead Backend Engineer, AI Solutions Engineer (Lead) and AI Solutions Engineer (Senior). Three of those carry posting ages on the jobs board that predate the announcement.

That matters for timing, because recruitment for the new roles is spread over the next three years. The company's careers page also invites people to get in touch to explore current openings, which gives you a route even when no listing fits.

What Benefits Does Whitespace List on Its Careers Page?

Benefits include comprehensive healthcare cover, a Cycle to Work scheme and the last Friday of every month off. It also offers every Friday off in July, August, and December, along with a flexible working environment.

Whitespace has a team of over 65 people, spanning engineering, product, research, UX and design, security, delivery, marketing, finance and leadership. The page does not say how many of those people work in Northern Ireland.

Some of the team come from Defence and Government backgrounds, with others from academia, startups or enterprise.

How Does This Fit Northern Ireland's AI Job Market?

The announcement arrived one week after a new Ulster University report on the region's AI sector.

Estimated AI-related employment in Northern Ireland increased by 79% to 2,402 full-time equivalent roles in the AI Capability Census 2026, which identified 400 firms actively engaged in AI development or deployment, compared with 198 in the inaugural 2025 study. Job adverts in Northern Ireland asking for an AI or machine learning skill increased by 161% on a rolling twelve-month basis. Estimated AI-related Gross Value Added rose from £82 million to £214 million, yet around 45% of Northern Ireland businesses are not currently using AI, by their own account. Firms in the Census have raised approximately £158 million in equity investment since 2024.

Northern Ireland accounted for less than 1% of UK AI equity investment by value in 2025, and the Census points to a need to strengthen AI skills and help promising firms scale.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

These are jobs building AI for Defence and National Security customers, and a copy of one Whitespace listing on a third-party jobs site asks for SC clearance or eligibility to obtain it. For any role that needs clearance, the baseline check covers employment history, so keep that history well documented. If you are an engineer, product manager or consultant outside Belfast, the hybrid setup matters, since Invest NI's Anne Beggs tied the opportunities for people across Northern Ireland to the company's hybrid working model.

Here is what we would do:

• Watch both career pages. Check the Whitespace job openings board and the white.space careers page, since recruitment runs across three years.
• Match your experience to a named role area. Lead with work in software, AI and machine learning, data, cloud, product or delivery consulting, the areas the Invest NI release lists.
• Show secure and offline work. Projects on air-gapped, on-premise or edge systems map to how Collective is designed. List those projects with the tools and settings you used, the way you would show AI skills on your resume and in interviews.
• Ask about clearance early. If a role needs SC, you need a sponsor, usually your human resources officer or company security controller, so ask in the first call whether clearance applies.
• Get your records in order. The baseline check covers identity, right to work, employment history and unspent convictions, so keep dates and documents ready.

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People Also Asked

Q: How many jobs is Whitespace Global creating in Belfast?

A: Whitespace Global plans to create 40 new jobs over the next three years, doubling its Northern Ireland workforce, with recruitment advertised through its careers page.

Q: What is the average salary for the new Whitespace Global jobs?

A: The new roles carry an average salary of £78,500 across software, AI and machine learning, data and cloud engineering, product management and consulting. The announcement gives no range per role.

Q: Do Whitespace Global jobs need security clearance?

A: The announcement does not say, but a copy of one Whitespace AI Product Manager listing on a third-party jobs site asks for security clearance (SC) or eligibility to obtain SC clearance due to client requirements, so check each listing.

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