Principal Data Scientist & Machine Learning Researcher

Overview

In this role, you will help shape AI/ML strategy within the Strategic Research Group and lead multiple projects end-to-end. You contribute to technical direction, engage with customers and stakeholders, and deliver robust AI/ML solutions. The position offers autonomy, collaboration across disciplines, and scope to drive research with real-world defence applications. You will work across on-site and customer sites, contributing to national security through advanced analytics and scalable AI deployments.

Pay / Benefits

• 25 days holiday + public holidays
• Contributory pension (up to 10.5% company contribution)
• Discretionary company bonus scheme
• 6x salary life assurance with pension
• Flexible benefits including Health Cashplan, Dental, Cycle to Work
• Enhanced sick pay

Responsibilities

• Design and lead the technical direction of multiple AI/ML projects
• Provide strategic input and technical leadership across the group
• Engage with customers and stakeholders to align on approaches
• Develop and deliver data-centric AI/ML solutions for internal and external projects
• Mentor and manage junior team members and support agile delivery
• Present findings and demonstrations to stakeholders and conferences

Key requirements

• BSc in Machine Learning, Data Science, Computer Science, Mathematics or related field
• Multiple years of delivering novel ML solutions to customers and stakeholders
• Proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (HuggingFace, TensorFlow, PyTorch)
• Experience with MLOps tools for training, monitoring and deployment
• Experience with version control and environment management (venvs, Docker)
• Experience writing technical proposals and leading teams (technical leadership or line management)
• Experience leading teams following agile principles
• Expert knowledge of AI/ML algorithms across data types and tasks (Generative AI, NLP, computer vision)
• Experience training/deploying AI models including LLMs
• Ability to produce high-quality scientific writing for stakeholders and publications
• Ability to work autonomously within business policies and strategy

• strong communication
• stakeholder engagement
• team leadership
• Python
• HuggingFace
• TensorFlow

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