Machine Learning Engineer

Machine Learning Engineer – Defence & National Security Location: Newcastle upon Tyne Security Clearance: Must be eligible for UK SC clearance I’m working with a growing technical consultancy looking for Machine Learning Engineers to work on challenging AI and machine learning projects across defence, national security and other complex sectors. This is a hands on engineering role for someone who wants to work beyond off the shelf models, developing, training, evaluating and optimising machine learning solutions for real world applications. The role: - Develop, train and evaluate machine learning and deep learning models - Optimise model performance, inference and deployment in constrained environments - Take models from experimentation and proof of concept through to production - Work with complex datasets, feature engineering and model validation - Contribute to applied research and the development of future defence-relevant capabilities - Collaborate with technical teams and share knowledge across the business What we're looking for: - Strong Python programming skills and solid software engineering practices - Hands-on experience training and tuning deep learning models using PyTorch, TensorFlow or similar frameworks - Strong understanding of machine learning algorithms, mathematics, statistics and model evaluation - Experience with model deployment, productionisation and retraining - Expertise in at least one area such as computer vision, audio, time series forecasting, reinforcement learning or few-shot learning - Exposure to edge computing, embedded AI, model optimisation, explain ability or AI security would be beneficial - Strong communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced technical environment Experience in defence or national security is advantageous, but not essential. Location and travel: Newcastle-based, with regular travel to client sites across the UK. Assignments may involve two to three days per week on-site, or occasional periods of full-time site-based work. Travel expenses and accommodation are covered.