Machine Learning Engineer – Defence
Salary: £60,000 - £90,000 GBP.
Working style: Hybrid.
Location: Manchester, Bristol, London, Newcastle.
Type: Permanent.
Our client is a specialist technology consultancy delivering high-impact engineering across defence and complex environments, supporting organisations operating in secure, mission-critical settings. The focus is on solving complex problems through advanced machine learning and AI capabilities within constrained and high-assurance environments.
Opportunities
- Design and develop machine learning and LLM-based solutions
- Work on advanced AI systems within secure and constrained environments
- Apply deep technical knowledge across ML, statistics, and optimisation
- Contribute to real‑world AI applications in defence and high‑assurance settings
- Collaborate with engineers and clients to solve complex challenges
- Take ownership of delivery within high‑impact projects
Responsibilities
- Develop and deploy machine learning models and LLM-based systems
- Apply knowledge of transformer architectures and LLM principles
- Optimise model performance, inference, and efficiency
- Evaluate model behaviour using established performance frameworks
- Contribute to solutions deployed in edge, constrained, or air‑gapped environments
- Apply best practices in AI safety, explainability, and robustness
- Collaborate with engineering teams to integrate ML systems into production environments
Key Requirements
- Strong understanding of machine learning fundamentals
- Solid foundation in mathematics and statistics
- Hands‑on experience with LLMs and transformer architectures
- Experience with model evaluation and inference optimisation
- Strong programming experience (typically Python)
- Ability to work on complex problems within constrained environments
- Strong analytical and problem‑solving capability
- Clear communication skills and ability to work in client‑facing environments
- UK national, eligible for UK Security Clearance (SC)
Benefits
- Advanced LLM and AI system development
- Deployment of ML systems in secure and resource‑constrained environments
- Real‑world applications of AI safety and explainability
- High‑impact defence and national security programmes
- Complex engineering challenges requiring both theory and practical delivery
Why Join
- Work on cutting‑edge AI problems with real‑world implications
- Operate within a high‑performance, engineering‑focused environment
- Gain exposure to advanced ML, LLMs, and secure systems
- Take ownership of meaningful technical delivery
- Flexible working across Newcastle, Manchester, Bristol, and London
