Are you experienced in productionalising AI products and creating machine learning pipelines using Python/SQL?
Do you have 3+ years hands-on experience taking AI projects to production?
Have you got previous experience of working with AI products in cloud service providers such as Microsoft Azure?
Do you have an interest in working on cutting edge AI solutions using Generative AI?

Stark Group are hiring now for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer working from home (remote - UK based).

Job Purpose
You will play a lead role designing, developing and deploying AI solutions on a product basis and work to further the progress of the AI and Advanced Analytics team. This includes setting direction and being responsible for Machine Learning projects, collaborating with other data areas, our partners and the wider business to transform AI prototypes into production and having responsibility for the management and improvement of deployed models and data pipelines.

Key Results Areas
You will be required to:

Play a lead role in the design and development of overall AI systems using data science and software engineering best practice and techniques to increase profit, decrease cost and optimize workflow of Stark Group.
Work on a range of projects across the business from Supply Chain to Marketing to positively impact financial performance.
Collaborate and direct Data Scientists to turn prototypes into production-grade AI systems, increasing efficiency in the production of outputs and ensuring that the business has the most up-to-date data available upon which to base key decisions.
Writing production grade Python and SQL for feature engineering and model pipelines, incorporating best practices such as packaging, unit testing, version control and logging ensure that the software we deliver is of high quality, extensible and reproducible.
Collaborate with digital areas to ensure interpretability and reliability of AI systems reducing the need for costly manual intervention.
Play a leading role in contributing to and improving overall team standards and best practice to improve the quality and efficiency of how the team operates and our outputs. Innovate to drive best practices for data within Stark through use of new technologies, Machine Learning and AI, bringing other areas along with us.
Lead on collaborative knowledge sharing and improvements to working practices order to further personal development and data science within Stark.
Nurture and develop good working relationships with the team, project stakeholders and customers to ensure smooth product delivery.

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, and Experience Required
Essential

At least 3+ years experience in a hands-on developer role within an AI team.
MSc in a relevant discipline (e.g. Computer Science, Data Science, Information technology etc.) or relevant experience.
Previous programming experience with data in Python and SQL, ideally in Software Engineering, Data Engineering or Data Science.
Knowledge and experience of the Python data & AI stack
Knowledge and experience of development and version control tools and workflows (e.g. Git, Feature branch)
Experience of MLOps and associated tools such as Azure DevOps/Github, MLFlow, Azure ML
Experience working with large datasets/big data architectures; particularly Pyspark / Databricks.
Experience deploying container technologies (e.g. Docker, Kubernetes)
Experience playing a lead role on technical AI projects.
Excellent communication skills with both technical and non-technical audiences
High level of accuracy of work and attention to detail.
Ability and desire to self-learn and pick up emerging technologies.
Positive attitude and outlook and enjoy working as part of a team to share knowledge and ideas. Desirable

Experience of Data & AI with Azure, particularly Azure ML
Experience working with and deploying LLMs
Experience with deploying cloud resources using infrastructure-as-code, particularly Azure/Bicep

What's in it for you?

Competitive Basic Salary
Retirement Savings Plan (Pension) - with Legal & General
Life Assurance - From your first day of employment with us you are automatically covered for a lump-sum death in service benefit of 2 x your basic salary. However, if you join the STARK Retirement Savings Plan (including if you are automatically enrolled) and contribute a minimum of 4% of your Pensionable Earnings, your lump sum death in service benefit will be increased to 4 x your Pensionable Earnings.
WorkPerks - A platform home to hundreds of all your favourite high street and online discounts via the provider Reward Gateway
Aviva Digicare+ Workplace App (Access to a digital GP, second medical opinions, Mental Health consultation, bereavement service, nutritional consultation)
Voluntary company benefits such as Car Salary Sacrifice scheme with VWFS, Cycle2Work, Benenden Healthcare, Critical Illness Cover
Employee Discount
Refer a Friend scheme
Wellbeing Centre via WorkPerks
New Reward and Recognition programme - launching soon!
34 days holiday per year

STARK Group, is a leading building materials distributor in Northern Europe. We connect suppliers of heavy building materials with the professional craftspeople who build, renovate, and maintain the cities of tomorrow. We're a friendly and collaborative team, passionate about what we do and committed to doing it well.

Please apply today with your most up-to-date CV and a member of our dedicated recruitment team will be in touch