Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Senior AI / Machine Learning Engineer role at UnderwriteMe. We are on a mission to make life insurance more widely accessible and protect people and their loved ones. We reshape the future of insurance through innovative and global technology products. We operate in a fast-paced, challenging environment and seek individuals who relish the challenge and the impact of solving complex problems to improve lives. Being owned by Pacific Life gives us the freedom to experiment like a start-up with the stability of a parent company.

We are seeking an innovative Senior AI / Machine Learning Engineer to join UnderwriteMe within the AI-Engine team. This role drives the creation of an innovative product set to disrupt the insurance market. We look for candidates with a proven track record in the design and deployment of LLMs for NLP applications and experience collaborating with product managers, developers, and data scientists within a product-led SaaS environment.

• Working within a dynamic cross-functional team that operates based on OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), fostering collaboration among developers, QAs, data scientists, and data analysts to achieve tangible outcomes aligned with OKR targets.
• Applying your deep understanding of AI and industry trends to shape project execution, contribute to OKR formulation, and work toward those goals.
• Crafting and refining machine learning models and algorithms to address complex product challenges.
• Devising and implementing data analysis and data mining strategies to extract insights from diverse data sources.
• Utilising natural language processing (NLP) techniques to extract pertinent information from textual data.
• Formulating predictive models to anticipate future trends and enable informed decisions.
• Constructing automated ML workflows and integrating CI/CD practices for seamless model deployment and ongoing refinement.
• Architecting, deploying, and overseeing APIs for model delivery, and leveraging external APIs to enhance functionality.
• Establishing monitoring and logging systems to evaluate model performance, detect anomalies, and ensure reliability and accessibility.
• Collaborating with DevOps and IT teams to transition ML models into production while upholding scalability and security standards.

• Proven experience applying AI techniques to solve real-world NLP problems with scalable, production-ready solutions.
• Hands-on experience fine-tuning pre-trained models such as BERT, GPT, or similar transformer-based architectures for domain-specific NLP tasks.
• Experience integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into applications with structured responses (APIs or purpose-built LLMs).
• Knowledge of prompt engineering, designing effective prompts, optimizing input/output formats, and few-shot learning techniques.

• Experience with OOP and data-validation libraries such as Pydantic.
• Strong Python ecosystem experience for AI/ML, including PyTorch, Hugging Face Transformers, and scikit-learn.
• Experience with data manipulation using Pandas and NumPy; familiarity with parallelization or asynchronous programming.
• Proficiency in Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Python testing libraries such as Pytest.

• Experience taking models from experiments to production using tools like Docker, Kubernetes, and serverless options such as AWS Lambda.
• Familiarity with MLOps tools such as MLFlow, Kubeflow, or SageMaker.
• Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (ideally AWS) and services for deploying robust AI-heavy applications.

• Experience with named entity recognition and recommendation systems.
• Knowledge of GitLab CI/CD or GitHub Actions.
• Basic understanding of Java (ideally with Spring Boot).
• Experience working in a fast-paced, product-led environment.
• Experience working with data within the insurance / healthcare sector.

UnderwriteMe is an Insurtech software business and subsidiary of Pacific Life Re (PL Re), a global life and pensions reinsurance firm. We aim to help everyone purchase protection insurance by using data and disruptive technology to transform underwriting processes for speed and efficiency.

Our core products are:

• Decision Platform - a B2B enterprise platform providing an underwriting rules engine used by over 30 insurers worldwide; the platform processes third-party information to support underwriting decisions. AI capabilities are being added to improve efficiency.
• Protection Platform - a B2B2C marketplace used by over 15,000 advisors to quote and purchase protection products in the UK. We currently deliver 16% of the UK protection policies and are expanding.

Joining UnderwriteMe means joining a technology company that brings a fresh, dynamic approach to insurance. You will work with a team of highly technical experts in software, fintech, and insurance. We value diverse contributions and support individual ambitions while maintaining high standards under pressure. We also foster team bonding, regular social activities, and wellbeing initiatives.

Leave

• 25 days of annual leave with option to buy/sell more days
• Adoption and fertility leave
• Generous enhanced parental leave

Healthcare

• Comprehensive private insurance coverage for employee and dependents
• Group Life Insurance coverage of 9x basic annual salary and Group Income Protection up to 75% of basic annual salary
• Optical benefits

Savings & Retirement

• 15% combined employee/employer contributions

Wellness

• Subsidized gym membership
• Access to Employee Assistance Program
• Cycle to Work and Electric Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme
• Time off for volunteering
• Charitable matching of employee donations

As part of our commitment to accessibility for all, UnderwriteMe will, upon the request of the applicant, provide accommodation during the recruitment process to ensure equal access to applicants with disabilities. Please contact us about your needs, and we will consult with you to ensure suitable accommodation is provided.

Please click here to view our company values