Specialist Machine Learning Researcher

Specialist Machine Learning Researcher – Darktrace

Darktrace is a global leader in AI for cybersecurity, protecting nearly 10,000 organisations with its proprietary AI platform.

As a Specialist Machine Learning Researcher, you will drive innovation across projects, from rapid prototyping to large-scale research, working closely with software engineers to test and implement research outcomes and contribute to our cyber defence methodology.

This hybrid role requires compulsory attendance of 2 days per week at our Cambridge office.

You will design and implement cutting-edge solutions to complex problems across multiple domains, leveraging techniques such as large language models (LLMs), statistical methods, and classical machine learning. You will work independently and collaboratively, integrate ML models into the broader software stack, and deliver optimized solutions for edge devices, balancing latency, memory efficiency, and performance.

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• Design robust evaluation frameworks to measure model performance and reliability across diverse use cases.
  
• Stay up to date with emerging AI/ML trends and recommend improvements to existing systems.
  
• Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure scalability, security, and maintainability of deployed solutions.
  

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• PhD or master’s in machine learning or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
  
• Strong proficiency in Python machine learning libraries (PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn) and deep understanding of LLMs, including transfer learning, embeddings, generative usage, and agentic functionality.
  
• Ability to work autonomously and make independent decisions while being a collaborative team player.
  
• Familiarity with agentic system tooling (e.g., LangGraph, LangChain, smolagents) and supporting infrastructure (MCP servers, vector databases, memory, ontologies).
  
• Experience with cloud AI services (AWS Bedrock, Azure AI Foundry, Vertex AI, Copilot Studio) and diverse ML techniques.
  
• Working knowledge of Linux, Git, and basic cybersecurity concepts, including AI-specific threats.
  

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• 23 days’ holiday + all public holidays, rising to 25 days after 2 years of service.
  
• Additional day off for your birthday.
  
• Private medical insurance covering you, your partner, and children.
  
• Life insurance of 4× base salary.
  
• Salary sacrifice pension scheme.
  
• Enhanced family leave.
  
• Confidential Employee Assistance Program.
  
• Cycle to work scheme.