Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Stark a leading building materials distributor in Northern Europe, is looking for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer who's as passionate about great service as we are. 

We provide a fulfilling and enjoyable work environment with ample opportunities for career growth, along with a competitive salary, staff discount, life assurance, and 34 days of holiday (inclusive of bank holidays). 

What you’ll be doing:  

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. 

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. 

What you’ll need to have:  

• MSc in a relevant discipline (e.g. Computer Science, Data Science, Information technology etc.) or relevant experience. 

• Experience in a hands-on developer role within an AI team. 

• 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: 

• Discretionary bonus  

• A wide range of voluntary benefits including holiday buying, discounted gym membership, car salary sacrifice scheme, Cycle2Work, Benenden Healthcare and more.  

• Access to a wealth of health and wellbeing services including access to online GP appointments and mental health support   

• Generous employee discounts  

• Access to discounts with hundreds of your favourite high street and online retailers  

• Retirement savings plan   

• Life assurance  

• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption leave for anyone expecting or adopting a child  

Why STARK?  

We're proud to be part of STARK Building Materials UK and dedicated to providing top-quality products and exceptional service to our customers. We're a friendly and collaborative team, passionate about what we do and committed to doing it well.   

If you're ready to take your career to the next level and join a team that is dedicated to providing great service, we want to hear from you. Apply today!  

What's next…  

If your application is successful, our in-house recruitment team will be in touch to arrange an interview and to answer any initial questions you have.  

Where a role is advertised as full-time, we are open to discussing part-time and job share options during the application process. If you require additional support as part of the application and interview process, we are happy to provide reasonable adjustments to help you to be at your best.  

Stark Building Materials UK is a Ban the Box employer and will consider the suitability of applicants with criminal convictions on a case-by-case basis.