Principal AI & Algorithms Engineer (Defence & Security)

<h2><strong>The Role&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></h2> <p>We have an opportunity for a Principal Engineer in our AI &amp; Algorithms department,&nbsp;working&nbsp;with a particular focus on our defence and security clients.&nbsp;You’ll&nbsp;join a team of talented engineers and scientists designing,&nbsp;building&nbsp;and testing intelligent systems that&nbsp;require&nbsp;cutting edge&nbsp;algorithms.</p> <p>As&nbsp;one of the senior technical voices in the team,&nbsp;you’ll&nbsp;be&nbsp;architecting the<u>&nbsp;</u>algorithmic&nbsp;approach on&nbsp;our projects, setting the technical bar for others, and helping shape the work we&nbsp;deliver.&nbsp;As well as&nbsp;hands-on engineering,&nbsp;you’ll&nbsp;spend time with clients, using your&nbsp;expertise&nbsp;to win new projects as well as deliver them.&nbsp;You’ll&nbsp;work&nbsp;in multidisciplinary teams that use&nbsp;our labs and computing resources&nbsp;to enable us to deliver&nbsp;ambitious&nbsp;projects.</p> <p>Much of our defence and security work requires&nbsp;security clearance, so we ask for it up front. You&nbsp;won’t&nbsp;work exclusively in that sector, but a genuine interest in it matters to us.&nbsp;</p> <p>We&nbsp;offer a flexible approach to hybrid working, although some of the projects you will be working on will require&nbsp;full-time working in the office.</p> <h2><strong>What&nbsp;you’ll&nbsp;be doing&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></h2> <ul> <li>Applying data-driven software development in machine learning/AI, applied statistics, and sensor processing, alongside mathematical computing techniques such as digital signal processing, simulation, and numerical optimisation.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Acting as technical lead and architect on our larger, more complex projects, owning the technical solution and the value it delivers to the client.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Setting technical direction and acting as technical reviewer across the department, with your opinion&nbsp;sought&nbsp;by colleagues.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Leading the development of proposals and costed work programmes, turning client problems into work we can win and deliver.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Driving internal capability and demonstrators that keep us at the leading edge and&nbsp;open up&nbsp;new conversations with clients.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Mentoring engineers and conducting technical interviews to help us recruit and grow strong people.&nbsp;</li> <li>Contributing to how the department works, improving our processes and technical standards.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <h2><strong>What you can bring</strong></h2> <p>We are looking for an experienced engineer, with the breadth to lead the algorithmic component of multidisciplinary work and the ability to work with our commercial teams to help create and win new work.</p> <ul> <li>5+ years’&nbsp;experience designing and delivering&nbsp;cutting<u> </u>edge&nbsp;algorithms&nbsp;for&nbsp;intelligent systems, including&nbsp;working on defence or security projects.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Technical skills in one or more of:&nbsp;transformer&nbsp;models,&nbsp;diffusion models, reinforcement learning, machine&nbsp;vision&nbsp;and perception.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>A&nbsp;strong&nbsp;undergraduate degree&nbsp;in&nbsp;a relevant technical subject, such as AI/machine learning, computer science,&nbsp;mathematics&nbsp;or,&nbsp;physics. A PhD in a relevant subject is welcome but not&nbsp;required; deep, demonstrable industrial&nbsp;expertise&nbsp;is what matters.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Strong Python and software engineering judgement.</li> <li>The ability to architect the technical approach on complex projects and to review the work of others, including working autonomously as the technical authority.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Experience mentoring and developing engineers.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Experience&nbsp;working with non-technical stakeholders for your work.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Interest in&nbsp;working directly with&nbsp;clients&nbsp;and contributing to proposals and sales conversations.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>A genuine affinity for working in the defence and security sector.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Because&nbsp;of where this role sits, holding (or being able to obtain) UK security clearance is essential. You must be eligible to obtain Security Check (SC) level security clearance (<a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/guidance/united-kingdom-security-vetting-applicant&quot;>https://www.gov.uk/guidance/united-kingdom-security-vetting-applicant</a>). You must be able to work in the UK without restrictions&nbsp;in accordance with&nbsp;UK National Law and be prepared to successfully undertake&nbsp;an appropriate level&nbsp;of UK National Security Vetting according to UK Government criteria.&nbsp;</p> <p>While not essential requirements, we would also be&nbsp;very interested&nbsp;if you have experience with any of the following:&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>Technical experience with any&nbsp;of:&nbsp;signal processing, edge computing, statistical modelling,&nbsp;numerical optimisation, or simulation.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>A track record&nbsp;of building client relationships and leading the technical side of sales campaigns and proposals.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>An established external profile: publications, conference&nbsp;talks&nbsp;or shareable project credentials&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>A PhD or published research in a data-driven field&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> </ul> <h2><strong>Why Cambridge Consultants?&nbsp;</strong></h2> <p>Cambridge Consultants creates exciting and novel breakthroughs in technology and products. Our work on intelligent systems area has helped create world-first and market-changing technologies including&nbsp;<a href=&quot;https://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/omniscia-superhuman-surgery-in-real-time/&quot;>real-time AI-enhanced medical imaging</a>,&nbsp;<a href=&quot;https://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/project/pioneering-ai-cyberattack-response-for-the-uk-military/&quot;>autonomous defence syste…