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For Companies At a Glance
- Tasks: Shape the future of AI by designing innovative machine learning systems and training pipelines.
- Company: Join a self-funded, independent AI group making a global impact.
- Benefits: Enjoy full autonomy, competitive salary, and the chance to work on meaningful projects.
- Why this job: Be a founding engineer and influence the core technical direction of groundbreaking AI applications.
- Qualifications: Experience in machine learning, model architecture, and system design is essential.
- Other info: Work in a dynamic environment with opportunities for personal and professional growth.
The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 £ per year.
A1 is a self-funded, independent AI group, focused on building a new consumer AI application with global impact. We’re assembling a small, elite team of ML, engineering and product builders who want to work on meaningful, high-impact problems.
You will shape the core technical direction of A1 - model selection, training strategy, infrastructure, and long-term architecture. This is a founding technical role: your decisions will define our model stack, our data strategy, and our product capabilities for years ahead. You won’t just fine-tune models - you’ll design systems: training pipelines, evaluation frameworks, inference stacks, and scalable deployment architectures. You will have full autonomy to experiment with frontier models (LLaMA, Mistral, Qwen, Claude-compatible architectures) and build new approaches where existing ones fall short.
What You’ll be Doing
- Build end-to-end training pipelines: data → training → eval → inference
- Design new model architectures or adapt open-source frontier models
- Fine-tune models using state-of-the-art methods (LoRA/QLoRA, SFT, DPO, distillation)
- Architect scalable inference systems using vLLM / TensorRT-LLM / DeepSpeed
- Build data systems for high-quality synthetic and real-world training data
Founding Machine Learning Engineer in Exeter employer: A1
Contact Detail:
A1 Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Founding Machine Learning Engineer in Exeter
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in the AI and machine learning community. Attend meetups, webinars, or conferences where you can connect with industry experts. You never know who might have a lead on your dream job!
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio showcasing your projects, especially those related to model architectures and training pipelines. This will give potential employers a taste of what you can do and how you think.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for technical interviews by brushing up on your knowledge of state-of-the-art methods and frameworks. Practice coding challenges and system design questions that are relevant to the role of a Machine Learning Engineer.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! We’re always looking for talented individuals who want to make an impact. Your application will stand out when you show genuine interest in our mission and values.
We think you need these skills to ace Founding Machine Learning Engineer in Exeter
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion for AI: When writing your application, let your enthusiasm for AI and machine learning shine through. We want to see that you’re not just skilled, but genuinely excited about the impact of your work in this field.
Be Specific About Your Experience: Don’t just list your skills; give us examples of how you've applied them. Whether it’s building training pipelines or designing model architectures, we love seeing concrete achievements that demonstrate your expertise.
Tailor Your Application: Make sure to customise your application for this role. Highlight experiences that align with our focus on high-impact problems and frontier models. This shows us you understand what we’re about and how you fit into our vision.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to submit your application directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your details and ensures you’re considered for this exciting opportunity with A1!
How to prepare for a job interview at A1
✨Know Your Models Inside Out
Make sure you’re well-versed in the latest frontier models like LLaMA and Mistral. Be prepared to discuss their architectures, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as how you would adapt them for specific use cases. This shows your depth of knowledge and passion for machine learning.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Think of real-world problems you've tackled with ML and be ready to share those experiences. Highlight how you designed training pipelines or evaluated model performance. This will demonstrate your hands-on experience and ability to think critically about complex challenges.
✨Prepare for Technical Questions
Expect deep technical questions about model selection, training strategies, and infrastructure design. Brush up on state-of-the-art methods like LoRA and QLoRA, and be ready to explain how you would implement these in a practical setting. Confidence in your technical knowledge is key!
✨Emphasise Your Autonomy and Innovation
Since this is a founding role, they’ll want to see that you can work independently and innovate. Prepare examples of when you’ve taken initiative in past projects, especially in designing systems or experimenting with new approaches. Show them you’re not just a follower but a leader in the ML space.
