At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and develop cutting-edge AI systems that automate complex underwriting decisions.
- Company: Join a forward-thinking insurance tech company revolutionising the industry with AI.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, flexible working, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Collaborative team environment with opportunities for mentorship and leadership.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by solving complex problems with innovative AI solutions.
- Qualifications: Experience in AI/ML engineering, strong Python skills, and a passion for quality code.
The predicted salary is between 70000 - 90000 £ per year.
Insurance isn’t the first industry most engineers think of when they imagine cutting-edge AI work. That’s exactly why this role is interesting. CFC’s Data & AI unit is building production agentic systems that automate complex underwriting decisions - not chatbots, not copilots bolted onto legacy workflows, but autonomous multi-step AI agents that reason over unstructured data, assess risk, and drive real business outcomes. We’re using frameworks like LangChain to orchestrate LLM-driven services that sit at the heart of how the business operates.
The problems are genuinely hard: ambiguous inputs, high-stakes decisions, and the kind of domain complexity that makes for satisfying engineering. We’re also fundamentally rethinking how we deliver software. We’re moving toward an agentic-first development model - using AI agents not just in what we build for the business, but in how we build it. The goal is to multiply engineering delivery by an order of magnitude: not by cutting corners or generating throwaway code, but by designing robust systems and processes that let agents handle well-defined work while engineers focus on architecture, design, and the problems that actually require human judgment. This is a deliberate, engineering-led approach. We care about code quality, testability, and maintainability - the agent-generated code meets the same standards as everything else.
This is a Senior Machine Learning / AI Engineer role with genuine technical leadership scope. You’ll shape the architecture of AI-driven production microservices, own system design decisions, and work at the intersection of traditional software engineering and applied AI. You’ll collaborate closely with engineers, data scientists, and product managers in a team that’s small enough for your decisions to matter and ambitious enough for the work to stay interesting.
About the roleDesign, develop, and maintain business-critical AI agent services. Build tailored agent workflows and services from business requirements, using LangChain and related frameworks with reliable patterns for LLM-driven decision-making in production. Integrate tests and validation to improve AI agents through evals and monitoring. Work with software engineers and architects to lead system design and architectural decisions. Translate technical specifications into clean, testable, and scalable production code. Work closely with cross-functional teams - engineers, data scientists, product managers - to deliver features on time and to a high standard. Write unit and integration tests to maintain reliability and service correctness. Monitor, troubleshoot, and continuously improve production services. Produce clear, structured documentation for systems, architecture, and processes. Mentor junior engineers through code reviews, best-practice guidance, and knowledge sharing.
About youWe’re looking for an experienced AI or Machine Learning Engineer with strong software engineering fundamentals and a passion for building robust, production-ready AI systems. You’ll be someone who enjoys solving complex technical problems, making thoughtful architectural decisions and working on systems where quality, reliability and maintainability really matter. You’ll have:
- Significant experience building production-grade AI agents or LLM-powered services.
- Strong Python development experience, ideally with 6+ years of professional software engineering experience.
- A track record of writing clean, maintainable and high-quality production code.
- Experience supporting business-critical systems in live production environments.
- Strong understanding of asynchronous programming, Docker, containerised deployments and modern service architectures.
- Experience designing distributed systems, asynchronous microservices and event-driven architectures.
- Confidence leading system design discussions and making pragmatic architectural trade-offs.
- Strong cloud experience, ideally within Azure.
- Experience deploying, monitoring and maintaining ML or LLM models in production.
- Familiarity with MLOps, LLMOps, evals, monitoring and lifecycle management.
- Hands-on experience orchestrating LLM workflows using frameworks such as LangChain.
- An interest in how agentic software development can improve engineering delivery without compromising code quality.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively in remote or asynchronous environments.
- An ownership mindset, with the ability to work independently and contribute effectively to shared codebases.
Love what you do: We show up each day ready to take on the world. Our passion and intensity set us apart and makes the difference to our colleagues, customers, brokers and carriers. Challenge everything: We’re never afraid to question the way that things are done and we constantly challenge ourselves and others to makes things better. Have fun, be good: Insurance is a serious business, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We make it fun to work at CFC, we welcome all viewpoints, and we treat everyone how we would expect to be treated.
Senior Machine Learning Engineer employer: CFC Underwriting
CFC is an exceptional employer that fosters a dynamic and collaborative work environment in the heart of London. With a strong focus on employee growth, we offer numerous opportunities for professional development and innovation within our operations team. Our commitment to driving efficiencies and best practices ensures that every day presents new challenges and rewards, making it an ideal place for those looking to make a meaningful impact in the insurance industry.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Machine Learning Engineer
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at CFC Underwriting or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to CFC Underwriting.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like CFC Underwriting.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like CFC Underwriting that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Machine Learning Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at CFC Underwriting.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at CFC Underwriting and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at CFC Underwriting
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If CFC Underwriting uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.