Senior / Staff / Principal ML Systems Engineer in London

Senior / Staff / Principal ML Systems Engineer in London

London Full-Time 66150 - 80850 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
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At a Glance

  • Tasks: Build and optimise systems for large-scale machine learning datasets in a creative environment.
  • Company: Join Flawless, the AI company transforming Hollywood with innovative technology.
  • Benefits: Enjoy autonomy, hybrid work, competitive salary, and generous stock options.
  • Other info: Diverse perspectives are valued; apply even if you don't meet every requirement.
  • Why this job: Shape the future of entertainment while working with cutting-edge AI technology.
  • Qualifications: Experience in ML infrastructure, strong Python skills, and a passion for collaboration.

The predicted salary is between 66150 - 80850 £ per year.

The AI company that's revolutionizing Hollywood. Flawless is transforming Hollywood with assistive AI. Our tools empower filmmakers to edit, localize, and refine performances while preserving artistic intent. Designed to support, not replace, artists, our technology expands what is possible on screen and gives creators freedom to tell stories with greater impact and reach audiences in new ways. From enabling seamless multilingual releases to eliminating the need for costly reshoots, Flawless solves critical challenges that slow down productions and limit distribution.

We are also setting the standard for ethical AI in entertainment. Our Artistic Rights Treasury (A.R.T.) is a rights management solution that protects artists and rights holders, ensuring that innovation moves forward with transparency and respect for creative ownership.

What We're Building

Research Services builds the infrastructure that enables scientists to train, evaluate, and deploy models at scale - forming the foundation of Hollywood's AI transformation. Our team sits at the intersection of large-scale data systems, machine learning, and high-performance computing. We own the full stack, from data ingestion and curation through distributed training and production inference, enabling researchers to move quickly while maintaining reliability and scalability. This role focuses on building and optimizing systems for large-scale multimodal datasets, including video, embeddings, and metadata, ensuring they are fast, reliable, and production-ready.

The Role

We're looking for experienced ML Systems Engineers to join our Research Services team and help build the infrastructure that powers machine learning across Flawless. This role is open across multiple levels, from Senior Engineer through Staff Engineer. The level and scope of responsibility will be determined based on your experience, technical depth, leadership impact, and track record of delivery.

As an ML Systems Engineer, you'll work closely with scientists, machine learning engineers, and platform teams to design and build the systems that underpin model development and deployment. You'll contribute hands-on across data platforms, training infrastructure, evaluation systems, model lifecycle management, and production inference. More senior candidates will be expected to provide technical leadership, drive architectural decisions, mentor other engineers, and influence infrastructure strategy across multiple initiatives.

What You'll Do

  • Data Platforms for Machine Learning
    • Build and evolve data platforms used to curate and manage large-scale multimodal datasets.
    • Design systems that index, process, and enrich thousands of videos through machine learning pipelines.
    • Optimize data storage and access patterns for efficient model training and experimentation.
    • Improve reliability, scalability, and observability across the data ecosystem.
  • ML Training Infrastructure
    • Build and optimize infrastructure for large-scale model training.
    • Improve performance across single-node and distributed training environments.
    • Scale data loading, preprocessing, and training workflows.
    • Ensure training pipelines are reproducible, efficient, and easy to operate.
  • Evaluation & Experimentation Systems
    • Develop systems for collecting, storing, and analyzing model outputs.
    • Build tooling for dataset exploration, experiment tracking, and model comparison.
    • Enable scientists to iterate rapidly while maintaining robust evaluation practices.
  • Model Lifecycle Management
    • Design and maintain infrastructure for model versioning, experimentation, validation, and deployment.
    • Improve reproducibility and governance across the machine learning lifecycle.
    • Support the promotion of models from research through production.
  • Production Inference Systems
    • Build and optimize inference infrastructure for production workloads.
    • Define and improve model serving protocols and deployment patterns.
    • Enhance performance, reliability, and scalability of production inference systems.

What We're Looking For

We're interested in engineers who enjoy building systems that make machine learning teams more effective and productive. We're particularly interested in candidates with:

  • Experience building machine learning infrastructure, ML platforms, data platforms, or large-scale backend systems.
  • Strong Python engineering skills and experience building production services.
  • Deep understanding of data pipelines and performance trade-offs across storage, networking, memory, and compute.
  • Hands-on experience working with machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch.
  • Experience building and operating distributed systems.
  • Experience working with large-scale datasets and high-throughput data processing pipelines.
  • Familiarity with modern data storage and analytics technologies, including columnar data formats and data lake architectures.
  • Strong debugging, problem-solving, and systems design skills.
  • Experience collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams.

Additional Expectations for Staff Engineers

  • Demonstrated technical leadership across significant infrastructure initiatives.
  • Experience defining architecture and technical strategy for complex systems.
  • Ability to influence engineering direction beyond an individual team.
  • Track record of mentoring engineers and raising technical standards.
  • Experience balancing immediate research needs with long-term platform investments.

Nice to Have

  • Experience working with video, media, or multimodal machine learning pipelines.
  • Familiarity with embeddings, vector search, or retrieval systems.
  • Experience operating production inference systems.
  • Frontend experience (React or similar) for building internal tools and workflows.

Why work at Flawless?

You will be working in an environment based on trust, autonomy and collaboration, and this is a great opportunity for someone who wants to be part of a growing company in its most exciting stage of development. You can play a part in shaping the future of a company that’s caring, creative and collaborative. In addition to this, you'll also receive:

  • Autonomy
  • A hybrid working environment
  • Competitive Salary
  • All permanent employees receive generous stock options

I don’t meet all the listed requirements—should I still apply? Absolutely! Research shows that women and underrepresented groups often hesitate to apply unless they meet every qualification, but at Flawless, we actively work to break down those barriers. We believe diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds make us stronger, and we are committed to supporting and elevating underrepresented talent. If you're excited about the role, share our values, and believe you can contribute meaningfully, we encourage you to apply—even if you don’t meet every single requirement. Your unique skills and perspective matter, and we’d love to hear from you.

Location: London

Employment Type: Full time

Location Type: Hybrid

Department: Technology

Senior / Staff / Principal ML Systems Engineer in London employer: Flawless Holdings

Flawless is an exceptional employer that fosters a culture of trust, autonomy, and collaboration, making it an ideal place for innovative minds to thrive. Located in London, employees benefit from a hybrid working environment, competitive salaries, and generous stock options, all while contributing to groundbreaking advancements in AI for the entertainment industry. With a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, Flawless actively supports underrepresented talent, ensuring that every voice is valued in shaping the future of filmmaking.

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Contact Details:

Flawless Holdings Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Senior / Staff / Principal ML Systems Engineer in London

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 Flawless Holdings 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 Flawless Holdings.

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 Flawless Holdings.

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 Flawless Holdings 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 / Staff / Principal ML Systems Engineer in London

Machine Learning Infrastructure
Data Platforms
Python Engineering
Machine Learning Frameworks (PyTorch)
Distributed Systems
Data Pipelines
High-Throughput Data Processing

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 Flawless Holdings.

Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Flawless Holdings 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 Flawless Holdings

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 Flawless Holdings 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.