Research Engineer (Research) in London

iProov provides science-based biometric solutions that enable the world's most security-conscious organizations to streamline secure remote onboarding and authentication for digital and physical access. Our award-winning liveness technology and iSOC offer unmatched resilience against deepfakes and generative AI threats while ensuring effortless, scalable user experiences. Trusted by leading governments and enterprises, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.K. Home Office, GovTech Singapore, ING, and UBS, iProov sets the standard in biometric identity assurance.

This global trust is built not only on our technology but on the strength of the people behind it. For us, diversity at iProov is about reflecting the customers we serve, holding the principles of equality and inclusion at the heart of everything we do and all that we stand for, embracing differences, creating possibilities, and growing together. We aim to foster a culture where individuals of all backgrounds feel confident in bringing their whole selves to work, feel included, and their talents are nurtured, empowering them to contribute fully to our purpose.

The Role

Reports to: VP, Research

Location: WeWork Waterloo, London - Hybrid

Comp: Up to £65k (Base) + Company Performance Bonus (10%) + Share Options + iProov Benefits

We’re looking for a Research Engineer who thrives at the cutting edge of technology, someone who doesn’t just ask questions but brings ideas, experiments, and solutions to the table. You’ll be part of a collaborative, low-ego team pushing the boundaries of liveness verification and biometric security to protect millions of users worldwide.

In this role, you’ll spend most of your time exploring and innovating, developing new biometric tests from palm and fingerprint matching to advanced presentation-attack detection to stay one step ahead of attackers. You’ll design acquisition systems and then stress-test them by trying to spoof and break your own work, ensuring our defences are ready before real-world threats appear. You’ll tackle complex challenges in biometric acquisition, improve data quality, and create samples that closely mimic contact-based systems. Most importantly, you’ll anticipate and defend against threats that haven’t even been imagined yet, keeping our technology secure long after it goes live.

How you can make an impact

• As a Research Engineer, you will use state-of-the-art Deep Learning technology to develop creative solutions for exciting, industry-defining problems.
• Take ownership of research areas in computer vision, machine learning, and biometrics.
• Work collaboratively with the research team to find the best solutions.
• Communicate research outcomes and findings across the company.
• Contribute to the broader research strategy of the team.
• Challenge the existing solutions and improve the status quo.
• Contribute to a strong team ethic, encouraging psychological safety and inclusivity.

What we would like to see from you

• A Master’s or PhD in a quantitative field such as computer science, engineering, or computational neuroscience.
• Experience in machine learning and computer vision.
• Strong mathematical skills.
• Experience in developing research projects using Python.
• A solid understanding of machine learning techniques, including Neural Networks.
• Familiarity with Python libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, and Scikit-learn.
• Experience with Deep Learning libraries like PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• The ability to process large amounts of data, including unstructured data.
• Excellent communication skills for understanding and explaining complex concepts.
• Strong programming skills with a good grasp of data structures, object-oriented programming, and software engineering principles.
• Good time management and organizational skills.

Great to have (but not essential)

• Understanding of multiple machine learning disciplines, such as Image Processing, Computer Vision, Signal Processing, Natural Language Processing, and Pattern Recognition.
• Experience with Docker and Google Cloud Platform.
• Experience with DevOps tools for experiment tracking, automation, and dataset versioning.
• You have excellent interpersonal skills and enjoy collaborating to refine solutions.
• You are naturally curious and love exploring new ideas.
• You have the perseverance and desire to solve challenging problems.
• You feel confident in suggesting and discussing your ideas.
• You enjoy the exploratory and dynamic nature of research.
• You are eager to learn new techniques and technologies.

Benefits

• 25 days Annual Leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (more holiday with service - up to an extra 5 days off per year based on your continuous service).
• Growth Shares allocated after passing probation (6 months of service).
• Salary sacrifice schemes including: Pension, Cycle To Work and Electric Car Scheme.
• Nursery Sacrifice Scheme.
• Work Overseas Perk - Work globally for up to 2 weeks.
• Life Assurance.
• SmartHealth - Access to private GP, Psychologist, Nutritionist along with tailored fitness plans for both you and your family.
• Benefit from personalized 1:1 career coaching with our in-house Occupational Psychologist.
• Award winning L&D platform with personal allocated training budgets.
• Enhanced paid family leave.
• Pension - 5% employee, 3% employer.
• Flexible hybrid working environment.
• Free Barista Coffee/Tea, biscuits with fruit in the WeWork office.
• Free access to WeWork discounts and free online well-being sessions.

Vitality Health - a range of options available on this below:

• The Vitality Programme includes a number of reward benefits that all employees have access to as part of the plan, for example:
• Private Health cover including Dental, Optical, and Audiology.
• 50% off monthly gym memberships.
• Apple watches significantly discounted based member vitality status.
• Half price trainers with Runners Need.
• Weekly rewards – Free coffee with Café Nero.
• Monthly rewards – Free Cinema ticket.
• Discounts on travel with Expedia (hotels) and Mr & Mrs Smith with discounts getting greater throughout the year based on a members vitality status.
• Amazon prime free months based on activity.
• Up to 25% cashback at Waitrose when buying healthy foods.
• 75% off stays at Champneys Health Spas.
• Allen Carr's £299 no smoking programme for free.
• Access to Vitality Healthy Mind with 30% off Headspace subscriptions and the ability to earn Vitality points for using Buddhify, Calm and Headspace.
• Discounts on Weight Watchers.
• 50%-80% off Comprehensive Private Health screenings.

Our Culture & Recruitment Process

At iProov, we’re incredibly proud of the culture we’ve carefully curated. Our culture enables diverse thought, curiosity and innovation. Our team strives to do everything to the highest standard possible to achieve the remarkable. To do that we need different perspectives, experiences and ideas alongside an environment where these are welcomed - we want everyone to feel confident in bringing their full capabilities to work. We firmly believe psychological safety is key to building and nurturing great teams. We’re a small and dynamic company, that means having the right skills is important, and we know that our best work emerges when people feel secure, welcomed and respected.

As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We’re committed to building a workforce that is representative of the people we serve. We will not put someone at a disadvantage or treat them less favourably because of race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, creed, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage.