Lead AI Engineer in City of London

Orbital’s hardware solutions solve the biggest challenges in data centers. Each of our products contains an advanced material discovered with our AI, giving it breakthrough real-world performance. We’re looking for ambitious thinkers and builders; those excited by the challenge of bridging AI and industry, chemistry and computation, discovery and deployment. Our mission is to usher in an era where new, advanced materials are both discovered and engineered with AI and we’ll use this to build hardware that solves major global technology challenges.

Joining Orbital Industries means working at the intersection of deep tech, applied science, and engineering innovation. We are a truly global organisation with sites in London (UK), San Francisco (CA), Princeton (NJ) & Calgary (Canada) building teams in ML Research and Product Development to Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, offering opportunities for talented individuals who want to shape the future of materials and their applications in high-impact industries.

Role Overview

We are seeking a Lead AI Engineer to tackle some of the most diverse and consequential challenges at the intersection of AI and hardware/industrial development—from atomic to data‑centre‑scale. This role requires setting the technical bar high, rapidly upskilling across unfamiliar domains by collaborating with domain experts, and building production AI systems while managing a small world‑class team.

Key Responsibilities

• Set the Technical Bar & Ensure Engineering Excellence
  • Hands on coding - including establishing and maintaining exceptionally high standards for code quality, system architecture, and ML engineering practices
  • Conduct rigorous code reviews that elevate team capabilities
  • Build robust, maintainable systems that serve as foundations for others to build upon
  • Create a culture of technical rigour, first‑principles thinking, and engineering craftsmanship
• Lead & Deliver High‑Impact AI Projects Across Diverse Domains
  • Own end‑to‑end delivery of AI systems: from data pipelines and model training to production deployment
  • Develop and deploy solutions across the entire technology development pipeline—some examples include computational chemistry simulations, materials optimisation, supply chain management agents, and more
  • Rapidly upskill in new technical areas through close collaboration with domain experts (no prior chemistry or materials experience required)
  • Balance research rigour with pragmatic engineering to deliver production‑ready systems
• Line Manage, Mentor & Development
  • Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and career development for our AI engineers
  • Manage the intake and development of AI residency programme participants
  • Foster a culture of learning, curiosity, and first‑principles problem solving
  • Manage a high‑performing team that can independently tackle complex, novel problems

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of professional experience, with at least 1 year in a leadership role
• A background as a machine learning engineer, research engineer, or software engineer.
• Professional track record of successfully applying AI and machine learning across multiple domains, demonstrating the ability to rapidly upskill and deliver results in unfamiliar problem spaces
• Proven experience training, evaluating, and productionising AI models at scale, with a deep understanding of the full ML lifecycle from research to deployment
• Strong engineering fundamentals with the ability to write high‑quality, maintainable code and architect robust systems that others can build upon
• Experience managing, mentoring, or leading technical teams, with a commitment to developing others' skills and careers
• Excitement about working at the intersection of AI and physical sciences, where models must interface with real‑world constraints and experimental validation

Nice to see

• Experience with physics‑informed or chemistry‑focused AI applications.
• Experience building or fine‑tuning large language models.
• Background in computational chemistry, materials science, or related scientific domains.
• Experience with agent‑based systems, tool use, or agentic workflows.
• Contributions to open‑source ML projects or published research.

Why Join Orbital?

• Competitive salary commensurate with AI sector
• Flexible and generous paid time off
• Excellent health, dental and vision insurance plan
• Equity package - the ability to own part of Orbital Materials as we grow
• Regular company offsites to the USA and beyond
• The experience of working in a cutting‑edge organisation dedicated to a better future

Orbital Industries is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.