Lead Machine Learning Engineer

DISCOVERED; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 420,000 - 780,000; Full time

Job summary

DISCOVERED is building an AI Centre of Excellence in Abu Dhabi and seeks a Lead Machine Learning Engineer to head ML Engineering and MLOps teams. The role will drive production-grade AI, from models to agents, with a focus on governance and scalable platforms.

You will collaborate across Data Science, Platform, Engineering and Security to deploy reliable AI at enterprise scale, shaping the AI platform roadmap and setting standards for testing, release and monitoring.

Qualifications

• 8-12 years' experience across software engineering, ML engineering or MLOps, incl. 3+ years in technical leadership or management.
• Proven experience taking AI/ML systems from prototype through to large-scale production.
• Strong understanding of ML alongside scalable systems and platform architecture.
• Hands-on experience with LLMs, RAG and agentic frameworks.
• Strong knowledge of production ML, deployment strategies and MLOps.
• Experience building or operating systems within highly regulated or mission-critical environments.
• Strong understanding of security, governance and compliance requirements around production AI.
• Proven experience leading and developing engineering teams.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related field.
• A Master's degree or PhD in CS/AI/ML or related field would be a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop teams across Machine Learning Engineering and MLOps.
• Move models and AI agents from experimentation into robust production environments.
• Shape AI platform roadmap, engineering standards and testing/release processes.
• Establish governance, explainability, bias, auditability and security controls for production AI.
• Collaborate with Data Science, Platform, Engineering and Security teams to build scalable tooling and infrastructure.

Skills

ML leadership

MLOps

Production ML

LLMs

RAG

Agentic frameworks

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering

Master's or PhD in CS/AI/ML (plus)

Job description

This is a chance to take a leading role in a multinational organisation building an AI Centre of Excellence in Abu Dhabi, with a clear mandate to move AI from experimentation into scaled deployment across the group.
The business is investing heavily in AI and advanced analytics, taking successful pilots and turning them into secure, reliable systems that can be used across core functions at enterprise scale.
They’re now looking for a Lead Machine Learning Engineer to lead both the Machine Learning Engineering and MLOps teams and help build the technical foundations that make that possible.

The role

You’ll lead and develop teams across Machine Learning Engineering and MLOps, while remaining close to the technology and the systems being built.
A major focus will be taking models, LLMs and AI agents out of experimentation and into robust production environments. You’ll work closely with Data Science, Platform, Engineering and Security teams to build the tooling, infrastructure and standards needed to deploy AI reliably across the organisation.
You’ll help shape the wider AI platform roadmap, establish engineering standards and define how models are tested, released, monitored and rolled back in production. That includes areas such as shadow testing, canary deployments, automated validation and high-throughput AI workloads.
Given the scale and nature of the organisation, governance is equally important. You’ll help establish strong controls around model compliance, explainability, bias, auditability and security while still creating an environment where teams can move quickly.
This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who understands both machine learning and the engineering required to make it work reliably at enterprise scale.

What we're looking for

• 8-12 years' experience across software engineering, machine learning engineering or MLOps, including at least 3 years in technical leadership or engineering management.

• Proven experience taking AI or machine learning systems from prototype through to large-scale production.

• Strong understanding of machine learning alongside scalable systems and platform architecture.

• Hands-on experience with modern AI technologies including LLMs, RAG and agentic frameworks.

• Strong knowledge of production ML, deployment strategies and MLOps.

• Experience building or operating systems within highly regulated or mission-critical environments.

• Strong understanding of security, governance and compliance requirements around production AI.

• Proven experience leading and developing engineering teams.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field.

A Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, AI, Machine Learning or a related field would be a plus.