Lead MLOps Engineer - Telematics

Hastings Insurance Services Ltd; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Car allowance

27 days annual leave + bank holidays

Private medical insurance (PMI)

Pension contribution match up to 10%

Cycle to work

Job summary

Hastings Direct is seeking a Lead MLOps Engineer to design, build and maintain the infrastructure for the full ML lifecycle. You will ensure predictive models and data products are reliable, scalable, and deliver measurable business value.

The role sits in the Telematics Data Value team, collaborating with data scientists, data engineers, and engineers. You will lead automation, feature generation, model training, deployment and monitoring while advancing cloud-native approaches and governance

Qualifications

• Strong Python skills and experience building and operating machine learning solutions in cloud environments.
• Experience with MLOps tooling and practices, including CI/CD, containerisation, orchestration, model deployment, monitoring, and infrastructure automation.
• Experience using SQL and working with large-scale data platforms.
• Familiarity with modern cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or GCP.
• Experience collaborating across teams of Data Scientists, Data Engineers, Software Engineers, Operational and Commercial stakeholders.
• Understanding of software engineering best practices including testing, version control, code review, and observability.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership on ML platform architecture, helping shape the tooling, standards, and operating model used to deliver machine learning across the organisation.
• Develop and maintain automated workflows for feature engineering, model training, testing, deployment, monitoring, and retraining.
• Partner with Data Scientists and Data Engineers, and ML Engineers to operationalise predictive models and data products.
• Establish best practices for ML observability, model performance monitoring, CI/CD, versioning, governance, and reproducibility.
• Improve the reliability, scalability, and efficiency of our machine learning and data platforms.
• Work with cloud-native technologies and infrastructure-as-code to support modern ML workloads.
• Present technical solutions and outcomes to engineering, operational, and commercial stakeholders.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and contribute to the team's engineering standards and best practices.

Skills

Python

MLOps tooling

CI/CD

Containerisation

Orchestration

Model deployment

Monitoring

Infrastructure automation

SQL

Cloud platforms

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

We’re a digital insurance provider with ambitious plans to become the best and biggest in the UK market. We’ve made huge investments in our pricing and data capabilities over the past few years, along with nurturing our 4Cs culture. We provide insurance for over four million customers, but we know there’s even bigger opportunity out there – our Pricing, Data and Analytics community value curiosity, collaboration and constructive challenge. We are always looking for new ideas and diverse perspectives to question established thinking and drive meaningful change. Great pricing is built on trust, innovation and precision, so our aim is to ensure customers receive a fair and accurate price based on their individual risk, supporting fair outcomes, while delivering sustainable and profitable growth for our company. Pricing is more than just a number – it’s a strategic capability. At the heart of Hastings is deep risk insight – continually improving how we assess, segment and price risk through data and analytics.

Job Title: Lead MLOps Engineer Location: Bexhill/Leicester/London – Hybrid. Role overview: We are looking for an experienced MLOps Engineer who enjoys solving complex technical challenges and building the platforms, tooling, and processes that enable machine learning at scale. The Lead MLOps Engineer will design, build, and maintain the infrastructure that supports the full machine learning lifecycle, from feature generation and experimentation through to deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement. You will play a key role in ensuring our predictive models and data products are reliable, scalable, and deliver measurable business value. This role sits within our new Telematics Data Value team, comprising data scientists, analysts, and engineers. We work to turn our telematics data into underwriting advantage, enabling market‑beating prices for customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership on ML platform architecture, helping shape the tooling, standards, and operating model used to deliver machine learning across the organisation.
• Develop and maintain automated workflows for feature engineering, model training, testing, deployment, monitoring, and retraining.
• Partner with Data Scientists and Data Engineers, and ML Engineers to operationalise predictive models and data products.
• Establish best practices for ML observability, model performance monitoring, CI/CD, versioning, governance, and reproducibility.
• Improve the reliability, scalability, and efficiency of our machine learning and data platforms.
• Work with cloud-native technologies and infrastructure-as-code to support modern ML workloads.
• Present technical solutions and outcomes to engineering, operational, and commercial stakeholders.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and contribute to the team's engineering standards and best practices.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Strong Python skills and experience building and operating machine learning solutions in cloud environments.
• Experience with MLOps tooling and practices, including CI/CD, containerisation, orchestration, model deployment, monitoring, and infrastructure automation.
• Experience using SQL and working with large-scale data platforms.
• Familiarity with modern cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or GCP.
• Experience collaborating across teams of Data Scientists, Data Engineers, Software Engineers, Operational and Commercial stakeholders.
• Understanding of software engineering best practices including testing, version control, code review, and observability.

Personal Attributes

• Technical excellence complemented by a strong understanding of business outcomes.
• A problem‑solver who enjoys building robust, scalable solutions to complex real‑world challenges.
• Able to work independently, seeking support where needed, while collaborating effectively across multidisciplinary teams.
• Curious, pragmatic, and willing to challenge existing approaches in pursuit of better outcomes.
• Passionate about engineering quality, automation, and continuous improvement.

Recruitment Process

• Recruitment screening call
• 1st Round Intro with the hiring leader
• Case Study round – a mix of Technical and Competency

As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are fully inclusive – what this means to you is if you’re applying for a job with us, you’ll have fair access to support and adjustments throughout your recruitment journey. We also welcome applications through the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). For more information on the DCS, please visit our inclusive business page on our career's website.

What We Offer

• Reward Salary – Attractive salary based on experience + car allowance (pay reviews also completed each year)
• Flexible Working – We champion a flexible and hybrid working approach so please speak to your recruiter to discuss in more detail, including days in the office and at home.
• Competitive Bonus Scheme – All colleagues are eligible for our annual 4Cs performance bonus, which is usually paid in March. The scheme is based on Hastings’ performance against our business goals and your own personal performance.
• Physical Wellbeing – as a Band 4 colleague, Hastings pay for you to receive private medical Insurance (also known as PMI) This gives you flexibility and convenience to see a specialist or consultant and allows you to decide when and where you will be seen.
• Financial Wellbeing – As well as providing you with 4x your salary with our life assurance cover and income protection at no extra cost, pension contribution match up to 10%, we are proud to provide you with an AWARD WINNING package which includes – discounts and cashback at everyday retailers and on our own products, fee free independent mortgage advice, and free access to financial wellbeing support.
• Mental Wellbeing programme – At Hastings Direct we understand that mental health cannot not be scheduled, that’s why we have a range of support to help you keep yourself well. We have the thrive mental health app, our colleague assistance programme available 24/7, our own, in-house mental health first aiders, support groups and a dedicated team to make sure we are covering your needs.
• There’s more! – 27 days annual leave + bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell one of your contracted weeks, access to our health care cash back plans, dental plans, discounted health assessments, Cycle to work and tech schemes, discounted and free onsite facilities, social events throughout the year and much more …

Equality & Inclusion

Hastings Group is an equal opportunities employer which means we treat people fairly. We welcome applications from all suitably skilled persons regardless of their gender, age, race, disability, ethnic background, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or marital/family status. Please also note that we have a thorough referencing process, which includes credit and criminal record checks. At Hastings Direct, we’re committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, we encourage you to be open with us. Our recruitment team is here to provide the support you need to ensure a fair and accessible experience for all.

Company Overview

Hastings Direct is a fast growing, agile, digitally focused general insurance provider of products and services to over 4 million customers in the UK, employing over 4,600 colleagues. Our vision – to be the best and biggest digital insurance provider in the market. It's our attitude and the way we run our business that makes us different. We focus on getting it right for our colleagues, customers, company and community. It's a dynamic, flexible, fun and constantly changing environment. You'll enjoy the scope to make a real difference for our customers, influence our company, benefit the communities we work in and have fun along the way.

Job posting end date: 23/11/2026