Machine Learning Engineer

Iconic Interactive; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Hybrid working

London base

Job summary

Iconic Interactive, a London-based AI-native game development studio, seeks an experienced Machine Learning engineer to build and integrate real-time models for interactive experiences.

You will work with artists, writers and designers, owning projects from data prep to production, and optimizing latency across the ML pipeline in a small, autonomous team.

Qualifications

• Two or more years of hands-on ML experience in real-time or interactive environments.
• Strong Python proficiency and familiarity with ML frameworks.
• Experience deploying ML models to production and optimizing latency.

Responsibilities

• Build, train and integrate ML models for real-time interactive experiences.
• Develop systems powered by LLMs for in-game use.
• Own projects across the ML pipeline from experimentation to production.
• Optimize models for performance, latency and efficiency.
• Collaborate with engineers, artists and designers to turn ML into engaging experiences.

Skills

Python

LLMs

ML deployment

Real-time systems

Collaborative development

Education

BSc in Computer Science

Tools

PyTorch

JAX

Unreal/Unity knowledge

Job description

This is a hybrid role (3 days per week) based out of London.

Iconic Interactive is an AI-native game development and research studio exploring the future of interactive entertainment, digital actors, and intelligent worlds.

We're looking for an experienced Machine Learning engineer to join our team, focused on building custom, efficient models and integrations to power real-time interaction for the next generation of games and interactive experiences.

As part of a small, focused team, you'll have significant autonomy and end-to-end ownership over design and implementation. You'll work closely with artists, writers and designers as well as the rest of the engineering team to build systems that actually translate into creative & fun games.

What You’ll Do:

• Build, train and integrate ML models for real-time interactive experiences
• Develop systems and applications powered by LLMs
• Own projects across the ML pipeline, from experimentation through to production
• Optimise models for performance, latency and efficiency
• Work with engineering and creative teams to turn ML capabilities into compelling experiences

What We're Looking For:

• Strong knowledge of Python
• Experience writing models in PyTorch or JAX
• A good understanding of how large language models work
• Comfortable working along the whole ML pipeline: from data preparation to model design, training and evaluation, and shipping in products
• Degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent industry or personal experience (show us your personal projects!)

Nice to Have:

• Experience building agent harnesses or user-facing systems based on LLMs
• Experience shipping machine learning models on consumer devices or edge compute
• Experience optimising, quantising or writing kernels for LLMs
• Knowledge of C/C++, or experience with Unreal Engine, Unity or similar game engines
• Experience with managing ML environments and hardware
• Experience working with audio models or other multi-modal models.
• An appreciation for game design and development principles

The ideal candidate is unlikely to have all the above, so if you have any, we would love to hear from you.

Why Join Us

Be a foundational member of a team innovating at the intersection of AI, games, art and storytelling. You'll help shape the technical foundations of a company building toward something genuinely new.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and equity compensation
• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays
• London-based hybrid working
• Inclusive & friendly company culture with socials and game breaks