Machine Learning Lead Engineer

YouLend; Greater London; On-site; GBP 95,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock Options

Private Medical insurance

Maternity/Paternity leave

Central London office

Gym in office

Lunch subsidy

Deliveroo allowance

In-office masseuse

Team socials

Sports clubs

Job summary

YouLend is seeking a hands-on Machine Learning Lead Engineer in London to build, ship and improve ML systems while gradually assuming team leadership. This role blends technical execution with growing management responsibilities in a fintech setting.

You will mentor a small ML team, deploy models to production, and collaborate with DS, Risk, Product, and Engineering to shape the roadmap and hiring strategy. This is a player-coach role that evolves toward management.

Qualifications

• Strong background as an ML Engineer (not purely DS/research).
• Experience deploying and running ML models in production.
• Solid software engineering skills (Python, APIs, systems).
• Good understanding of MLOps stack (CI/CD, monitoring, pipelines).
• Familiarity with tools like MLflow, Airflow, Evidently, DVC, Docker, Kubernetes.
• Cloud experience (AWS/GCP/Azure).
• Some mentoring/leadership experience + desire to grow into management.
• Nice to have: Experience scaling ML platforms or teams.
• Fintech / lending / risk domain exposure.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain production-grade ML systems and pipelines.
• Mentor a small team of ML engineers (2-3 people initially).
• Improve deployment, monitoring, and model lifecycle management.
• Collaborate with DS, Risk, Product, and Engineering.
• Help shape roadmap and hiring.

Skills

ML engineering

Production ML

Python

APIs

MLOps

Docker

Kubernetes

Cloud (AWS/GCP/Azure)

Mentoring/leadership

Hiring experience

Tools

MLflow

Airflow

Evidently

DVC

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

We're looking for a Machine Learning Lead Engineer who wants to operate as a player-coach - someone still very hands-on, but excited to grow into a proper management role over time. This is not a pure manager role from day one. You'll be building, shipping, and improving ML systems while gradually taking on more team leadership responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities

What you'll do:

• Build and maintain production-grade ML systems and pipelines
• Mentor a small team of ML engineers (2-3 people initially)
• Improve deployment, monitoring, and model lifecycle management
• Collaborate with DS, Risk, Product, and Engineering
• Help shape roadmap and hiring

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• Strong background as an ML Engineer (not purely DS/research)
• Experience deploying and running ML models in production
• Solid software engineering skills (Python, APIs, systems)
• Good understanding of MLOps stack (CI/CD, monitoring, pipelines)
• Familiarity with tools like MLflow, Airflow, Evidently, DVC, Docker, Kubernetes.
• Cloud experience (AWS/GCP/Azure)
• Some mentoring/leadership experience + desire to grow into management
• Nice to have:
• Experience scaling ML platforms or teams
• Fintech / lending / risk domain exposure

We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• Stock Options
• Private Medical insurance via Vitality and Dental Insurance with BUPA
• EAP with Health Assured
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Leave
• Modern and sophisticated office space in Central London
• Free Gym in office building in Holborn
• Subsidised Lunch via Feedr
• Deliveroo Allowance if working late in office
• Monthly in office Masseuse
• Team and Company Socials
• Football Power League / Paddle and Yoga Club