Senior Machine Learning Engineer - AI Enablement

Roche Holding AG; Welwyn; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Roche operates in Welwyn, UK, seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to design, build, and scale AI/ML systems for drug discovery. The role collaborates with scientists, product managers, and DevOps to deliver data-driven solutions on a Kubernetes-based stack.

You'll apply ML theory, optimize performance, and contribute to data infrastructure, data pipelines, and governance, shaping architectures and ensuring robust backend services. Onsite three days per week.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Extensive experience in machine learning engineering and ML theory.
• Strong proficiency with AI/ML frameworks, libraries, and tools.
• Experience with Kubernetes, databases or data lakes, and cloud-native architectures (AWS).
• Excellent communication and collaboration with scientists and engineers.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and test robust AI/ML-facing applications and backend systems.
• Build tools to evaluate AI/ML model performance and quality.
• Partner with product managers and scientists to translate needs into architectures.
• Develop and maintain data systems powering analytics and ML.
• Implement and evaluate new AI/ML algorithms and techniques.
• Contribute to architectural decisions and code reviews.
• Span the stack, building and improving systems beyond core area.

Skills

ML engineering

Statistics

GPU optimization

Communication skills

Cloud architectures (AWS)

Education

Master's or PhD in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Kubernetes

Relational Databases

NoSQL Databases / Data Lakes

Cloud platforms (AWS)

Python

Job description

At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections, where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position

The Engineering - AI Enablement group, within Roche's Computational Sciences Center of Excellence, exists to make AI/ML an everyday utility for the scientists driving drug discovery. As a Senior Machine Learning Engineer, you will build, own, and continuously improve the scalable AI/ML systems, applications, and data infrastructure that unlock the potential of our diverse scientific data, accelerating the discovery and development of life-changing treatments. You will work across a cross-functional ecosystem of computational and research scientists, AI/ML experts, product leaders, and DevOps engineers, spanning the stack to deliver high-impact scientific solutions.

This role is based in Welwyn, with onsite working three days per week. Relocation support is not available.

The Opportunity:

• You design, develop, and test robust, scalable, and maintainable AI/ML-facing scientific web applications and backend systems.

• You build tools to evaluate AI/ML model performance and establish new ways to understand and measure AI quality.

• You partner with product managers and scientists to understand user needs, shape requirements, and translate them into actionable technical specifications and robust architectures.

• You develop and maintain data systems for collecting, structuring, and storing diverse scientific data that powers advanced analytics, machine learning, and other data-driven initiatives.

• You implement, adopt, and evaluate new AI/ML algorithms and analytical techniques.

• You shape how we build contributing to architectural decisions, code reviews, and the evolution of our development processes and tech stack.

• You span the stack building, owning, and continuously improving systems, and contributing where needed beyond your core area of expertise.

Who you are:

• You bring a strong technical foundation with a Master's or PhD in Computer Science or a related technical field (or equivalent experience) and established professional experience in machine learning engineering.

• You have deep ML expertise with expert knowledge of statistics, machine learning theory, and algorithms, and strong proficiency across AI/ML frameworks, libraries, and tools.

• You optimise for performance and scale with strong knowledge of ML performance optimization and GPU best practices, and hands‑on experience of Kubernetes, relational and NoSQL databases or data lakes, and cloud‑native architectures in public clouds (ideally AWS).

• You practise engineering excellence applying proven engineering best practices and building trusted partnerships with internal and external collaborators.

• You are an excellent communicator and continuous learner who quickly acquires new technologies and languages, and communicates with clarity across scientific, engineering, and product disciplines.

Preferred:

• Experience with imaging or biological data and processes.

• Experience working with scientists or in a research environment.

• Experience with workflow automation, GenAI, and/or agents.

If you want to build the systems that make AI an everyday utility for scientists, and help bring life-changing medicines to patients faster,

Who we are

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let’s build a healthier future, together.

The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees, and are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of Roche Products Ltd. At Roche Products we believe diversity drives innovation and we are committed to building a diverse and flexible working environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion or belief, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, disability or age. We recognise the importance of flexible working and will review all applicants’ requests with care. At Roche difference is valued and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer where you are encouraged to bring your whole self to work.