Machine Learning Team Lead

We are hiring a Machine Learning Team Lead to lead a team of driven ML engineers working on translating cutting-edge research into ambitious, customer-centric speech solutions. 

As innovators in speech technology, our mission is to Understand Every Voice — a vision that has propelled us to be world leaders of Speech AI. Fuelled by innovation, inclusivity, and a passion for making a global impact through world-leading Speech AI, we're looking for an experienced Machine Learning Team Lead to accelerate our efforts towards exceptional speech solutions.

Our Modelling Team builds and trains a broad spectrum of models, including large self-supervised architectures, advancing Speechmatics’ mission to provide the most accurate speech recognition technology worldwide. It also ensures their deployment into production, working with the latest developments in ML, but also with the best practices for software engineering and model serving.

What you’ll be doing:

• Lead, mentor, and grow a world-class team of ML engineers through coaching and professional development

• Provide technical oversight and guidance for end-to-end ML development, ensuring solutions are robust and scalable

• Guide the adoption of best practices in software engineering

• Plan work, allocate resources and collaborate cross-functionally to align initiatives with business objectives and bring solutions to production

• Drive the technical work for the ML team to deliver high-quality technical solutions that achieve ambitious strategic goals

Who we are looking for:

• Demonstrable experience in guiding and mentoring ML engineers

• Adept at prioritizing work by impact, feasibility, and time-to-value, with clear success metrics

• Strong understanding of the modern Machine Learning stack, for example:
  - Knowledge of contemporary transformer architectures, related concepts (e.g., GQA, KV-caching) and best practices
  - Expertise in distributed training techniques
  - Familiarity with optimisation strategies for model inference (e.g., dynamic batching, flash attention, speculative decoding)

• Proven track record of developing and deploying models at scale

• Proficiency in Python, ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch), and experience with cloud platforms

• Strong familiarity with software engineering practices and ML testing frameworks

We encourage you to apply even if you do not feel you match all of the requirements exactly. The list of requirements is intended to show the kinds of experience and qualities we’re looking for, but it is not exhaustive. If you are interested in the role, the team, and our mission, we would love to consider your application. We are always open to conversations and look forward to hearing from you.

Who we are:

Speechmatics is the leading expert in Speech Intelligence, and uses AI and Machine Learning to unlock business value in human speech worldwide. We work with an amazing mix of global companies, and our technology can integrate into our customers stack irrespective of their industry or use case – making it the go-to solution to harness useful information from speech.

Joining us means working with some of the smartest minds around the world, focused on cutting-edge projects and deploying the latest techniques to disrupt the market. We believe in putting people first; we’ll do all we can to help you develop your skills and give you the tools you need to thrive. Our Focus Fridays give you an undisturbed day of focus, offset with Together Tuesdays when we have our team meetings, so you've always got the right balance.

We have structured a hybrid approach that includes 2-3 designated office days each week. This arrangement ensures that while we embrace the advantages of remote work, we also maintain the vital connection and synergy that only in-person interactions can foster.

This is only the beginning; we’re looking for amazing people like you to continue our journey…

What we can offer you:

No matter what stage of your career you’re at - from paid internships and first-job opportunities through to management and senior positions - we’ll support you with the training and development needed to reach your career aspirations with us. There really is no shortage of opportunities here for you to get involved and collaborate with those around you to deliver your best work.

We offer incredibly flexible working, regular company lunches, and birthday celebrations. But that’s not all. We’ve spoken to our teams to