Senior Software Developer (Python AI/ML)
Salary: £60,291 - £70,987 (including 20% Digital, Data and Technology annual pay supplement)
Pension: 28.97% of salary (RoS contribution)
Annual leave: 38 days (42 days with length of service)
Working Pattern: 35 hours per week, flexible with compressed hours, part‑time, term‑time.
Location: Hybrid – rotational between Meadowbank House, Edinburgh (EH8 7AU) or St Vincent Plaza, Glasgow (G2 5LD).
Directorate: Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT)
Role Reports to: Technical Lead
Grade: SEO – Senior Executive Officer
Vacancies: 2 – Closing 10 May 23:59
About the Role
The position sits within the Senior Software Engineer family and requires specialist expertise in Python and AI/ML engineering. You will design, build, maintain, and support robust software solutions underpinning digital products and internal services, develop scalable data pipelines, APIs, and cloud‑native infrastructure, and apply AI/ML techniques such as OCR, large language models, and computer vision to automate processes and improve efficiency.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, build, and operate scalable ETL and data pipelines for structured and unstructured data.
- Develop and maintain robust API services (FastAPI, RESTful APIs, WebSockets, model‑serving endpoints).
- Implement authentication/authorisation (JWT, OAuth 2.0, API keys) and API versioning with documentation.
- Deploy and operate cloud‑native infrastructure using AWS (Lambda, S3, RDS/Aurora, SQS, IAM, CloudWatch) with IaC (CDK, Terraform, CloudFormation).
- Containerise applications with Docker, orchestrate via Kubernetes (EKS/ECS) and manage CI/CD pipelines.
- Implement monitoring and observability (CloudWatch, Grafana, telemetry, MLflow, Weights & Biases).
- Research, prototype, and implement AI/ML solutions (Transformers, PyTorch, OpenCV, YOLO, LoRA/QLoRA, RLHF).
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to optimise platform performance and reliability.
- Ensure compliance with security, accessibility, performance, and operational standards.
- Participate in agile ceremonies and support continuous improvement.
Essential Technical Experience
- Python 3.9+ (OOP, async/await, decorators, context managers, structured logging, pytest, performance optimisation).
- Data processing: Pandas, NumPy, SQL, SQLAlchemy/psycopg2, ETL orchestration (Airflow, Dagster, Temporal.io).
- AI/ML frameworks: Transformers/Hugging Face, PyTorch, OpenCV, PIL/Pillow, YOLO; model fine‑tuning (LoRA/QLoRA), RLHF, experiment tracking (MLflow, Weights & Biases).
- Web/API development: FastAPI, RESTful APIs, WebSockets, authentication/authorisation (JWT, OAuth 2.0, API keys), API versioning, documentation, model‑serving endpoints.
- Cloud & DevOps: AWS Lambda, S3, RDS/Aurora, SQS, IAM, CloudWatch; IaC with CDK, Terraform, CloudFormation; Docker, Kubernetes (EKS/ECS); CI/CD pipelines.
- Monitoring & Observability: CloudWatch, Grafana, telemetry frameworks.
- System design: event‑driven and microservices architectures, high‑availability, resilient systems, multi‑modal AI/ML systems.
- Professional software engineering practices: Git workflows, unit/integration testing, code review, agile delivery (Scrum/Kanban).
Essential Experience
- Developed production‑grade AI/ML and data platforms for public‑sector services.
- Built scalable ETL/data pipelines for structured and unstructured data.
- Delivered secure, cloud‑native AI solutions with IaC lifecycle management.
- Supported and integrated APIs and microservices, including AI/ML model‑serving endpoints.
- Deployed and operated containerised applications in production with automated CI/CD.
- Implemented monitoring, alerting, and incident response for production systems, including AI/ML services.
- Applied software engineering practices in multidisciplinary teams to deliver services iteratively.
Behaviours
- Managing a Quality Service: Responsible for design, delivery, and operation of secure, resilient AI/ML platforms with monitoring and continuous improvement to meet service levels.
- Working Together: Collaborates within multidisciplinary teams, partners with engineers, architects, and stakeholders to translate business and technical requirements into practical AI/ML solutions.
- Delivering at Pace: Plans and delivers complex AI/ML work across multiple priorities using automation, CI/CD, and agile practices while managing risk and maintaining service stability.
Benefits
- Pay progression and pension contributions up to 28.97%.
- Up to a year’s parental leave.
- 38 days annual holiday (42 days with service).
- Professional development support.
EEO Statement
RoS is an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion scheme employer supported by the Disability Confident Programme. We welcome applications from under‑represented groups and are committed to providing reasonable adjustments.
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