Machine Learning Engineering Manager

Cleo; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A fintech startup is seeking a Machine Learning Lead to join their data science team. The role involves managing ML engineers, deploying models, and solving complex problems related to financial data. Ideal candidates have extensive ML production experience, strong Python skills, and a track record of team management. This position offers a competitive compensation package and the opportunity to work in a flexible environment, while contributing to innovative financial solutions.

Benefits

Flexible work arrangements

Equity options

Generous annual leave

Health insurance

Pension scheme

Paid sabbatical after 4 years

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in building and deploying Machine Learning models.
• Experience in managing high-performing teams in a tech environment.
• Ability to write production-quality Python code.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate ML function contributions to solve core problems.
• Identify opportunities for model and product improvements.
• Be responsible for management and development of ML engineers.

Skills

Machine Learning model deployment

Team management

Python programming

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

OpenSearch

Job description

About The Company

At Cleo, we're not just building another fintech app. We're embarking on a mission to fundamentally change humanity's relationship with money. Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of background or income, has access to a hyper‑intelligent financial advisor in their pocket. That's the future we're creating.

Cleo is a rare success story: a profitable, fast‑growing unicorn with over $200 million in ARR and growing over 2× year‑over‑year. This isn’t just a job; it's a chance to join a team of brilliant, driven individuals who are passionate about making a real difference. We have an exceptionally high bar for talent, seeking individuals who are not only at the top of their field but also embody our culture of collaboration and positive impact.

If you’re driven by complex challenges that push your expertise, the chance to shape something truly transformative, and the potential to share in Cleo’s success as we scale, while growing alongside a company that’s scaling fast, this might be your perfect fit.

About The Role

You’ll join the existing data science function here at Cleo; a thoughtful and collaborative team of ML engineers, analysts, and data engineers with significant industry experience that is at the heart of everything we do at Cleo. You’ll build and deploy production models that developers will feed directly into the product.

This position is essential in the expansion of both product and business. We are highly data‑driven, whether that be understanding natural language, deriving insights from financial data, or determining which financial product is best suited to a user. We have interesting problems to solve on an ever‑increasing scale.

You’ll be working on a hugely impactful workstream, focused on the machine learning that underpins our Chat feature. You’ll be shaping how Cleo uses LLMs to have more engaging, accurate, and personalised conversations about money.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Understanding core problems faced by our Chat team and coordinating the ML function’s contribution to solving them.
• Finding opportunities for model and product improvements in Cleo’s extensive datasets of customer behaviour.
• Being responsible for people management of the ML engineers in your squads, coaching and developing them to deliver on the roadmap.
• Building out the headcount plan and being responsible for all hiring and team development within your area to support our growth.

About You

• Extensive experience building and deploying Machine Learning models to production.
• Experience managing and developing high‑performing teams of data scientists and ML engineers.
• Habits of keeping abreast of the latest research and experimenting productively with new technologies, including LLMs and LLM agent design.
• Experience owning an ML roadmap, driving new ideas through to seeing business impact.
• Ability to write production‑quality Python code and a willingness to be somewhat hands‑on.

Nice to haves

• Domain knowledge of NLP, including evaluating LLM systems and fine‑tuning LLMs or other transformer models.
• A strong ability to communicate findings to non‑technical stakeholders in a concise and engaging manner.
• Experience with containers and container orchestration: Kubernetes, Docker, and/or Mesos.
• Experience using vector databases such as OpenSearch.

The recruitment process

• Interview with a Recruiter (30 min)
• Interview with the Hiring Manager (30 min)
• Technical Interview (30 min)
• White‑boarding session (60 min)
• Technical Discussion (45 min)
• Management Skills Interview (30 min)

What do you get for all your hard work?

• A competitive compensation package (base + equity) with bi‑annual reviews, aligned to our quarterly OKR planning cycles.
• Work at one of the fastest‑growing tech startups, backed by top VC firms, Balderton & EQT Ventures.
• A clear progression plan. We want you to keep growing. That means trying new things, leading others, challenging the status quo and owning your impact. Always with our complete support.
• Flexibility. We can’t fight for the world’s financial health if we’re not healthy ourselves. We work with everyone to make sure they have the balance they need to do their best work.
• Work where you work best. We’re a globally distributed team. If you live in London we have a hybrid approach, we’d love you to spend one day a week or more in our beautiful office. If you’re outside of London, we’ll encourage you to spend a couple of days with us a few times per year. And we’ll cover your travel costs, naturally.
• Company‑wide performance reviews every 6 months.
• Generous pay increases for high‑performing team members.
• Equity top‑ups for team members getting promoted.
• 25 days annual leave a year + public (plus an additional day for every year you spend at Cleo, up to 30 days).
• 6 % employer‑matched pension in the UK.
• Private Medical Insurance via Vitality, dental cover, and life assurance.
• Enhanced parental leave.
• 1 month paid sabbatical after 4 years at Cleo.
• Regular socials and activities, online and in‑person.
• We’ll pay for your OpenAI subscription.
• Online mental health support via Spill.
• Workplace Nursery Scheme.
• And many more!

We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio‑economic backgrounds.

By submitting this application, I confirm that all the information given by me in this application for employment and any additional documents attached hereto are true to the best of my knowledge and that I have not wilfully suppressed any material fact. I confirm I have disclosed if applicable any previous employment with Cleo AI. I accept that if any of the information given by me in this application is in any way false or incorrect, my application may be rejected, any offer of employment may be withdrawn or my employment with Cleo AI may be terminated summarily or I may be dismissed. By submitting this application, I agree that my personal data will be processed in accordance with Cleo AI's Candidate Privacy Notice.