Lead ML Platform Engineer

We’re Kingfisher, A team made up of over 74,000 passionate people who bring Kingfisher - and all our other brands: B&Q, Screwfix, Brico Depot, Castorama and Koctas to life. Guided by our purpose Better Homes. Better Lives. For Everyone. We believe a better world starts with better homes, and we work every day to make that a reality. Join us and help shape the future of home improvement.

We are the central Machine Learning and AI team supporting multiple retail brands within the Kingfisher group. Our engineers build and operate production ML systems that power use cases such as forecasting, recommendations, pricing optimisation and generative AI applications.

The team includes around 50 engineers across machine learning, backend and frontend, working together to deliver full-stack ML-powered products. Responsibilities include

You will lead the development of backend systems that power our ML-driven applications.

This includes building APIs and services that expose machine learning models, integrating with data and ML pipelines, and ensuring systems are reliable and scalable in production.

You will work closely with machine learning engineers and frontend engineers to deliver end-to-end products, while providing technical leadership to backend engineers in the team.

• Lead the design and development of backend systems supporting ML-powered products and applications
• Build and maintain scalable APIs and services that integrate with machine learning systems
• Ensure backend systems are reliable, maintainable and performant in production
• Provide technical leadership to backend engineers, including code reviews, mentoring and setting engineering standards
• Work with frontend engineers to deliver complete, user-facing products
• Contribute to architectural and infrastructure decisions

• Strong experience building backend systems in Python
• Excellent knowledge of Django and experience designing production-grade APIs and services
• Strong software engineering fundamentals, including system design and scalable architectures
• Experience building and operating cloud-based services
• Experience leading or mentoring engineers
• Ability to work closely with cross-functional teams, including ML and frontend engineer

How We Work 
We believe in flexibility and balance. Our hybrid model blends home working for focus with time spent connecting and collaborating - whether in our offices or at offsite locations. On average within our Engineering team - 40% of your time involving in-person collaboration. 

We value the perspectives new team members bring and encourage you to apply - even if you don’t meet 100% of the requirements. 

What We Offer 
An inclusive environment where your potential is limited only by your imagination. We encourage new ideas, support experimentation, and strive to create a workplace where everyone can be their best self. Find out more about Diversity & Inclusion at Kingfisher here  

We also offer a competitive benefits package and plenty of opportunities to stretch and grow your career. Scroll down below to find out more about our benefits. 

Diversity & Inclusion 
Our customers come from all walks of life - and so do we. We’re committed to ensuring all colleagues, future colleagues, and applicants are treated equally, regardless of age, gender, marital or civil partnership status, ethnicity, culture, religion, belief, political opinion, disability, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. 

Interested? Great, apply now and help us to Power the Possible. 

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