Top 10 Skills in Machine Learning According to LinkedIn & Indeed Job Postings
Machine learning (ML) is at the forefront of innovation, powering systems in finance, healthcare, retail, logistics, and beyond in the UK. As organisations leverage ML for predictive analytics, automation, and intelligent systems, demand for skilled practitioners continues to grow.
So, which skills are most in demand? Drawing on insights from LinkedIn and Indeed, this article outlines the Top 10 machine learning skills UK employers are looking for in 2025. You'll learn how to demonstrate these capabilities through your CV, interviews, and real-world projects.
Quick Summary: Top 10 Machine Learning Skills Employers Want in 2025
Strong programming (Python/R) & data libraries
Core ML algorithms & statistical understanding
Deep learning & frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch)
Model validation, hyperparameter tuning & evaluation
Feature engineering & data preprocessing
Model deployment & serving (Flask, FastAPI, cloud endpoints)
Cloud-based ML services (SageMaker, Azure ML, GCP AI Platform)
MLOps practices (CI/CD, model monitoring)
Natural Language Processing (NLP) & computer vision (CV)
Communication & translating ML to business value
1) Strong Programming (Python/R) & Data Libraries
Why it matters:Python and R are the primary languages for ML. Employers expect fluency with libraries like pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn, and tidyverse.
What job ads often say:“Proficiency in Python or R”, “ML libraries experience”.
How to evidence it:
“Built data cleaning pipelines in Python with
pandas, improving throughput 30%.”“Constructed interactive R dashboards using
shinyfor stakeholder insights.”
Interview readiness:Be able to write concise code snippets for data manipulation or modelling.
2) Core ML Algorithms & Statistical Understanding
Why it’s crucial:Supervised and unsupervised learning—such as regression, classification, clustering—require solid grasp of theory, bias–variance trade-offs, and error metrics.
What job ads often say:“Experience with regression, classification, clustering”, “statistical rigor”.
How to evidence it:
“Deployed decision tree ensemble yielding 0.82 AUC in customer churn prediction.”
“Used silhouette scores to validate clustering model during customer segmentation.”
Interview readiness:Be ready to compare algorithms and explain chosen evaluation metrics.
3) Deep Learning & Frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch)
Why it’s growing:Deep learning has applications in images, text, sequential data, and signal processing. Employers increasingly expect framework fluency.
What job ads often say:“Experience with TensorFlow or PyTorch”, “CNNs, RNNs, transformers a plus”.
How to evidence it:
“Trained CNN for defect detection, achieving 94% accuracy with PyTorch.”
“Fine-tuned transformer for text classification, improving F1 by 6%.”
Interview readiness:Explain architecture choices, optimization techniques, or overfitting countermeasures.
4) Model Validation, Hyperparameter Tuning & Evaluation
Why it’s essential:Building a model is only step one—evaluating performance, avoiding overfitting, tuning hyperparameters, and selecting metrics are equally vital.
What job ads often say:“Cross-validation”, “grid/random search”, “robust evaluation”.
How to evidence it:
“Employed cross-validation and grid search to optimize model, raising AUC by 5%.”
“Evaluated models using ROC-AUC and log-loss for balanced performance.”
Interview readiness:Be equipped to discuss choosing metrics and tuning decisions for a given task.
5) Feature Engineering & Data Preprocessing
Why it’s critical:Feature quality often determines model success more than algorithm choice. Employers look for creativity in transformations, encoding, and selection.
What job ads often say:“Feature engineering experience”, “preprocessing pipelines”.
How to evidence it:
“Engineered time-based features that improved model performance by 12%.”
“Built preprocessing pipeline with imputation, scaling, encoding in scikit-learn.”
Interview readiness:Expect hands-on questions—e.g., handling missing data or categorical variables.
6) Model Deployment & Serving
Why it’s necessary:Useful models must be production-ready. Employers seek skills in deploying models via web APIs or cloud endpoints using tools like Flask, FastAPI, or AWS.
What job ads often say:“Model deployment experience”, “REST API / serverless endpoints”.
How to evidence it:
“Deployed sentiment model via FastAPI, serving 1000+ calls/min with 90% uptime.”
“Created AWS Lambda endpoint integrating with SageMaker for real-time scoring.”
Interview readiness:Be ready to design a simple deployment architecture, including latency considerations.
7) Cloud-Based ML Services
Why it’s increasingly relevant:Cloud-hosted services such as AWS SageMaker, Azure ML, or GCP AI Platform simplify training, deployment, and monitoring.
What job ads often say:“Familiarity with SageMaker/Azure ML/GCP AI Platform”, “cloud ML pipeline experience”.
How to evidence it:
“Used SageMaker for model training, deployment, endpoint hosting, reducing deployment time by 50%.”
“Built End-to-end ML pipeline in Azure, from data ingestion to model tracking.”
Interview readiness:Explain trade-offs between in-house and cloud-native solutions.
8) MLOps Practices (CI/CD, Model Monitoring)
Why it’s essential:As ML projects scale, sound DevOps practices—monitoring data drift, retraining, version control—are vital.
What job ads often say:“MLOps experience”, “model monitoring”, “CI/CD for models”.
How to evidence it:
“Set up model monitoring pipeline for drift detection using Prometheus and Grafana.”
“Implemented CI/CD for ML using GitHub Actions, triggering retraining on data change.”
Interview readiness:Be prepared to propose a lifecycle for model deployment, monitoring, and retraining.
9) NLP & Computer Vision
Why they matter:Many job ads specifically mention NLP (text analytics, transformers) or CV (object detection, segmentation) as domain extensions.
What job ads often say:“NLP / CV experience”, “text/image models”.
How to evidence it:
“Built chatbot using BERT fine-tuned on customer queries, achieving 80% intent accuracy.”
“Implemented object detection model to identify defects in images with 92% precision.”
Interview readiness:Ready to discuss preprocessing text vs image inputs, tokenisation, or model architecture.
10) Communication & Business Impact
Why it gets you hired:Technical ML work must align with business value. Employers look for professionals who articulate insights effectively.
What job ads often say:“Strong communication skills”, “translate ML insights into business outcomes”.
How to evidence it:
“Presented uplift from model deployment as 5% revenue increase, convincing leadership for scale.”
“Created visual dashboards that surfaced model performance to non-technical stakeholders daily.”
Interview readiness:Expect scenarios explaining complex ML findings to business teams.
Honorable Mentions
Causal inference & A/B testing frameworks
Recommender systems & collaborative filtering
Anomaly detection frameworks
Time-series forecasting (ARIMA, Prophet, LSTM)
How to Prove These Skills
Portfolio: GitHub projects—models with README, deployment demos, dashboards.
CV: Metrics like accuracy uplift, latency reductions, revenue impact.
ATS optimisation: Mirror terms like “PyTorch”, “SageMaker”, “MLOps”, “feature engineering”.
Interview prep: Tell project stories: problem → approach → results → lessons.
UK-Specific Hiring Signals
Finance (e.g., London) emphasise fraud detection, time-series forecasting.
Retail & e-commerce (Manchester, Leeds) value recommender models and NLP for reviews.
Healthcare & life sciences (Oxford, Cambridge) demand rigour, interpretability, and statistical safety.
Suggested 12-Week Learning Path
Weeks 1–3: Stats & experimental design + programming fundamentalsWeeks 4–6: ML algorithms + model evaluation fundamentalsWeeks 7–8: Deep learning frameworks + feature engineeringWeeks 9–10: Model deployment + cloud usageWeeks 11–12: MLOps pipeline and stakeholder presentation insights
FAQs
What is the most in-demand machine learning skill in the UK?Machine learning model building and programming (Python, scikit-learn) remain most requested—deployment and MLOps are rising fast.
Are cloud ML services necessary?Increasingly so—many roles now include SageMaker, Azure ML, or GCP experience as core skills.
Do employers expect deployment skills?Yes, being able to serve and monitor models is often essential for production roles.
Is communication as important as technical skills?Absolutely—translating data insights into clear business actions is a recurring requirement.
Final Checklist
Headline & About: emphasise machine learning expertise
CV: highlight impact—model performance, deployment, business value
Skills section: programming, ML algorithms, deep learning, deployment, cloud, MLOps, NLP/CV, communication
Portfolio: models, notebooks, dashboards, deployed demos
Keywords: align with UK job ads—“MLOps”, “SageMaker”, “feature engineering”, “deep learning”
Conclusion
UK machine learning roles in 2025 reward a blend of technical skill, statistical thinking, deployment fluency, and storytelling clarity. Employers consistently seek talent skilled in ML algorithms, deep learning, feature engineering, model deployment, cloud services, MLOps, NLP/CV, and stakeholder communication. Demonstrate these and support them with real results—and you'll align strongly with what LinkedIn and Indeed define as in-demand ML talent now and ahead.
