Senior Algorithms Engineer

Chess Dynamics is an established leading design and manufacturing business with several sites across the UK. Our product range is cutting edge and services the defence industries with products that aid specific client requirements - driving innovation is at the heart of everything we do.

We are looking for an innovative algorithms engineer to join our team, developing next-generation intelligent sensing and computer vision capabilities for challenging defence applications including electro-optic gun fire control systems, ground-based air defence, counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS), multi-domain surveillance, and autonomous platforms.

The role involves solving complex real-world perception problems by combining machine learning, computer vision, signal processing, and statistical techniques to improve the ability of systems to detect, classify, track, and understand objects in challenging environments.

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to take technical ownership of key capability areas, helping shape future development activities while mentoring others and sharing expertise across the engineering team.

Key Responsibilities:

* Research, develop, and evaluate computer vision algorithms for image classification, fine-grained recognition, object detection, and computer vision applications

* Investigate challenging technical problems where the solution is not immediately known, developing structured experiments and evidence-based approaches

* Design and improve datasets, evaluation methodologies, and automated pipelines to accelerate machine learning development

* Analyse model performance, identify failure modes, and develop innovative solutions to improve real-world capability

* Develop tools and processes to improve automation, repeatability, and efficiency across the machine learning lifecycle

* Keep up to date with advances in computer vision, AI, and machine learning, identifying opportunities to apply emerging technologies

* Support integration, testing, and deployment of algorithms into real-time video processing systems

* Produce technical documentation, reports, and presentations to support engineering decisions

The Successful Applicant will:

Essential:

* Degree or equivalent experience in a relevant technical discipline such as Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, Mathematics, or Physics

* Practical experience developing and deploying machine learning or computer vision algorithms in production or near-production systems.

* Experience with modern computer vision architectures, including object detection, image classification, and transformers.

* Ability to analyse image datasets using image processing techniques to inform machine learning model development and debugging.

* Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to break down complex, uncertain problems into achievable steps

* Ability to take ownership of technical challenges from investigation through to delivery

* Have excellent communication skills and the ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly

* Able to evaluate technical trade-offs and select appropriate approaches.

* Strong programming skills in Python, with experience in C++ for production or performance-critical systems

Desirable skills:

* Applying statistical modelling techniques, Bayesian inference, uncertainty estimation, probabilistic modelling, or state estimation methods to real-world engineering problems.

* Custom loss functions

* Action recognition

* Synthetic data

* Multi-modal neural networks

Work life balance:

* 37.5 hour working week, Lunchtime finishes on a Friday

* Hybrid / flexible working arrangements

* 28 days annual leave, Christmas closure, Holiday purchasing scheme

Benefits:

* Group pension plan – matched contributions up to 5%

* Income protection scheme

* Employee Assistance Programme gives you and your family access to 4 key services including remote GP service, second opinion, mental health pathway service and physiotherapy consultations

* Life assurance policy, including bereavement counselling and probate helpline

Security Clearance Requirements:

Due to the nature of our business, our staff need to be able to obtain UK Security Clearance as a mandated requirement. Therefore, if successful, you will need to provide proof of identity, employment history and right to work in the UK, along with proof of UK residency for at least five years