Machine Learning Research Engineer

We are a rapidly growing startup developing solutions that utilise Virtual Agents to handle manual customer and marketplace operations tasks. Virtual agents blend deterministic Python code, LLM reasoning and agentic AI capabilities to undertake this work, with a fallback to human experts. Our approach combines human expertise with AI automation to solve real-world challenges in trust & safety and beyond, without the need for complex technical integration. We have raised about $25M in VC funding from top-tier funds and operate at significant scale across multiple enterprise customers.

Machine Learning Research Engineer to help build and deliver a platform that can automatically create Virtual Agents for operational processes currently undertaken manually using browser-based UIs. The project includes an "Agent Factory" that can compile deterministic portions of workflows into reliable, testable code. This Agent Factory will learn from captured demonstrations of workflows and transform manual processes into automated solutions combining speed and reliability with AI reasoning where needed.

Your mission will be to create capabilities that automate the creation and management of Virtual Agents. You will design and develop capabilities using Agentic approaches for code generation and software engineering best practices, leveraging state-of-the-art LLM coding frameworks and guardrails to reliably build and test automated workflows. You will work with customer-facing technical teams to configure and deploy the Virtual Agents for customer work.

You will push the boundaries of Agentic automation, leveraging best-in-class capabilities where appropriate and developing in-house when needed. You will collaborate with platform and software engineers to turn these capabilities into scalable operational systems that can deliver Virtual Agents across a broad range of processes.

As part of this role, you will:

• Design and build capabilities that create Virtual Agents — an "Agent Factory"
• Robustly evaluate the agent creation process to enable systematic improvements through experimentation against benchmarks
• Implement code generation capabilities, guardrails, and evaluations focused on encoding workflows from customer documentation and input (e.g., captured browser demonstrations)
• Drive adoption of these capabilities with customer-facing technical teams
• Utilise best-in-class capabilities to deliver these features
• Research, invent and create novel capabilities where gaps exist in the industry
• Participate in our machine learning community to influence how we implement ML and computer vision technologies
• Contribute to full-stack development including software engineering, DevOps, and MLOps, with light project management to maximise early value

You

We are looking for someone excited about Unitary's mission, eager to have a large impact at an early-stage startup, and ready to define the company’s future as one of the early employees. We need versatile individuals who are prepared to contribute across disciplines and grow with the company. For this role, we need a proactive AI and machine learning expert familiar with leveraging and creating AI capabilities, comfortable engaging with customers and presenting new ideas. Strong communication skills are essential to liaise with technical, product and executive stakeholders.

You may be a fit if you:

• Know how to create systems for Agentic development, including mechanisms to guide and enhance state-of-the-art LLMs
• Have expert knowledge of Agentic AI and Generative AI capabilities
• Can assess where best-in-class industry capabilities can help operational workflows
• Know how to invent novel capabilities based on rapid research iterations
• Can collaborate with other engineers to understand and solve challenges
• Have strong Python and engineering skills
• Can demonstrate problem-solving and project management skills to analyse workflows and design automated solutions
• Thrive in a collaborative environment where group output and team achievements matter more than individual input
• Can travel to company-wide off-sites three times per year

Nice to have (not essential):

• Experience in fully remote, international teams
• Experience with Temporal or similar workflow orchestration platforms
• Previous startup experience
• Experience with MLOps practices and monitoring ML systems in production
• Knowledge of browser-based automation methods (e.g., Playwright)
• Knowledge of CI/CD practices and tools (e.g., GitLab CI, Argo CD)
• Proficiency with SQL and NoSQL databases
• Worked with Kubernetes and IaC tools (e.g., Terraform)

This role reports to the Chief Scientist and can be placed anywhere within 3 hours of the UK time zone.

The team

Unitary is a remote-first team of about 20 people across Europe and North America, focused on making the internet safer and a force for good. Our culture emphasizes trust, transparency and self-leadership.

Working at Unitary

We offer a positive and inclusive culture with progressive benefits, including:

• Flexible hours and location
• Competitive salary and equity package
• Occupational pension
• Generous paid parental leave
• Generous paid sick leave
• Annual budget for professional development and growth
• Annual budget for health and wellness
• Three team off-sites to London or other destinations in Europe