Hire talent

You need AI capability and cannot yet justify a full-time hire.

Describe a roleTell us the problem. We come back with a shortlist and the reasoning.
The benchWho is on the register, what was assessed, and what is still unverified.
Areas of expertiseThe 14 disciplines we assess, and why each is hard to judge from a CV.
How this worksWhat happens after you describe a role, and what we refuse to do.
How we vetThe published rubric every specialist is assessed against.
Interview questionsWhat to ask, per discipline, and what a good answer sounds like.

Find work

You are a specialist, independent or about to be.

Apply to the registerEvidence required. You are never charged a fee, and never will be.
Open rolesThe disciplines we are actively assessing for, and what each needs.
CertificationsWhich ones a buyer actually values, and which prove nothing.
What the work paysAdvertised UK rates and salaries, with the sample size shown.

Insights

The research. Free, sourced, and useful whether or not you ever hire us.

AI salary guideAdvertised UK day rates and salaries by discipline, with every figure sourced.
ArticlesLongform on hiring, pricing and running AI work. No gated PDFs.
Straight answersThe short questions people search before they spend money.
Free toolScore a freelance job posting before you spend anything bidding on it.

Roadmap Contact

Open roles

Lead Data engineering for AI, fractional

CommitmentOne to three days a week, ongoing

LocationRemote, UK hours

Advertised day rate£381 to £650

What this is

This is a place on the Over Unity register, not a contract of employment and not a role at Over Unity. We assess specialists against a published rubric and introduce them to companies hiring for this work. Any engagement that follows is between you and that company. You are never charged a fee at any point, for anything.

The work

Gets the data into a shape a model can actually use, reliably and repeatedly.

Fractional means you carry a decision, not a backlog. Hirers who want a pair of hands are pointed at a project instead.

The bar

You have owned delivery and you have set the standard others worked to, including saying no to work that was already funded.

Why this one is hard to judge. Most AI projects fail here rather than at the model, and the people who know that are rarely the loudest in the room.

What we ask to see

Pipelines or models you built, and how correctness is checked
A silent failure you caught, and how
A schema or contract we can read

One solid item beats five vague ones. A referee we can actually call beats a link to a landing page.

What gets an application declined

The only evidence offered is a certification, a course, or a job title
Every piece of evidence is under an NDA and no sanitised version or referee is offered
The work described is entirely a demonstration, a proof of concept, or a hackathon
More than six disciplines are claimed, which we read as a signal that none has been assessed

If we decline you, the reason is written down and sent to you. The software refuses a decline without one.

What it pays

£381 to £650 a day. That is the tenth to ninetieth percentile of what UK employers advertised for the closest published titles over the six months to 8 August 2026.

Advertised UK contract day rates for Data Engineer, tenth to ninetieth percentile, six months to 8 August 2026. Advertised, not agreed, and set by the hirer rather than by us.

The full figures for data engineering for ai

Apply What we will ask you

Posted 2026-08-08. Valid to 2026-11-06. Reference fractional-data-engineering-lead.