Lead Fine-tuning and adaptation, project

The work

Adapts existing models to a specific domain, and knows when not to.

A defined outcome with a defined end. The scope is agreed before you start, and changing it is a new conversation rather than a favour.

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. Knowing when fine-tuning is the wrong answer is worth more than knowing how to do it, and it is harder to demonstrate.

What we ask to see

• A model you adapted, with the evaluation that justified doing it
• A time you recommended against fine-tuning and were right
• How you separated training and evaluation data, and how you checked

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

£500 to £738 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 Machine Learning Engineer, tenth to ninetieth percentile, six months to 8 August 2026. Advertised, not agreed, and set by the hirer rather than by us.