Lead ML Engineer (Document AI / NLP, Contract)

Intelance is a specialist architecture and AI consultancy working with clients in regulated, high-trust environments (healthcare, pharma, life sciences, financial services). We are building a lean senior team to deliver an AI-assisted clinical tool for a UK-based organisation in human genetic testing. We are looking for a Lead ML Engineer who can turn messy real-world documents into reliable, explainable model outputs. This is a contract / freelance role, part-time (2-3 days/week), working closely with our AI Solution Architect and Data Engineer.
Tasks

Design and implement the ML/NLP core of an AI-assisted marking tool that:

○ Ingests clinical-style reports (PDF/Word) via an OCR + parsing pipeline
○ Extracts relevant content and features
○ Applies a hybrid scoring approach (rules + LLM / transformer models)
○ Outputs scores, rationales, and confidence levels.

Build and iterate prompting / few-shot setups and rule layers so that model behaviour is consistent, predictable, and easy to explain to assessors.

Work with the Data Engineer to define and consume clean structured inputs from the OCR/pipeline (schemas, validation checks, logging).

Implement evaluation pipelines: ground-truth comparisons, error analysis, per-criterion metrics, and drift/robustness checks.

Optimise models for accuracy, stability, and cost (latency, token usage, throughput) within agreed constraints.

Support the architect and compliance lead in designing explainability and audit: what is logged, what is shown to assessors, and what evidence is retained for validation.

Package models behind clean interfaces (e.g. Python services, APIs, batch jobs) so they can be integrated with the rest of the system.

Participate in technical workshops with the client to walk through behaviour on real examples and collect feedback.

Document your work clearly: experiments, model choices, prompt patterns, known limitations, and recommended operating boundaries.

Requirements
Must-have

4+ years of hands-on Machine Learning / NLP engineering experience (not just research).

Strong Python skills and experience with at least one modern ML/NLP stack (PyTorch, TensorFlow, HuggingFace, spaCy, etc.).

Practical experience with document AI / text processing: PDFs, OCR outputs, long-form text, classification or scoring of documents.

Solid understanding of LLMs and prompt-based workflows (e.g. OpenAI/Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar) and how to mix them with rules / traditional models.

Experience building evaluation pipelines: test sets, metrics, error analysis, and data-driven model selection.

Comfort working in environments where explainability, auditability, and consistency matter more than bleeding-edge novelty.

Ability to work independently in a small senior team, take ownership of a problem, and communicate clearly about trade-offs.

Available for 2-3 days per week on a contract basis, working largely remotely in UK or close European time zones.

Nice-to-have

Prior work in healthcare, life sciences, clinical reporting, or regulated industries.

Experience with Azure (Azure ML, Azure Functions, Azure OpenAI, blob storage) or other major cloud providers.

Exposure to validation or quality frameworks (e.g. GxP, ISO 15189, UKAS, NHS IG).

Familiarity with MLOps practices (versioning, deployment, monitoring), even at a lightweight level.

Benefits

Real impact: build a production AI system that will support external quality assessment in human genetic testing.

Lean, senior team: work directly with an AI Solution Architect, experienced Data Engineer, and the leadership team – quick decisions, minimal bureaucracy.

Remote-first, flexible: work from anywhere compatible with UK business hours, with a planned load of 2-3 days/week.

Contract / freelance: competitive day rate, with the potential to extend into further phases and additional schemes if the pilot is successful.

Opportunity to help define reusable ML/NLP components that Intelance will deploy across multiple regulated AI projects.

We review every application personally. If there’s a good match, we’ll set up a short call to walk through the project, expectations, and next steps.
Intelance
Intelance is a strategic consultancy specialising in Enterprise Architecture, AI transformation, and cybersecurity. We help organisations design the systems, structures, and operating models needed to scale, secure, and lead in a volatile world.
Our team combines TOGAF-based architecture thinking with cybersecurity governance (Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001), cloud-native patterns, and AI operating model design. From EA blueprints to Zero Trust frameworks to AI adoption roadmaps – Intelance transforms complexity into strategic clarity.
We serve public and private sector clients across the UK, Africa, and the Middle East – particularly in regulated industries such as government, healthcare, finance, energy, and pharma.

Intelance