Senior Data Scientist / Machine Learning Engineer

Contract Senior Data Scientist / ML Engineer £600-800/day | Outside IR35 | Hybrid (Central London, 2 days/week) We're working with a specialist consultancy delivering high-impact machine learning solutions to private equity-backed businesses. They are looking for an experienced Data Scientist or ML Engineer to support a live project, applying classical machine learning to solve tangible, high-value problems. You will be joining a small, collaborative team of engineers and data scientists on-site 2 days per week in Central London. The work focuses on traditional ML use cases, such as: • Optimisation modelling to improve manufacturing throughput • Predictive modelling to anticipate and reduce asset downtime • Customer churn prediction and mitigation • Next-best-action modelling for sales agents • Geospatial modelling to inform store and asset placement decisions Must-Have Requirements: • 3-5+ years' experience applying classical ML in commercial settings • Excellent Python coding skills (production-grade, using libraries like Pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn) • Strong understanding of supervised and unsupervised learning methods (regression, classification, clustering, tree-based models, etc.) • Comfortable working across the full ML lifecycle • Previous exposure to ambiguous or evolving problem spaces, ideally within consulting or client-facing environments • Experience with AWS / Azure and SageMaker • Clear and confident communicator, able to contribute to client conversations and work collaboratively with delivery teams • Degree from a top university in a quantitative discipline (Master's preferred) • Based in London and able to attend the client site 2 x per week. Nice-to-Haves: • Experience with geospatial modelling, time series forecasting, or operational optimisation • DBT Interviews are taking place this week. Start ASAP. Please email Desired Skills and Experience Predictive Modelling, Python Machine Learning, Full ML Lifecycle