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Lead Ai Engineer (AI/ML/R&D)
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Lead Ai Engineer (AI/ML/R&D)
Lead AI Engineer
Location: Hybrid working (3 days a week in the Manchester Office)
Who We Are
Bally’s Interactive is the digital arm of one of the world’s leading entertainment providers, powering tens of millions of global players across cutting-edge ecosystems like sports betting, iGaming, free-to-play, and daily fantasy. Our portfolio includes market-defining brands like Bally Bet, Vera&John, Virgin Games, and Jackpotjoy.
We thrive through diversity, adaptability, and a relentless focus on delivering exceptional player experiences.
About the Role
As the Lead AI Engineer, you’ll shape the future of AI within our products by bridging AI research with scalable, production-ready engineering. You’ll establish the AI Engineering function, leading a multidisciplinary team tasked with delivering AI-powered solutions across:
- Personalisation & recommendations
- Intelligent search
- AI agents
- Content discovery
In this hands-on leadership role, you’ll:
- Define technical direction and engineering best practices
- Balance innovation with robust, scalable execution
- Mentor engineers and drive excellence in a high-performance team
- Stay close to large-scale technical challenges while providing strategic guidance
Key Responsibilities
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AI Engineering & Strategy
- Transition research and proofs-of-concept into production-ready, high-reliability AI services.
- Establish AI standards, scalability goals, and cross-team collaboration frameworks.
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Team Leadership & Development
- Build, mentor, and grow a talented engineering team.
- Foster a culture that encourages innovation while maintaining discipline.
- Lead by example—stay hands-on with technical challenges.
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- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with product, data, and technology teams to align technology with business needs.
Essential Requirements
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Technical Leadership
- Proven track record leading technical teams or engineering functions in commercial AI/ML environments.
- Demonstrated success scaling AI solutions (e.g., recommendation engines, LLM-powered systems, intelligent search).
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Deep AI/ML & Backend Expertise
- Proficiency in TypeScript and Python, with hands-on production experience in:
- ML/DL pipelines
- Ranking systems, real-time analytics, or generative AI.
- Cloud-native architecture on AWS (SageMaker, Bedrock, etc.).
- Mastery of CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code (e.g., Terraform/CDK), monitoring, and observability tools.
- Proficiency in TypeScript and Python, with hands-on production experience in:
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Performance & Reliability
- Experience building low-latency, scalable systems with strict uptime requirements.
- Knowledge of latency optimization, traffic distribution, and edge/real-time processing.
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Productionization Journey
- Case history of smoothly grafting experimental AI solutions into full production environments (i.e., testing → observability → A/B testing).
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Cultural Fit
- Experimental mindset with strong bias for action.
- Ability to influence stakeholders across technical and non-technical horizons.
- Passion for engineering excellence and mentorship.
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Desirable Behaviours & Traits
- Thrives in ambiguous environments, blending creativity with structured execution.
- Confident navigating stakeholder expectations while prioritising technical integrity—no napkin prototyping!
- Advocates for open architectures, clear APIs, and cost-conscious scaling.
- Deep respect for data quality and ethical AI principles.
What You’ll Get
We tailor benefits packages to location but here are some highlights you might enjoy:
- Annual leave
- Pension plan
- Health insurance
- Company share scheme
- Home office stipend
- Twelve volunteering days per year
- Wellness/Gym allowance
Our DNA
At Bally’s Interactive, our values are at the core of everything we do:
- Always Ready – Innovate and adapt relentlessly.
- You Make the Difference – Player-centric focus drives our decisions.
- All One Team – Celebrate our diverse strengths and shared purpose.
- Learning Every Day – Insight from mistakes and challenges as our greatest teacher.
- Love to Lead – Pursue diversity of thought, empowering teams to "raise the game."
Equal Opportunities Statement
Bally’s advocated for diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of work:
- Non-discrimination policy: Hiring decisions based exclusively on merit.
- Our superpower: A globally diverse workforce fuels our innovation and team synergy.
You’ll be connected to a mere-few-million daily users. Ready to shape how they experience the future?
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