Senior R&D Engineer - Part time found on BBC

The Internet Research & Futures Services (IRFS) team in BBC Research & Development is looking for a Senior R&D Engineer to research, develop and implement algorithms and systems to prototype the future of an internet-first BBC. You will work as part of a multidisciplinary team of research scientists, developers, UX designers and producers who explore the future of the BBC, media and the internet.

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC for different reasons and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.

The Internet Research & Futures Services (IRFS) team in BBC Research & Development is looking for a Senior R&D Engineer to research, develop and implement algorithms and systems to prototype the future of an internet-first BBC. You will work as part of a multidisciplinary team of research scientists, developers, UX designers and producers who explore the future of the BBC, media and the internet.

Depending on your skills and interests you will join one of our 3 teams, working on algorithm development and implementation.  The teams work with partners across the BBC, academia and industry. Your role will be to apply the discipline of research and development to the technical issues underlying advances in these areas, applying existing algorithms and developing new ones. As a senior engineer you will be expected to have, and develop, expertise in several areas but also work with other engineers to build and prototype complex systems, leading on some areas.

We are offering this opportunity solely as a part-time role (0.5 full time) that is based in London (W12), but we offer some flexibility in working arrangements such as regular working from home. As such we hope it may suit applicants who need flexibility in their working arrangements.

As an employer we are committed to making reasonable adjustments to support employees in their work if they have a disability. We regularly audit our systems and buildings to ensure accessibility for all staff and visitors with disabilities. https://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/trainee-schemes-and-apprenticeships/extend/extend

You’ll have experience of the research, development and application of algorithms, ideally with a background applying them to audio, video and text content.  You'll have used machine learning techniques to solve practical problems but are interested in the underlying algorithms.  You’ll have some experience of developing software alongside experienced software engineers. You’re happy to work within a multidisciplinary team of other Developers, Researchers, Producers and/or Designers.  It would be great if you have experience of machine learning toolkits (such as scikit-learn), neural network toolkits (such as Tensorflow or Keras) as those are the kind of systems you’ll be using, but you'll get a chance to learn them if not.

Wherever your strengths lie you’ll be keen to learn.  We’re looking for someone who can resolve problems and research questions creatively, and is happy to get their hands dirty writing software, building systems or running tests to evaluate novel solutions.  You’re a team worker and happy to take on a leading role for a particular area and comfortable mentoring junior staff.  You’ll have excellent written and oral skills communicating with colleagues and senior management.  You may be in a senior role already or it's the right time for you to step up.

BBC R&D has a worldwide reputation for leading the research and development of many key internet, broadcast and media technologies. This role is in the Internet Research & Future Services team of BBC R&D. Our team’s work focuses on media, the internet and user experiences with current work areas including the future of voice UI and audio AR, machine learning for media analysis, fighting disinformation and the future of a public service internet. We build systems and prototypes, carry out original research and solve problems for the BBC. You can read more about BBC R&D on our website https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd and more about this team’s work on the R&D blog https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/sections/internet-research-and-future-services