Intermediate/senior Machine Learning Engineer

Description
About Auror
At Auror, we’re empowering the retail industry to tackle theft and Organised Retail Crime, a $150 Billion problem globally. It’s high volume crime that’s increasingly organised in nature and is putting people, retailers, and communities at risk every day.
Founded in New Zealand 11 years ago, we’re working with some of the best and largest retailers in the world across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Auror is connecting people and intelligence to reduce crime. We’re using technology for good.
In partnership with our leading retail partners, we need people with the passion, determination, and innovation required to overcome one of the world's largest problems. If you’re looking to make a difference with and for the people dedicated to stopping crime, for good, then we want you on our team.
We're also embracing the potential of AI to supercharge our impact—whether that's enhancing the way we detect trends, support our customers, or improve internal workflows. As a company, we're committed to responsibly incorporating AI into how we work and what we build, and we encourage all Aurors to be curious about how AI can elevate their work, regardless of role or function.
The Role
Working across multiple jurisdictions and privacy laws, and on sensitive data, we have a focus on being responsible with technology - especially AI. We have created a responsible AI framework and have a core set of guiding principles that help ensure that we - and you - are always thinking about what is the right thing to do.
**What you will work on**:
You will be working on a variety of data types - tabular data, free text, images and video.
Collaborating with engineering, data, and product teams to integrate real-time data and machine learning prediction pipelines into Auror, ensuring the necessary infrastructure supports algorithms across a multi-tenant, multi-geography environment, and driving analytical innovations—including ML and insights—across our platform.
When appropriate, sharing documentation or presenting on your models and designs to engineers and data professionals within Auror, the wider business, and the community.
This role reports to Altieris Peixoto, Lead Data Scientist
I joined Auror with the mission of harnessing data science and Artificial Intelligence to make a meaningful difference to reducing retail crime. My passion lies in leveraging emerging technologies and best practices to design and optimize data-driven solutions that empower organizations to unlock the full potential of their data assets.
I thrive in collaborative environments with curious, motivated individuals who embrace continuous learning, enjoy working with modern technologies and methodologies, and are eager to explore innovative and ethical ways to use data.
**Requirements**:
An advanced level of statistical programming (SQL, Python)
Experience in designing, building and deploying at least one machine learning model in a production environment.
Expertise in computer vision or LLMs beyond leveraging open source or commodity models.
An understanding of available commoditized AI and state-of-the-art architectures, and be able to trade off between using pre-built solutions versus novel approaches
Experience in statistical interpretation and complex analysis, including the ability to find stories and insights in data
Knowledge of ETL/ELT processes and data engineering tools such as DBT and Snowflake.
Comfortable working on cloud environments (preferably Azure or GCP)
Experience with code versioning tools (Git, Github)
You enjoy collaborating and working in partnership with others, and you’ll take the initiative to bring in experts with relevant skills to help get your work out in front of customers quickly.
**Nice to have**:
An ability to describe advanced techniques to a non-technical audience
Knowledge in using Azure or GCP ML platforms. E.g. Google Vertex AI, Azure Machine Learning.
A strong opinion on how AI can be used both effectively and ethically, and a drive to ensure we use AI with care.
Experience testing production machine learning models for accuracy and bias, including considering aspects such as concept-drift.
Knowledge with Object Oriented Programming using Python.
Knowledge of deep learning and NLP techniques, including libraries such as tensorflow and pytorch
Knowledge of relational and no relational databases such as PostgreSQL, Neo4j, ElasticSearch, CosmosDB.
We are looking for people who demonstrate a strong alignment to our Guiding Principles

**Benefits**:
**Competitive salary Range**: Depending on level of experience of IC2 / IC3 (NZD$110,000 - $165,000)
**Employee share scheme**: You’ll own part of a company making a real difference
**Flexibility**: We are hard-working and outcome focused, but recognise there is more to life than work. We promote a healthy work/life blend.
**Shorter work weeks (at full pay)**: Everyone gets Friday afternoons off, so you can start your weekend early, an