Founding ML Engineer

Founding ML Engineer

Location: London / Flexible

Type: Full-time

About Aya Grow

We are ushering in the next generation of global agriculture, where every factor of production in farming is optimised in real time with agentic AI. This means more food with a fraction of the land use, fertiliser, labour. This sounds utopian, but it is inevitable, the technology to achieve it is already here! We are the right team to succeed, and we want you to join us for the ride.

Solution: Agentic AI co-pilot that ingests multi-source farm data and automates decisions, taking the best action in minutes not months

Market: $13bn TAM within $12T global agriculture market

Moat: Every client expands our proprietary dataset, strengthening the agent and creating compounding defensibility

Traction: Spun out of Aya Data in September 2025; already trusted by Unilever & Norfund

Team: 2*Founder and ex-commercial farmer CEO, Ex-AI Founder CCO, Multi-time CTO, Board with 5 exits

Your Mission

As founding ML Engineer, you’ll lead the delivery of a commercial-scale AI solution that operates across computer vision, natural language and agentic. You’ll oversee complex R&D efforts, mentor technical talent, and work with our executive team to expand our suite of impactful AI functionality.

This role is perfect for a technically adept, commercially minded engineer who thrives on solving complex problems and scaling high-performance teams in dynamic, high-growth environments. We are a start-up, experience working in and thriving in lean but highly ambitious start-up conditions is essential.

What You’ll Be Working On

Technical Roadmap

• Translate business and customer needs into scalable ML solutions.
• Define priorities across computer vision, remote sensing, and agentic AI, balancing speed of delivery with technical robustness.

R&D and Prototyping

• Develop and refine ML models for key use cases (tree detection, nutrient analysis, fruit grading, yield prediction).
• Explore and integrate emerging methods in CV, geospatial AI, and LLMs to maintain a competitive edge.

Hands-on Engineering

• Own the end-to-end pipeline from data ingestion → model training → deployment → monitoring.
• Optimise models for accuracy, cost, and real-world usability in low-connectivity, resource-constrained environments.

Collaboration and Early Team Building

• Work closely with founders and agronomy experts to validate technical feasibility and product-market fit.
• Help recruit and mentor early technical hires (ML, CV, data engineering).

Quality and Reliability

• Ensure all ML systems are reproducible, well-documented, and production-ready.

Skills and Experience

Required:

• 3–5 years as a technical lead in AI, data science, or software engineering.
• Strong expertise in machine learning, data science, software engineering, and cloud infrastructure.
• Proven ability to manage technical teams and complex projects, with a track record of recruiting and developing talent.
• Commercial acumen to align technical solutions with client objectives and business goals.
• Exceptional communication skills, able to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Passion for AI and for Agriculture, with a keen ability to stay ahead of rapid technological advancements.
• A self-starter who thrives in high-paced, dynamic environments.

Preferred:

• Experience with computer vision, remote sensing, or 3D/LiDAR point cloud datasets (a plus but can be learned).

Why Join Us?

• 💸 Competitive salary + equity
• 📅 Flexible working – we value life-work balance.
• 🌍 A chance to lead a cutting-edge AI project with a potentially giant impact globally.
• 🚀 Be part of a mission-driven team shaping the global future of food.