Melbourne, VIC | $100–$120/hr inc. Super | Start Date:1 October 2025
Contract: 9 months

About the Role
Our federal government client is seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer with demonstrated government experience in machine learning and a strong background in full-stack, cloud-based development. This role will play a critical part in providing SME consultancy expertise plus developing, deploying, and maintaining advanced ML solutions in secure, scalable environments. The role will actively collaborate across multiple organisational units, projects in a matrix environment to ensure successful delivery of business and operational AI related initiatives.

This is the role for you if you are passionate about driving great outcomes for Australia using emerging technologies, have demonstrated Australian Government experience engaging directly with stakeholders across business and technical domains, and three years (or more) of experience in developing and supporting MLOps/DevOps applications for ML, LLM, and RAG projects. This experience will include:

• continuous training and deployment pipelines, data ingestion, pre-processing, and vector databases,
• a strong background in web application development
• front-end frameworks like React, Angular, Vue, or Svelte
• back-end frameworks such as Flask, FastAPI, or C#
• DevSecOps and agile methodologies.

The role will require on-site attendance in Melbourne multiple days per week for workshops, team meetings, training delivery, and to access classified systems.

Why Apply

• Competitive hourly rate: $100–$120 including super
• Initial 9 month contract
• Start date: 1 October 2025
• Strategic, high-impact work supporting government transformation initiatives
• Collaborative hybrid work environment

Security Requirements

• Must currently hold an NV1 (Negative Vetting Level 1) Security Clearance or above
• Australian Citizenship is essential

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, deploy, and maintain ML pipelines with a focus on LLM and RAG systems
• Design MLOps/DevOps pipelines for model training, testing, and deployment
• Integrate machine learning solutions into full-stack cloud-based systems
• Translate business and operational requirements into robust technical solutions
• Engage proactively with stakeholders, including analysts, engineers, and project leads
• Contribute to governance, documentation, code reviews, and Agile ceremonies
• Maintain compliance with privacy, security, and ethical AI standards
• Stay up to date with ML/AI trends to inform architectural improvements and innovation

Key tools, skills and knowledge required:

• Python
• React
• Orchestration
• Containerisation (e.g., Docker)
• Python-based web frameworks
• APIs
• Vector databases
• Linux
• Rapid prototyping
• MS Azure Boards (including Delivery Plans), Repository and Wiki

To Apply
Please submit the following:

• Updated CV
• Hourly rate (including super)
• Availability and proposed start date
• Location
• Citizenship and current clearance status