Machine Learning Resident Client BigGeo (1 year term)

If you are interested in the application of machine learning and foundation models for geospatial data analysis this is the right opportunity for you. Be a part of a team of research and machine learning scientists building agentic multimodal systems for large-scale geospatial reasoning from the ground up and get mentored by some of the best minds in AI during the process. - Mara Cairo Product Owner Advanced Technology

Description

About the Role

This is a paid residency that will be undertaken over a 12-month period in Calgary with the potential to be hired by our client BigGeo afterwards (note: at the discretion of the client). The Resident will report to an Amii Scientist and regularly consult with the client team to share insights and engage in knowledge transfer activities. Successful candidates will be members of a cross-functional project team with backgrounds in ML research project management software engineering and new product development. This is a rare opportunity to be mentored by world-class scientists and to develop something truly impactful.

About the Client

BigGeo is redefining spatial intelligence with an AI-ready Discrete Global Grid System (DGGS) that transforms how spatial data is captured indexed and monetized. The BigGeo platform powers mission-critical decisions across sectors where location intelligence drives outcomesfrom large-scale infrastructure projects and environmental planning to logistics and emergency response. BigGeo is industry agnostic unlocking possibilities for organizations that have yet to realize the value a system like BigGeos can deliver.

About the Project

BigGeo is undertaking development of an AI integration layer that will comprehensively understand the full scope of our spatial cloud capabilitiesfrom core platform features and compute functions to available datasets and market opportunities. The system will synthesize knowledge across our function library data catalog product specifications and marketing materials to dynamically match customer business challenges with relevant BigGeo solutions accelerating discovery and reducing time-to-value. This integration will enable both internal teams and external customers to query BigGeos capabilities using natural language receiving contextually relevant recommendations that combine the right data compute functions and platform features to solve specific spatial intelligence problems. By continuously learning from usage patterns and marketplace activity the AI will identify emerging use cases and solution opportunities that drive commercial growth while ensuring customers quickly find the optimal path to their desired outcomes.

Required Skills / Expertise

Are you passionate about building great solutions Youll be presented with opportunities to both personally and professionally develop as you build your career. We are seeking a talented and motivated individual with a strong background in machine learning particularly in developing agentic workflows with LLMs and VLMs to leverage large-scale geospatial datasets for answering diverse analytical questions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design implement optimize and evaluate agentic workflows (with tool use) to extract value from large multi-modal geospatial datasets.
• Utilize state-of-the-art agentic frameworks tools and libraries to enhance model performance accelerate workflows and optimize data processing.
• Undertake applied research on ML and LLM/VLM fine-tuning techniques to address the limitations in existing models.
• Optimize ML pipelines to ensure efficiency scalability and real-time processing capabilities.
• Collaborate with the project team and stakeholders to develop MVP and client focused solutions.
• Engage in regular client meetings contributing to presentations and reports on project progress.

Required Qualifications:

• Completion of a Computer Science (or a related graduate degree program) MSc. or PhD ideally with experience in LLM/VLMs.
• Proficient in implementing fine-tuning and evaluating machine learning and deep neural network models.
• Proficient in Python programming language and related ML frameworks libraries and toolkits (e.g. Scikit-learn TensorFlow PyTorch OpenCV Pandas HuggingFace).
• Solid understanding of classical statistics and its application in model validation.
• Familiarity with Linux Git version control and writing clean code.
• A positive attitude towards learning and understanding a new applied domain .
• Must be legally eligible to work in Canada.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with and hands-on experience with multi-modal geospatial data.
• Publication record in peer-reviewed academic conferences or relevant journals in machine learning.
• Experience/familiarity with software engineering best practices.
• Experience with deploying machine learning models in production environments or strong software engineering (or MLE) skills is a plus.

Non-Technical Requirements:

• Demonstrated ownership of complex problems and strong leadership skills.
• Interdisciplinary team player enthusiastic about working together to achieve excellence.
• Capable of critical and independent thought.
• Able to communicate technical concepts clearly and advise on the application of machine intelligence.
• Intellectual curiosity and the desire to learn new things techniques and technologies.

Why You Should Apply

Besides gaining industry experience additional perks include:

• Work under the mentorship of an Amii Scientist for the duration of the project
• Participate in professional development activities
• Gain access to the Amii community and events
• Get paid for your work (a fair and equitable rate of pay will be negotiated at the time of offer)
• Build your professional network
• The opportunity for an ongoing machine learning role at the clients organization at the end of the term (at the clients discretion)

About Amii

One of Canadas three main institutes for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning our world-renowned researchers drive fundamental and applied research at the University of Alberta (and other academic institutions) training some of the worlds top scientific talent. Our cross-functional teams work collaboratively with Alberta-based businesses and organizations to build AI capacity and translate scientific advancement into industry adoption and economic impact.

How to Apply

If this sounds like the opportunity youve been waiting for please dont wait for the closing January 27 2025 to apply - were excited to add a new member to the Amii team for this role and the posting may come down sooner than the closing date if we find the right candidate before the posting closes! When sending your application please send your resume and cover letter indicating why you think youd be a fit for your cover letter please include one professional accomplishment you are most proud of and why.

Applicants must be legally eligible to work in Canada at the time of application.

Amii is an equal opportunity employer and values a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to ethnicity religion gender identity sexual orientation age or disability. Accommodations for disability-related needs throughout the recruitment and selection process are available upon request. Any information provided by you for accommodations will be kept confidential and wont be used in the selection process.

Required Experience:

Manager