Job Description Job Title: Head of Group for Marine Processes and Observations Purpose of role: To lead the development and delivery of Marine Processes and Observations research at PML, shaping the strategic scientific direction in collaboration with the Director of Science (DoS) and Chief Executive (CE). Responsible to: PML Director of Science Responsible for: Staff and students within the Marine Processes and Observations (MPO) science area Principal Accountabilities 1. Provide strategic leadership for the development, funding, and delivery of Marine Processes and Observations research at PML. 2. Act as a member of the Science, Technology and Impact Team in formulating, managing, and delivering science strategies, policies, plans, and budgets. 3. Foster a research culture that achieves the highest standards of scientific excellence, innovation, and productivity. 4. Ensure the MPO group maintains and develops the skills and expertise required to meet PML’s evolving scientific needs. 5. Lead and contribute to research proposals, securing competitive funding, and author high-quality scientific papers and reports. 6. Manage, mentor, and support the professional development of staff and students within the MPO group. 7. Work closely with operational teams to ensure seamless integration of scientific and organisational activities. 8. Build and sustain effective relationships with external partners, representing PML at local, national, and international levels. 9. Contribute to the development and delivery of PML Applications, supporting and promoting its strategic objectives. 10. Take responsibility for health, safety, and wellbeing, ensuring compliance for yourself and for those under your management.
Computer Vision AI Data Scientist 0014
- Location
- Plymouth Hybrid
- Vacancy Type
- Open Ended Appointment
- Application Deadline
- Monday, January 12, 2026
- Salary
- £36963 - £46635 DOE
- Job Summary
-
Are you passionate about applying cutting-edge AI to solve real-world environmental challenges? Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) is seeking a talented Computer Vision and AI Scientist to join our growing Environmental Intelligence Group, working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and ocean science.
This is your chance to contribute to projects that matter – advancing machine learning for underwater species detection and helping protect marine ecosystems worldwide.
You will play a key role in DeepVision, a project funded by the Bezos Earth Fund, developing state-of-the-art Vision Transformer models for underwater imagery. Your work will directly support global efforts to understand and safeguard marine biodiversity.
Beyond the DeepVision project, you’ll have opportunities to:
Drive innovation in AI for environmental science.
Collaborate across disciplines – from biology and chemistry to social science and computer science.
Shape new research directions and applications in AI/ML.
Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) is a global leader in marine research, dedicated to delivering cutting-edge environmental science that supports a healthy and sustainable ocean. The Environmental Intelligence Group combines expertise in marine ecosystem and process modelling, data science, and artificial intelligence to advance understanding of marine systems. The group takes an interdisciplinary, whole-systems approach, integrating physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, and AI, to explore the impacts and values of marine environments from coastal waters to the deep ocean and polar regions. By providing trusted, evidence-based insights, the team enables informed decision-making across marine policy, management, and industry, helping to achieve national and international sustainability goals and reinforcing PML’s leadership in ocean action.
- Key Deliverables
-
- Develop and train Vision Transformer models for object detection in underwater imagery.
- Build robust computer vision data pipelines and ensure best practices in software and data management.
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams across marine science and AI.
- Innovate new AI/ML approaches to advance environmental understanding.
- Skills Specification
-
- Strong experience in computer vision (segmentation, object detection) across diverse problem areas.
- Relevant postgraduate degree (Masters/PhD) around applied AI/ML or equivalent industry experience.
- An enthusiasm for working with others to solve problems.
- Proficiency in Python and deep learning libraries (PyTorch, TensorFlow, HuggingFace).
- Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to non-specialists
- Passion for producing well designed and documented code, and collaborative problem solving.
- The following skills would also be beneficial:
- Use of Linux systems for Data Science tasks
- Experience in underwater imagery
- High-Performance Computing experience using multiple GPUs, including resource management software, such as Slurm
- Containerisation technologies such as Docker and Singularity
- Python Environment management experience such as conda, uv or env
- Applicant Information
Interviews for this position will be held durning the first week of February - exact date TBC
You can find out more about working at PML
and view our company benefitshere.hereFor more information about living and working in Plymouth please click
.hereIf you require a visa to work in the UK please click
for more information.herePlease note that this position is a Hybrid role that will require at least 50% of the jobholder’s time to be spent in our Lab. We are not able to support fully remote working for this role.
If you have any questions about this position please email
careers@pml.ac.uk.PML is a Disability Confident employer, and we have recently attained the Investors in Diversity Silver accreditation. We are committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive culture, where all can succeed based on merit, and will provide any reasonable adjustments required to enable this. To support staff from all backgrounds, we offer a range of family friendly and inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements and staff engagement forums.