Machine Learning Engineer – Ship Design & Hydrodynamics

Job Details

• Employer: University of Southampton
• Location: London
• Salary: £41,000 - £45,000
• Project duration: 36 months
• Closing date listed: 15 November 2026

About the Role

Develop AI and optimisation tools for ship design through a partnership between the University of Southampton and Compute Maritime. You will build models that use physical engineering principles to predict vessel performance and improve designs in the NeuralShipper platform.

A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) brings a university and a business together to apply research to a practical business project.

Main Responsibilities

• Manage project work packages and turn research into commercially useful software.
• Develop and validate fast models for ship resistance, propulsion performance and energy efficiency.
• Use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and benchmark data to test predictions.
• Create optimisation methods that bring together different engineering requirements.
• Integrate robust, scalable tools into NeuralShipper for automated design improvement.
• Extend the platform to wind-assisted propulsion and rigid sail systems.
• Work with industry partners to check that tools meet practical design needs.

Essential Requirements

• MSc or MEng in machine learning, AI, CFD, hydrodynamics, optimisation or a related subject.
• Experience applying machine learning and deep learning to engineering or physical systems.
• Strong scientific programming in Python.
• Experience with relevant engineering simulation software, such as STAR-CCM+.
• Understanding of naval architecture, ship hydrodynamics, vessel performance or design analysis.
• Willingness to develop commercial understanding alongside technical skills.

Read the official person specification for the full appointment criteria.

Desirable Experience

• PhD in a relevant discipline.
• Experience with C++, MATLAB or similar languages.
• Experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow or JAX.
• Physics-informed machine learning, surrogate modelling, generative AI or design optimisation experience.

Benefits and Support

• Collaboration with University researchers and industry specialists.
• Experience translating research into commercial ship-design tools. The saved advert does not give a separate training budget or full benefits package.

About the Employer

Compute Maritime is a London-based technology company applying generative AI and high-performance computing to shipbuilding. Its NeuralShipper platform supports work from early vessel concepts through to operational optimisation.