Graduate AI Engineer / AI Consultant at Darogan in Bridgend, Wales, GB

About TrimTabs

TrimTabs Ltd is a pioneering technology company based in Bridgend, South Wales, focused on the sustainable, large-scale production of ultralong carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and hydrogen. Our patented technology transforms waste plastics and solvents into advanced materials with the potential to reshape energy, manufacturing and infrastructure.

We are rapidly scaling our operations and developing next-generation conductive wires, composites and building materials that outperform traditional materials while supporting a more sustainable future.

At TrimTabs, we value trust, discipline, curiosity, initiative and practical problem-solving. As a growing multidisciplinary team, we work collaboratively, think boldly and support one another to overcome challenges. Everyone contributes beyond the boundaries of a traditional job description, helping us turn breakthrough technology into real-world impact.

The Opportunity

TrimTabs is building its in-house AI capability and wants a technically strong graduate to lead that effort in practice - part applied AI engineer, part internal enabler. This is a rare chance to apply machine learning directly to deep-tech manufacturing problems, from microscopy image analysis to process data, while helping an entire business raise its AI literacy.

You will work close to the science and the shop floor, with visible impact on how TrimTabs characterises its materials, runs its processes, and makes decisions.

What You Will Do

Applied AI and data analysis

• Develop and apply AI and computer vision methods to extract information from microscopy images, supporting faster and more consistent interpretation of image data
• Support wider data analysis across characterisation and production datasets, helping the team discern patterns in material quality and process performance
• Apply AI techniques to engineering, chemical engineering and other innovation processes under development at TrimTabs

AI systems and infrastructure

• Support, and over time help lead, the management and maintenance of TrimTabs' in-house AI deployment system
• Keep models, pipelines and documentation in a state the wider team can rely on and build upon

Capability building across the business

• Carry out a capacity gap analysis: assess where AI could improve business and technical operations across the company, and prioritise the opportunities with the clearest return
• Act as the go-to AI person in the office - providing training, one-to-one support and practical guidance to around 20 colleagues

What We Offer

• Hours: Minimum 25 hours per week; full-time placements considered
• Contract length: 6-month graduate placement
• Salary: At least the National Living Wage, with the potential for a higher salary at the discretion of the host business.
• A real technical mandate from day one, rather than a rotation or a shadowing scheme
• Direct access to a multidisciplinary team in materials science, chemical engineering and environmental technology
• The chance to build a scarce skill set - AI applied to deep-tech manufacturing - while staying based in South Wales

Part of Tech Talent Cymru

This role is offered through Tech Talent Cymru, a graduate placement programme funded by Innovate UK and delivered by Darogan and Equal Education Partners. It connects talented graduates with Welsh SMEs working in frontier technology sectors.

On top of everything your host company offers, as a Tech Talent Cymru graduate you will receive:

• Dedicated training before your placement begins, so you start ready to make an impact
• Ongoing mentoring throughout your placement, from people outside your day-to-day team

Unless you choose to opt out, applying for this role also means you'll be considered for future opportunities on the Tech Talent Cymru programme - so one application could open more than one door.

Requirements

Essential

• A degree in AI, computer science, physics, engineering, mathematics or a related STEM discipline; an MSc in AI or machine learning is particularly welcome
• Strong programming ability, ideally in Python, with experience of common ML and data libraries
• Working knowledge of machine learning fundamentals, and the judgement to know when a simple method beats a complex one
• Clear communication: able to explain technical ideas to chemists, engineers and operations colleagues who are not AI specialists
• Self-starting and practical, comfortable shaping your own work in a small company where the AI function is being built from scratch
• Eligible to work in the UK and able to work from the Bridgend site

Desirable

• Exposure to computer vision or image analysis, particularly scientific or microscopy imagery
• Experience deploying or maintaining models in a production or lab environment (APIs, containers, version control, basic MLOps)
• Interest in materials science, nanomaterials, chemical engineering or advanced manufacturing
• Experience delivering training, demos or mentoring to non-technical colleagues