ML Engineer — ASR
Summary
ML Engineer improving automatic speech recognition for Kiefer's Sophea Meet: training/fine-tuning ASR models on real meeting audio, building benchmarks and error analysis, and improving production inference (accuracy, latency, cost). Core stack is Python with PyTorch/JAX/TensorFlow; English first, Greek next.
About the company:
KIEFER is building Greece's integrated AI ecosystem. From renewable energy infrastructure and AI systems to robotics and enterprise applications, we connect the technologies that power Europe's intelligent future. Founded in 2014, KIEFER has delivered 600MW+ of energy projects and is now developing sovereign AI infrastructure, enterprise AI products and physical AI systems for Greece and Southeast Europe.
About the role
We are looking for an ML Engineer to improve automatic speech recognition (ASR) for Sophea Meet. You will work with real meeting audio and own the improvement loop from data and model experiments through evaluation and production performance.
The initial language focus is English. Additional languages, starting with Greek, will be prioritized with Product based on usage and product needs.
What you will do
Train, fine-tune, adapt, and evaluate speech recognition models based on measured product needs.
Build representative benchmarks and regression tests for real meeting audio.
Prepare speech datasets and investigate difficult cases, including noise, overlapping speakers, long sessions, and specialized terminology.
Use error analysis to decide which model, data, or pipeline changes will improve transcription quality.
Improve inference across accuracy, latency, throughput, reliability, and cost.
Deploy and monitor model versions with Engineering, while working with Product to set quality goals and prioritize improvements.
What you will need
3+ years of relevant ML or research engineering experience, with clear technical ownership and measurable results.
Strong hands-on ASR or speech ML experience, including a speech recognition system you shipped or materially improved.
Experience training, fine-tuning, or adapting deep learning models using real-world audio data.
Strong evaluation skills, including WER/CER, benchmark design, error analysis, and regression testing.
Strong Python, hands-on experience with PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow, or a similar framework, and solid software engineering skills.
Experience deploying, monitoring, and maintaining production ML systems.
Nice to have
Multilingual ASR, accent robustness, domain adaptation, or diarization.
Streaming speech recognition and low-latency inference.
MLOps, evaluation, or data pipelines for speech systems.
Experience with meeting transcription, voice agents, or enterprise speech products.
What is there for you
Compensation: Competitive package aligned with talent benchmarks.
Impact: Hands-on work shaping AI capabilities for Kiefer Tech’s products and real-world applications.
AI-native environment: Real challenges across model development, evaluation, and production AI systems.
Culture: Engineering-first, high autonomy, low bureaucracy, and space to shape meaningful AI products.
Skills
As published by ashby · 7 questions · 3 written answers
Basics
Name, Email, Resume
Short answers (3)
- LinkedIn profile link
- What is your location?
- What is your salary expectation?
Pick from a list (1)
- How did you learn about us?
Written answers (3)
- Tell us about an ASR model you personally trained, fine-tuned, or materially improved. What did you change, and how did you measure the result?
- How did you evaluate ASR quality on difficult real-world audio in a project you worked on? Give one failure case and explain what you did with the findings.
- Describe an ASR system you shipped or supported in production. What trade-off did you make between transcription quality and latency or throughput?