Freelance Spatial AI and Machine Learning Consultant

Freelance Spatial AI and Machine Learning Consultant

Contract: February December 2026

Days: Up to 24 days total (typically 1 2 days per week, with higher demand in the first quarter)

Location: Remote, UK-based

Rate: Self employed day rate aligned with equivalent annual salary

A national environmental charity is seeking an experienced Freelance Spatial AI and Machine Learning Consultant to help shape and deliver two innovative geospatial digital products. These tools one a predictive risk model, the other a computer vision system for detecting and classifying litter will play a key role in improving public spaces, reducing waste, and supporting future data integration.

This is a unique opportunity to lead the strategic and technical development of cutting edge AI/ML systems that will have real world environmental impact.

You will partner with the charity s Research & Intervention Lead, Project Director and in house Data Analyst to design, build, validate and embed robust AI/ML frameworks. Your expertise will guide the full lifecycle of both projects, ensuring technical excellence, reproducibility, and long term sustainability.

Key ResponsibilitiesStrategic & Technical Leadership

• Review project objectives and shape the technical direction of both AI/ML products.

• Advise on model selection, training, testing and deployment strategies.

• Provide recommendations that consider scalability, licensing, futureproofing and cost effectiveness.

• Contribute to final recommendations on how the enhanced frameworks can support national scale litter prevention and resource targeting.

Risk Model Review & Enhancement

• Evaluate the existing geospatial modelling pipeline, including architecture, data inputs, feature engineering and algorithm performance.

• Recommend improvements to workflows, feature sets and geospatial techniques.

• Support experimentation using predictive modelling approaches such as Random Forest and Gradient Boosting.

• Strengthen validation processes, including training/testing design, diagnostics and error analysis.

• Conduct independent quality assurance to assess robustness, stability and interpretability.

Computer Vision System Development

• Define the vision, success criteria and performance targets for a new litter detection computer vision model.

• Develop a data acquisition and annotation strategy with strong QA processes.

• Evaluate alternative model families, annotation schemas and deployment architectures.

• Validate the end to end development plan, ensuring alignment with scope, timeline and complexity.

• Design evaluation and error analysis frameworks to measure real world performance and guide iteration.

• Advise on long term sustainability, technical debt reduction and modular upgrade pathways.

Stakeholder & Project Management

• Manage milestones, dependencies and deliverables, keeping internal stakeholders aligned.

• Communicate technical concepts clearly to non technical audiences.

• Provide written technical notes and participate in short progress meetings.

Capacity Building & Documentation

• Mentor internal staff on advanced predictive and spatial modelling methods.

• Review and contribute to clear, auditable technical documentation.

Person SpecificationEssential

• Minimum 5 years professional experience in AI, predictive analytics and machine learning model development.

• Strong proficiency in spatial data science and GIS enabled modelling (QGIS, ArcGIS Pro or Python GIS stack).

• Skilled in PyTorch, Ultralytics YOLO and cloud data management (AWS or Azure).

• Experience working with UK socio environmental datasets (IMD, ONS, land use, accessibility).

• Experience integrating models into offline or on prem environments.

• Ability to identify risks early and propose practical mitigation strategies.

• Proven experience maintaining stakeholder alignment across project milestones.

• Right to work in the UK, ability to demonstrate contractor status, and professional indemnity insurance.

Desirable

• Experience in environmental risk modelling, urban analytics or behavioural data analysis.

• Understanding of geostatistics, spatial interpolation and postcode level disaggregation.

• Familiarity with environmental behaviour change programmes.

If you re excited by the opportunity to shape impactful AI systems that support cleaner, greener communities, we d love to hear from you.

For more information, please contact Hannah at NFP People.