AI Data Engineer

About the Role

My client is looking for a hands-on AI Data Engineer to design, build and optimise scalable data infrastructure and pipelines that power advanced AI and analytics initiatives.

You will work closely with Software Engineering and AI/ML teams to ensure high-quality, reliable and accessible data across structured and unstructured datasets.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, develop and maintain robust ETL/ELT data pipelines across multiple data sources.
• Build and optimise scalable data workflows using technologies such as Airflow, dbt or equivalent orchestration tools.
• Process and transform complex structured and unstructured datasets.
• Develop data solutions that support AI, ML and advanced analytics use cases.
• Implement data validation, testing, monitoring and quality frameworks.
• Diagnose data issues and proactively improve pipeline reliability and performance.
• Collaborate with AI/ML and Software Engineers to provide reliable and accessible data.
• Apply best practices around data governance, security, quality and lineage.
• Document data architectures, metadata and data flows to ensure transparency and reproducibility.
• Optimise data pipelines and infrastructure for scalability, performance and cost efficiency.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience in Data Engineering, ETL development or Data Warehousing.
• Strong hands-on experience with Python and SQL.
• Experience with Airflow, dbt, Luigi or similar workflow orchestration technologies.
• Strong understanding of big data architectures and scalable data pipelines.
• Experience working with large-scale structured and unstructured datasets.
• Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud platform: Azure, AWS or GCP.
• Strong understanding of data quality, validation, monitoring and governance.
• Experience diagnosing complex data and pipeline issues.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to work with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related technical discipline.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will be a production-focused Data Engineer rather than a BI or analytics specialist, with a strong engineering mindset and experience building data platforms that support modern AI/ML environments.

Experience with Spark, data lakes/lakehouses, streaming, vector databases, RAG pipelines or AI data platforms would be highly advantageous.

Salt is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.