Senior Engineer – Machine Learning/AI – Python, SQL/Snowflake, CI/CD

Job Description

Hybrid Working - London based

Why join us
Joining Sainsbury's Tech as a Senior Engineer means becoming part of a leading technology organisation that powers the UK's top multi-channel, multi-brand retailer. We are a community of passionate engineers who are empowered to define and deliver through the use of technology. With a focus on continuous improvement and technical excellence, you'll have the opportunity to shape our engineering vision, drive adoption of best practises, and work with cutting-edge technologies. Not only will you contribute to innovative solutions that impact millions of customers, but you'll also be part of a progressive community that fosters growth, collaboration, and the advancement of engineering expertise. With the support and resources available, you can accelerate your professional development and enhance your skills within a dynamic, agile environment. Join us and be part of a team dedicated to making a meaningful impact within the retail industry while staying at the forefront of technological advancements.

What you'll do
As a Senior Machine Learning Data Engineer, you will play a critical role in designing, building, and maintaining data pipelines and infrastructure that enable the development and deployment of machine learning models and drive engineering excellence. You will collaborate closely with data scientists, and lead ML engineers, and software engineers to ensure data is clean, accessible, and optimised for large-scale processing and analysis.

Key Responsibilities 

• Data Pipeline Development: Lead the technical direction of projects and ensure the use of Sainsbury’s best practices to the best quality.

• Data Integration: Lead and provide expertise on Integrate data from various sources, ensuring data consistency, integrity, and quality across the entire data lifecycle.

• Infrastructure Management: Provide guidance for the junior & Mid Data Engineers on the best practices when building and managing data infrastructure, including data lakes, warehouses, and distributed processing systems (e.g., Hadoop, Spark).

• Data Preparation: Collaborate with data scientists to prepare and transform raw data into formats suitable for machine learning, including feature engineering and data augmentation.

• Automation: Implement automation tools and frameworks (CI/CD) to streamline the deployment and monitoring of machine learning models in production.

• Performance Optimisation: Optimise data processing workflows and storage solutions to improve performance and reduce costs.

• Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams, including data science, engineering, and product management, to deliver data solutions that meet business needs.

• Mentorship: junior and mid-level data engineers and provide technical guidance on best practices and emerging technologies in data engineering and machine learning and helping to enhance their skills and career growth.

• Knowledge Sharing and Empowerment: Promote a culture of knowledge sharing within the engineering teams by organising regular technical workshops, brown bag sessions, and code reviews.

• Innovation and Continuous Improvement: Foster a collaborative and inclusive team environment that encourages continuous learning and improvement.

Leadership and Communication  

• Strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire and guide team.

• Lead scrum ceremonies as and when needed (Standup, Planning, and grooming sessions)

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts.

• Creating a safe and inclusive environment where all team members feel that their input is valued and are never dissuaded from speaking up or asking questions.

 Collaborative Attitude  

• Strong team player with a collaborative approach to working with cross-functional teams within the Media Agency.

• Open to feedback and willing to provide constructive criticism to others.

• Be available for the team, responding within a reasonable time frame and if not possible clearly sign positing alternative contacts who can guide.

• Building a community across Media Agency.

• Contribute to a positive and inclusive atmosphere within the team.

 Knowledge Sharing and Empowerment  

• Commitment to fostering a learning culture within the team and ensuring knowledge transfer across all levels.

• Support and mentor C3s and C4s engineers by providing them opportunities to lead initiatives and contribute to the technical roadmap.

What you need to know and show

• Education: Bachelor's degree in computer science, Data Engineering, or a related field. A Master’s or PhD is preferred.

• Experience: 5+ years of experience in data engineering, with a focus on building and managing data pipelines for machine learning applications.

Technical Skills 

• Strong programming skill in Python, Nodejs or Scala.

• Expertise in SQL and NoSQL databases and Python (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Snowflake).
• Strong experience with data processing frameworks (e.g., Apache Spark, Flink).

• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and their data services (e.g., Snowflake, S3, BigQuery, Redshift).

• Knowledge of machine learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch) and model deployment tools (e.g., MLflow, TensorFlow Serving).

• Experience with containerisation and orchestration tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with version control systems (e.g., Git) and CI/CD pipelines.

How we work

We work flexibly at Sainsburys. This is a full-time role (37 hours/week), but for the right candidate, we are happy to flex the time commitment. We can also offer a full flexibility around when you work, allowing you to fit your working hours around your life.

We are proud supporters of Women in Data®.  Connect, engage and belong to the largest free female data community in the UK – visit: www.womenindata.co.uk to join our community.

APPLY HERE: Senior Engineer - Machine Learning/AI – Python, SQL/Snowflake, CI/CD