Job Title: Lead Data Engineer – AI for Humanity

Location: London/Oxford - requires 2 days per week in Oxford

Salary: Competitive (we can match or exceed any UK salary level)

About Us

We are one of Europe’s most well-funded research centres, advancing AI initiatives that drive global change across sustainability, climate, decarbonisation, food security, agritech, healthcare, robotics, and ethical AI.

Our mission is to develop AI-driven solutions that benefit humanity while addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges. With a team that includes hires from global leaders like Google DeepMind, we work at the forefront of innovation, ethics, and social responsibility.

About the Role

The Lead Data Engineer will lead the charge in building the data platforms and infrastructure critical to enabling cutting-edge AI research. In this cross-functional role, you will collaborate with data scientists, engineers, and software teams to design and implement robust data systems that empower researchers to solve real-world problems.

This is an exciting opportunity to work on AI-driven platforms that tackle issues such as climate change, food insecurity, and ethical decision-making in AI, all while contributing to a brighter, more sustainable future.

Key Responsibilities

- Data Infrastructure Development: Build and maintain scalable, secure data pipelines and platforms tailored to AI research and large-scale computation.

- Collaboration Across Teams: Partner with data science, software engineering, and research teams to ensure seamless data integration and platform functionality.

- Innovation in AI Platforms: Lead the development of tools and systems that support AI-driven initiatives in sustainability, healthcare, robotics, and beyond.

- Optimisation: Ensure systems are optimised for performance, cost, and scalability to meet the demands of world-class research projects.

- Leadership: Mentor team members, foster collaboration, and drive best practices in data engineering.

Key Requirements

- Extensive experience in data engineering, including building and optimising data pipelines and distributed data systems.

- Strong expertise in cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and modern data technologies (Spark, Kafka, Hadoop, or similar).

- Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, Scala, or Java.

- Experience working on AI/ML-driven platforms, with knowledge of how data systems integrate with machine learning pipelines.

- Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally in high-performing teams.

- A passion for applying AI and data solutions to meaningful, human-centric problems.

What We Offer

- Purpose-Driven Work: Contribute to transformative AI initiatives that tackle some of humanity’s biggest challenges.

- Top-Tier Team: Collaborate with brilliant minds, including hires from Google DeepMind and other industry leaders.

- Flexibility: Hybrid working model with a blend of office and remote work.

- Impactful Mission: Work at the intersection of technology and humanity, making a tangible difference in fields like healthcare, sustainability, and ethical AI.

- Unmatched Compensation: We can match or exceed any UK salary level to attract the brightest minds.

Who Should Apply?

We are seeking experienced Senior/Lead Individual Contributors (ICs) who have excelled in building data platforms and systems for AI-driven solutions. If you have a track record of delivering innovative data engineering solutions and want to work on projects with a profound impact on humanity, we want to hear from you.