AI Data Engineer

Salt Digital Recruitment; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 320,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

Salt Digital Recruitment’s client seeks a hands-on AI Data Engineer to design, build and optimise scalable data infrastructure and pipelines powering AI and analytics initiatives. You will collaborate with Software Engineering and AI/ML teams to ensure high-quality, accessible data across structured and unstructured datasets.

The role requires 5+ years in data engineering, strong Python/SQL skills, and experience with Airflow/dbt.

Qualifications

• 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 both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain robust ETL/ELT data pipelines across multiple data sources.
• Build and optimise scalable data workflows using tools like Airflow and dbt.
• Process and transform complex structured and unstructured datasets.
• Develop data solutions that support AI, ML and advanced analytics.
• 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 data.
• Apply best practices around data governance, security, quality and lineage.
• Document data architectures, metadata and data flows for transparency and reproducibility.
• Optimise data pipelines and infrastructure for scalability, performance and cost efficiency.

Skills

Data engineering

Python

SQL

Airflow

dbt

Cloud platforms

Data governance

ETL

Spark

Stakeholder comms

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Airflow

dbt

Luigi

Spark

Job description

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.