Senior AI Engineer

Datashift; Oost-Vlaanderen; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Datashift in Belgium is seeking a Senior AI Engineer who excels in crafting challenging technical solutions that deliver business value. You will work with clients to reveal core challenges and select the best-fit AI approach, from genAI to traditional ML, and build scalable applications from proof-of-concept to production.

You will also coach junior colleagues, act as a technical sparring partner in presales, and help shape the AI practice.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of AI/ML engineering experience in industry or consultancy.
• Strong Python and SQL skills for data cleaning and pipelines.
• Experience with GenAI, RAG, vector databases and model fine-tuning.

Responsibilities

• We identify core client challenges and design AI-driven solutions.
• Translate requirements into rapid MVPs to validate business value.
• Scale prototypes to production-grade AI applications with security in mind.
• Coach junior colleagues and support presales with technical expertise.
• Collaborate with clients and stakeholders to ensure measurable ROI.
• Implement reliable evaluation, monitoring, and governance for AI systems.
• Contribute to knowledge sharing and guide the AI practice evolution.
• Support DevOps practices including CI/CD and orchestration tools.

Skills

Python

SQL

Cloud platforms

DevOps/MLOps

Communication

Mentoring

Tools

Docker

Git

Airflow

CI/CD

Job description

At Datashift, we’re looking for a Senior AI Engineer who excels in crafting challenging technical solutions that deliver business value. Do you build and leverage AI technologies as a means to solve real business problems? Do you have a proven track record of challenging assumptions on AI, uncovering the true need behind a client’s request, and developing tailored AI solutions that make a lasting impact?

As an AI Engineer, you’ll work closely with clients to reveal the core challenges before diving into solutions, selecting the best-fit approach - whether it’s generative AI, machine learning, statistical modeling, or something entirely different. You’ll build scalable applications from proof-of-concept to production.

As a Senior AI Engineer at Datashift, you’ll not only be delivering projects - you’ll also coach and guide junior colleagues, act as a technical sparring partner during presales, and help shape how the team and Datashift’s AI practice evolve. This role is a natural stepping stone towards Lead or Expert, depending on where your interests lie.

Responsibilities

• We see AI as a means, not as a goal. We’re looking for a Senior AI engineer who always searches for the best technology to address specific data related business problems, whether it’s genAI, machine learning, statistical models, or other methods
• Translate fuzzy client requirements into creative, pragmatic solutions, delivering rapid MVPs to quickly validate ideas and show business value
• Scale and harden proven prototypes into robust, production-grade, and secure AI applications
• Build solutions from POC to fully integrated applications, ensuring customer constraints such as security and privacy are met from the start
• Understand business requirements and dare to challenge clients to clearly pinpoint the underlying problem
• Ensure AI solutions are reliable and measurable, using structured evaluation, monitoring, and responsible AI practices (e.g. evaluation frameworks, guardrails, bias/quality checks)
• Communicate effectively about your technical solution towards different stakeholders at all levels
• Act as a mentor and technical coordinator for junior and medior colleagues, providing structured guidance rather than ad-hoc support
• Initiate and participate in initiatives to share knowledge and leverage your expertise within the team
• Support presales and business development as a technical sparring partner - helping scope solutions, estimate feasibility, and advise clients before a project even starts

Qualifications

• At least 4 years of experience as AI Engineer in industry, including experience in consultancy as a big plus
• Strong quantitative or technical background (e.g. computer science, data science, mathematics, engineering, or equivalent through experience)
• Proven track record of bringing business impact with successful delivery of AI applications in production environment
• Strong Python & SQL skills, with a focus on data cleaning, preprocessing, and building robust pipelines
• Extensive knowledge of AI, combining traditional machine learning with modern GenAI solutions and tooling (e.g., RAG, agentic workflows, vector databases, fine-tuning)
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) to deploy and manage AI solutions
• Proven experience with software engineering best practices (clean, modular code, pytest, Git) and DevOps/MLOps tooling (Docker, CI/CD, orchestration tools such as Airflow)
• Excellent communication skills, and proven success in contributing to a team-oriented environment, with acting as a coach/mentor to junior colleagues as a plus
• Fluent in English. Fluency in Dutch is a big plus