Data Engineer - QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey; Madrid; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey is hiring in Madrid or Lisbon to design scalable data pipelines and lead analytics workstreams. You will mentor junior colleagues while collaborating with cross-functional teams and clients on AI solutions across industries.

The role emphasizes data engineering excellence, secure data environments, and contributing to R&D while growing technically and as a leader within a global community.

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent experience.
• Proficient in a programming language (Python/Java/Scala).
• Experience building data pipelines in production environments.
• Comfort with distributed computing (Spark, Dask) and cloud platforms.
• Strong knowledge of SQL, Pandas/Numpy and data analysis libraries.
• Experience with Docker/Kubernetes and Airflow or similar tools.
• Exposure to Databricks, Kedro, and open-source data tooling.
• Ability to work with structured, semi-structured and unstructured data.
• Excellent time management and willingness to travel.
• Fluent in English and Spanish or Portuguese.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable data pipelines for ML and analytics.
• Manage secure data environments and data quality checks.
• Lead technical workstreams and mentor junior colleagues.
• Collaborate with data scientists, engineers, and clients.
• Deliver advanced analytics solutions across industries.

Skills

Programming

Distributed computing

Cloud

Containerization

Data libraries

Data pipelines

Data types

Python

PySpark

SQL

Airflow

Databricks

Kedro

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

GCP

Azure

Education

Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent

Job description

Who You'll Work With

Driving lasting impact and building long-term capabilities with our clients is not easy work. You are the kind of person who thrives in a high performance/high reward culture - doing hard things, picking yourself up when you stumble, and having the resilience to try another way forward.

Who You'll Work With

Driving lasting impact and building long-term capabilities with our clients is not easy work. You are the kind of person who thrives in a high performance/high reward culture - doing hard things, picking yourself up when you stumble, and having the resilience to try another way forward. In return for your drive, determination, and curiosity, we'll provide the resources, mentorship, and opportunities you need to become a stronger leader faster than you ever thought possible. Your colleagues—at all levels—will invest deeply in your development, just as much as they invest in delivering exceptional results for clients. Every day, you'll receive apprenticeship, coaching, and exposure that will accelerate your growth in ways you won’t find anywhere else. When you join us, you will have:

• Continuous learning: Our learning and apprenticeship culture, backed by structured programs, is all about helping you grow while creating an environment where feedback is clear, actionable, and focused on your development. The real magic happens when you take the input from others to heart and embrace the fast-paced learning experience, owning your journey.
• A voice that matters: From day one, we value your ideas and contributions. You’ll make a tangible impact by offering innovative ideas and practical solutions, all while upholding our unwavering commitment to ethics and integrity. We not only encourage diverse perspectives, but they are critical in driving us toward the best possible outcomes.
• Global community: With colleagues across 65+ countries and over 100 different nationalities, our firm’s diversity fuels creativity and helps us come up with the best solutions for our clients. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from exceptional colleagues with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
• World-class benefits: On top of a competitive salary (based on your location, experience, and skills), we provide a comprehensive benefits package to enable holistic well-being for you and your family.

Your Impact

You will design scalable data pipelines, manage secure data environments, and lead technical workstreams while mentoring junior colleagues and collaborating with clients and cross-functional teams. You’ll tackle impactful challenges, contribute to R&D, and grow as a technologist by working on innovative AI solutions across diverse industries. You will own technical platforms and lead the delivery of advanced analytics workstreams. You’ll design and build robust, scalable, and reproducible data pipelines for machine learning, manage secure data environments, and assess data quality to prepare it for advanced analytics models. You’ll also mentor junior colleagues and contribute to R&D projects and internal asset development. Your work will tackle real-world challenges across industries. By partnering with QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey and QuantumBlack Labs teams, you’ll help create innovative machine learning systems that accelerate AI adoption and solve critical business problems at speed and scale, enabling clients to achieve meaningful, lasting impact. You’ll be based in Madrid or Lisbon as part of our global Data Engineering community. You’ll work in cross-functional Agile teams alongside Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, and industry experts to deliver advanced analytics solutions. Collaborating with clients from data owners to C-level executives you’ll help design impactful solutions that address complex business challenges. Your work offers a unique opportunity to grow as a technologist and leader. You’ll develop expertise at the intersection of technology and business by addressing diverse challenges. Working with inspiring, multidisciplinary teams, you’ll gain a holistic understanding of AI while collaborating with some of the best design, technical, and business talent in the world.

Your Qualifications and Skills

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent experience.
• Ability to write clean, maintainable, scalable and robust code in an object-oriented language, e.g., Python, Scala, Java, in a professional setting
• Familiarity with distributed computing frameworks (e.g. Spark, Dask), cloud platforms (e.g. AWS, Azure, GCP), containerization, and analytics libraries (e.g. pandas, NumPy, matplotlib)
• Proven experience building data pipelines in production for advanced analytics use cases
• Experience working across structured, semi-structured and unstructured data
• While we advocate for using the right tech for the right task, we often leverage the following technologies: Python, PySpark, the PyData stack, SQL, Airflow, Databricks, our own open-source data pipelining framework called Kedro, Dask/RAPIDS, container technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes, cloud solutions such as AWS, GCP, and Azure, and more
• Exceptional time management to meet your responsibilities in a complex and largely autonomous work environment
• Willingness to travel
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, in English and Spanish or Portuguese, with the ability to adjust your style to suit different perspectives and seniority levels