Data Engineer

Ford Motor Company; Chennai District; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Ford Motor Company in Chennai seeks a data engineer to build scalable, automated data pipelines in Python, collaborating with data scientists and ML engineers to train and deploy models.

Responsibilities include developing ETL pipelines on GCP, optimizing BigQuery queries, and implementing data quality checks and CI/CD practices for production-grade data flows.

The role emphasizes robust coding standards and reliable integration with ML workloads in a dynamic tech environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics or related field or equivalent practical experience.
• 4–6 years of professional experience in Data/Software Engineering or similar domain.
• Strong Python programming with data processing libraries and API development experience.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable ETL/ELT data pipelines using Python and GCP-native tools.
• Engineer feature stores and data feeds to support ML training and inference.
• Write clean, modular Python code to ingest data from APIs, streaming sources, and on-prem systems.
• Optimize BigQuery architecture and complex SQL for performance and cost-efficiency.
• Promote best practices in version control, CI/CD, testing, and data quality monitoring.
• Collaborate with Data Scientists, ML Engineers, and Product Managers to productionize models.

Skills

Advanced Python

PySpark

Pandas/NumPy

API development

BigQuery

GCP

CI/CD

Education

Bachelor's or Master’s in CS/Engineering

Tools

Git

Cloud Functions

Cloud Run

Terraform

Docker

Job description

We are looking for someone with advanced Python programming skills who applies robust software engineering principles to data problems. You will collaborate closely with Data Scientists, ML Engineers, and Product Managers to build the scalable, automated pipelines required to train, deploy, and monitor machine learning models in production.

Key Responsibilities

• GCP Pipeline Development: Design, build, and maintain highly scalable ETL/ELT data pipelines using Python and GCP-native data processing tools (e.g., Cloud Run, Cloud Functions).
• AI/ML Infrastructure Support: Engineer feature stores, robust data feeds specifically optimized for machine learning training and inference. Work closely with ML Engineers to operationalize models using Vertex AI.
• Data Integration & Ingestion: Write clean, modular Python code to ingest data from diverse sources (APIs, streaming platforms, on-prem databases) into BigQuery and Google Cloud Storage (GCS).
• System Optimization: Optimize BigQuery architecture, partition/cluster tables, and tune complex SQL queries to ensure performance and cost-efficiency at a massive scale.
• Software Engineering Best Practices: Champion best practices in Python development, including version control (Git), CI/CD pipelines (Cloud Build / GitHub Actions), code reviews, and comprehensive unit/integration testing.
• Data Quality & Governance: Implement robust data quality checks, alerting, and monitoring to ensure the data feeding our AI models is accurate and reliable.

Required Qualifications

• Degree: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).
• Experience: 4 to 6 years of professional experience in Data Engineering, Software Engineering, or a closely related field.
• Advanced Python: Deep expertise in Python programming. You should be highly comfortable with:
  • Data processing and ML-adjacent libraries (e.g., PySpark, Pandas, NumPy).
  • API development
  • Writing efficient and production-grade code.
• GCP Mastery: Proven, hands‑on experience designing and operating data architectures on Google Cloud Platform. Must have strong experience with:
  • BigQuery (advanced SQL, architecture, and optimization).
  • Google Cloud Storage (GCS).
  • Compute/Serverless (Cloud Functions, Cloud Run).
• AI/ML Acumen: Experience working alongside Data Science teams. A strong understanding of the ML lifecycle, feature engineering, and the data requirements for model training and deployment.
• MLOps: Understanding of MLOps principles, model registry, and continuous training pipelines.

Preferred Qualifications

• Vertex AI: Direct experience interacting with or deploying pipelines using Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform.
• Streaming Technologies: Familiarity with real-time data processing using Google Cloud Pub/Sub and streaming Dataflow jobs.
• Infrastructure as Code: Experience managing GCP resources using Terraform.
• Containerization: Proficiency with Docker.