Senior Data Engineer - QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey; Monterrey; On-site; MXN 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Benefits package

Job summary

QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey in Monterrey is seeking a senior data engineer to build foundational data infrastructure powering AI applications, including LLMs, retrieval systems, and agentic architectures. You’ll design scalable pipelines, manage secure data environments, and partner with cross-functional teams and clients to deliver production AI capabilities.

You’ll also drive end-to-end AI features, ensure model reliability and governance, and contribute to R&D for next-gen AI solutions.

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science/Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of data engineering experience leading technical workstreams and mentoring engineers.
• Expert-level Python and SQL; polyglot (Scala/Java) when required by client systems.
• Strong experience building Agentic AI, Generative AI, ML, and BI systems, incl. prompt design, RAG, embeddings, vector DBs, LangChain, etc.
• Ability to lead end-to-end AI feature implementation with attention to model behavior, reliability, guardrails, QoS, latency, and cost.
• Experience implementing robust data security and governance, including PII/PHI handling and RBAC.
• Deep knowledge of MLOps/LLMOps including CI/CD for data workflows and cloud infra across AWS/Azure/GCP.
• Excellent time management and autonomous ownership of technical workstreams.
• Experience with coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex) is a plus.
• Strong communication in English and Spanish.

Responsibilities

• Build foundational data infrastructure powering AI apps (LLMs, retrieval, workflows, agentic architectures).
• Design and maintain scalable data pipelines and secure data environments for AI-driven systems.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and clients to deliver production AI capabilities.
• Translate hypotheses into engineered features and contribute to R&D for scalable AI capabilities.
• Collaborate with QuantumBlack teams to develop robust data foundations for scalable AI solutions.

Skills

Python

SQL

Scala

Java

Agentic AI

Generative AI

MLOps/LLMOps

Data security

Governance

CI/CD

English/Spanish

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Spark

LangChain

Databricks

Dask

Airflow

Dagster

Kedro

Terraform

LangSmith

Langfuse

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 build the foundational data infrastructure that powers cutting-edge AI applications leveraging LLMs, retrieval systems, workflows, and emerging agentic architectures.

You will design and maintain scalable data pipelines, manage secure data environments, and prepare data for AI-driven systems while collaborating with cross-functional teams and clients. You'll tackle real-world challenges by contributing to the development of next-generation AI systems and grow as a technologist by working alongside diverse experts across industries.

You will design and build the scalable, reproducible data components essential for machine learning, agentic, and autonomous AI systems. You'll assess data landscapes, apply data quality fundamentals, and prepare data for AI solutions. Additionally, you'll learn to translate simple hypotheses into engineered features, manage secure data environments, and contribute to R&D initiatives focused on innovating and scaling next-generation AI capabilities.

Your work will help solve some of the most complex and high-impact challenges facing clients across industries. Collaborating across QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey and QuantumBlack Labs teams, you'll help develop innovative AI capabilities and scalable enterprise solutions. You'll help build robust data foundations for scalable, production-ready AI systems. Your contributions will directly support the firm's ability to accelerate AI adoption, solve complex business problems at scale, and enable clients to achieve meaningful, lasting impact.

You'll be based in Monterrey as part of our global Data Engineering community. Working in cross-functional Agile teams, you'll collaborate closely with Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, and industry experts to deliver AI solutions. By partnering with clients from data owners to C-level executives you'll help solve complex problems that drive tangible business value and begin to build your skills as a client-facing technologist.

You will have a unique opportunity to grow at the forefront of AI, data engineering, and emerging agentic technologies. You'll develop expertise at the intersection of technology and business by tackling diverse challenges in the evolving AI landscape. Working alongside multidisciplinary teams, you'll gain a holistic understanding of how data engineering enables advanced AI while collaborating with some leading AI and data experts in the industry.

Your Qualifications and Skills

• Degree in Computer Science/Engineering, or equivalent experience
• 5+ years of relevant professional experience in a data engineering role, with experience leading technical workstreams, mentoring junior engineers, and driving the adoption of software engineering best practices within a team
• Expert-level proficiency in Python and SQL and the ability to work in polyglot environments (Scala, Java) when required by client enterprise systems
• Strong experience building Agentic AI, Generative AI, Machine Learning, and Business Intelligence systems, including prompt design, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), embeddings, vector databases, context construction, and output handling in production workflows using modern frameworks (Spark, LangChain, Databricks, Dask, Airflow, Dagster, Kedro, etc.)
• Ability to lead the implementation of AI features end to end, with sound judgment around model behavior, evaluation, reliability, guardrails, and the trade-offs between quality, latency, and cost
• Experience implementing robust data security and governance controls, including managing PII/PHI, authentication, and role-based access control (RBAC)
• Deep knowledge of MLOps/LLMOps including CI/CD for data workflows, automated agent evaluation (LangSmith, Opik, Langfuse), and infrastructure as code (Terraform) across cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Exceptional time management and ability to own technical workstreams autonomously
• Experience using coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, etc.) is a plus
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, in English and Spanish