Senior AI Engineer — Lead Scalable ML Pipelines

McKinsey & Company; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

McKinsey & Company, through QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, seeks a Senior AI Engineer to lead the design and development of innovative AI solutions. You will blend advanced software development with robust data engineering, collaborating with a global technologist network to transform client businesses through analytics and AI.

You will build scalable data pipelines, contribute to AI models, and mentor client teams while ensuring maintainability, security, and scalability of products and

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent experience.
• 6+ years of professional experience in building and deploying data solutions and software products.
• Strong coding skills in Python, with additional experience in Scala or Java.
• Experience with structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data.
• Hands-on expertise in Docker and Kubernetes for scalable production systems.
• Familiarity with Spark, Dask; cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP) and analytics libraries (pandas, numpy, matplotlib).
• Exposure to DevOps, DataOps, and MLOps concepts. Experience with Python, PySpark, SQL, Airflow, Databricks, Kedro, Dask/RAPIDS, Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud services.
• Experience with GenAI or agentic systems; building RAG systems and integrating LLMs is a plus.
• Exposure to TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras, Scikit-Learn; awareness of Responsible AI, bias testing, LLM safety guardrails.
• Demonstrated collaboration with developers and non-technical stakeholders; experience in Agile teams and sprint ceremonies.
• Strong time management in autonomous environments; excellent English communication; ability to adapt style to audience.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and development of innovative AI solutions blending software dev with data engineering.
• Collaborate with a global network of technologists and industry experts to transform client businesses through analytics and AI.
• Develop scalable data pipelines, build software products, and contribute to AI models while mentoring client teams.
• Architect and build modular, reproducible data pipelines for ML/AI applications; ensure maintainability and security.
• Assess data landscapes, ensure data quality, and prepare data for analytics; manage secure data environments.
• Mentor client teams on engineering best practices, user-centric design, and Agile values.
• Partner with QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and QuantumBlack Labs to create cutting-edge ML systems at scale.

Skills

Python

Scala/Java

Docker/Kubernetes

Spark/Dask

Cloud (AWS/GCP/Azure)

GenAI/LLMs

AI Governance/Safety

Agile/Sprint ceremonies

Communication in English

Education

Degree in Computer Science/Engineering/Mathematics

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

PySpark

SQL

Airflow

Databricks

Kedro

Dask/RAPIDS

Job description

McKinsey & Company, through QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, seeks a Senior AI Engineer to lead the design and development of innovative AI solutions. You will blend advanced software development with robust data engineering, collaborating with a global technologist network to transform client businesses through analytics and AI.

You will build scalable data pipelines, contribute to AI models, and mentor client teams while ensuring maintainability, security, and scalability of products and