Senior Data Engineer

Cavendish Professionals; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Cavendish Professionals is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to design, build, and operate reliable ETL/ELT data pipelines using Python for AI-powered products in production. You will develop data infrastructure, work with graph databases and vector stores like SurrealDB, and manage cloud deployments with security controls.

The role emphasizes growing into technical leadership and collaborating across teams. You should bring 6–10 years of data engineering/ML experience and a strong track record

Qualifications

• 6-10 years' experience in data engineering, ML systems or backend-heavy engineering.
• Strong production Python experience building and maintaining data pipelines.
• Experience supporting ML or AI-powered products in production.
• Understanding or experience with graph databases and vector stores.
• Experience with cloud platforms, ideally GCP, plus DevOps, IaC and CI/CD.
• Familiarity with IAM, Secret Manager and SOC 2 requirements.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate reliable ETL/ELT pipelines using Python.
• Develop and maintain data infrastructure supporting ML and AI-powered products.
• Work with graph databases and vector stores, including SurrealDB.
• Manage cloud infrastructure, deployment workflows and security controls.
• Help shape engineering practices as the team grows.

Skills

Python

Data pipelines

ML systems

Graph databases

Vector stores

DevOps

CI/CD

IAM practices

SOC 2 awareness

Tools

SurrealDB

GCP

Secret Manager

CI/CD tools

IAM

SOC 2

Job description

We're looking for a Senior Data Engineer to build and maintain the production data pipelines that power AI and data products. This is a hands-on opportunity for an engineer with strong Python skills, experience supporting production AI systems, and an interest in growing into technical leadership.

What you'll do

• Design, build and operate reliable ETL/ELT pipelines using Python.
• Develop and maintain data infrastructure supporting ML and AI-powered products.
• Work with graph databases and vector stores, including SurrealDB.
• Manage cloud infrastructure, deployment workflows and security controls.
• Help shape engineering practices as the team grows.

What we're looking for

• Typically 6-10 years' experience in data engineering, ML systems or backend-heavy engineering.
• Strong production Python experience building and maintaining data pipelines - essential.
• Experience supporting ML or AI-powered products in production.
• A conceptual understanding of, or practical experience with, graph databases and vector stores.
• Experience with cloud platforms, ideally GCP, alongside DevOps, infrastructure as code and CI/CD.
• Familiarity with cloud security controls and practices, including IAM, Secret Manager and SOC 2 requirements.

Nice to have

• Experience as an early employee or founding engineer at a startup, particularly B2B SaaS.
• Knowledge of financial systems, FP&A, accounting or business analytics.
• An ambition to move into team leadership.

Location and travel

• You must have the right to work in the UK or EU without visa sponsorship.
• You must be willing to attend in-person gatherings once every two months, in New York, London or Amsterdam.