Junior AI Data Engineer

Cortica; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) plan with company matching

Paid holidays and wellness days

Life insurance

Disability insurance options

Tuition reimbursement for professional

Referral bonuses

Job summary

Cortica is seeking a Junior AI Data Engineer in San Diego to learn data engineering while building AI-first habits from day one. You will work under senior engineers to contribute to data pipelines, models, and reporting powering care decisions, financial planning, and operations.

Collaborate with data science, finance, and clinical operations, using AI tooling responsibly and documenting work for production quality. Some travel to Cortica centers may be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/IS/Engineering or equivalent practical experience.
• 0–2 years of experience; 1–2 end-to-end data pipelines built ingesting, transforming, and loading data.
• Familiar with AI coding assistants and eager to adopt AI-first workflows.
• 6+ months of Python experience; can read, clean, and transform data with pandas.
• Intermediate SQL: joins, GROUP BY, filtering, and basic subqueries.
• Exposure to AWS or Azure; cloud fundamentals cert a plus.
• Experience building dashboards in Power BI/Tableau is a plus.
• Ability to document work clearly and collaborate across at least 2 teams.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to well-scoped data engineering tasks within larger projects under guidance.
• Use AI coding assistants responsibly and verify AI-generated code.
• Follow project conventions to keep AI work consistent with patterns.
• Help build and maintain data pipelines ingesting from AWS/Azure/Salesforce/MuleSoft into AWS Data Lake.
• Assist in implementing data models using Kimball dimensional modeling on the job.
• Develop simple Python orchestration steps and perform basic data quality checks.
• Support Power BI data models and respond to analytics questions.
• Document work clearly; assist with small automation scripts and internal tooling.
• Follow HIPAA practices and collaborate across IT, finance, clinical operations, and data science.
• Travel to local Cortica centers may be required.

Skills

Python programming

SQL querying

Power BI

Data pipelines

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS / IS / Engineering / Math

Tools

AWS

Azure

GitHub Copilot

Claude Code / Cursor

Job description

Cortica is looking for a Junior AI Data Engineer to join its growing team!

The Junior AI Data Engineer is an early-career role focused on learning the craft of data engineering while building AI-first habits from day one. Working under the guidance of senior engineers, this role contributes to the data pipelines, models, and reporting that power care decisions, financial planning, and operational efficiency at Cortica .

This role partners with the data science, finance, and clinical operations teams on well-scoped tasks, growing toward independent ownership over time. AI-assisted development is part of the daily workflow: the Junior AI Data Engineer is expected to use AI coding tools responsibly, verify their output, and build the judgment that turns AI acceleration into reliable, production-quality work.

We are a rapidly growing healthcare company pioneering the most effective treatment methods for children with neurodevelopmental differences. Our mission is to design and deliver life-changing care – one child, one family, one community at a time. Ultimately, we envision a world that cultivates the full potential of every child. At Cortica , every team member is instrumental in helping us achieve our mission!

Our culture and values guide how we work and treat one another.Corticacelebrates diversity and fosters an inclusive environment, seeking ideas and opinions from everyone on the team. We safeguard equal rights and respect for all individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, creed, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry, veteranstatusor other applicable, legally protected characteristics. AllCorticaemployment decisions are made based on an individual’s qualifications and ability to successfully performthe jobresponsibilities.

What will you do?

• Contribute to well-scoped data engineering tasks within larger projects, following the full engineering lifecycle with guidance.
• Use AI coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) as part of daily development, verifying, correcting, and testing AI - generated code before committing it.
• Follow the team’s context files (CLAUDE.md equivalents) and conventions so AI-assisted work stays consistent with established patterns.
• Help build and maintain data pipelines that ingest from AWS, Azure, Salesforce, MuleSoft, and third-party APIs into the AWS Data Lake.
• Assist in implementing data models using Kimball methodology , learning dimensional modeling on the job.
• Develop simple orchestration steps in Python, run basic data - quality checks, and help investigate data anomalies.
• Support Power BI data models and reports and help analytics team members with data questions.
• Assist with small automation scripts and internal tooling that connect data pipelines to end users.
• Follow data-security and HIPAA practices in all work and document your work clearly so others (and AI agents) can build on it.
• Collaborate across IT, finance, clinical operations, and data science.
• Travel to local Cortica centers may be required from time to time .

We’d love to hear from you if:

• You hold a b achelor’s degree in Computer Science , Information Systems, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• You have 0 — 2 years of experience; ha ve built or contributed to at least 1—2 end-to-end data pipelines (coursework, internship, bootcamp, or personal projects) that ingest, transform, and load data from a source into a destination.
• You’re familiar with using AI coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot ), or have a strong eagerness to adopt AI-first development workflows.
• You bring 6+ months of hands‑on experience or coursework-equivalent Python; able to write scripts that read, clean, and transform data (e.g., using pandas).
• You have d emonstrated an ability to write intermediate SQL — joins across multiple tables, aggregations (GROUP BY), filtering, and basic subqueries.
• You’ve had e xposure to at least one cloud platform (AWS or Azure); a foundational certification such as AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner or Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) is a plus.
• You’ve s uccessfully built at least one dashboard or report in Power BI, Tableau, or a similar tool (academic or personal projects count).
• You’ve d emonstrated an ability to document technical work clearly and explain it to non-technical audiences; you have experience collaborating across at least 2 teams or functions (e.g., a cross-functional class project, internship, or club).

Corticacares deeply about the well-being of each member of our team, and we have created a passionate, caring, and growth-minded culture that helps teammates thrive! As aCorticateammate,we’llsupport your well-being through

• medical, dental, and vision insurance
• a 401(k) plan with company matching and rapid vesting
• paid holidays and wellness days
• life insurance
• disability insurance options
• tuition reimbursements for professional development and continuing education
• referral bonuses

We value you and the experience you bring to yourrole, and are proud to provide you with a compensation and benefits package designed to enhance all aspects of your life.

The salary range for this role is between $80,000 - $90,000.

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Cortica is committed to fair hiring practices. Qualified candidates with criminal histories will be considered and are not automatically disqualified from employment, consistent with applicable federal law, the California Fair Chance Act, and local ordinances such as the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, and the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers.