Practice Innovation Data Engineer

Ogletree Deakins; Phoenix (AZ); Remote; USD 110,000 - 166,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a talented Data Engineer to join their innovative Practice Innovation team. This role focuses on leveraging advanced AI and NLP technologies to transform legal data into actionable insights. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with attorneys and stakeholders to design scalable, user-friendly solutions that drive measurable business value. With a commitment to best practices in software development and Agile methodologies, this position offers the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects that significantly impact the legal landscape. If you are passionate about data engineering and AI, this is the perfect opportunity to make a difference.

Benefits

Paid Time Off

401(k) matching program

Profit Sharing

Paid Holidays

Paid Parental Leave

Health and Life Insurance

Tuition Reimbursement

Employee Assistance Program

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in data engineering, AI/ML, or NLP roles.
• Hands-on experience with generative AI tools like GPT and Claude.
• Proficiency in Python and SQL for data processing and analysis.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement AI-driven solutions for legal data.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to refine technical requirements.
• Lead projects from discovery through deployment using Agile methodologies.

Skills

Data Engineering

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Generative AI

Python

SQL

Agile/Scrum

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Master's degree in Data Science

Tools

spaCy

NLTK

Jira

Tableau

AWS

Job description

Position Summary

We are looking for a Data Engineer with 4+ years of experience in data engineering, NLP, or applied AI/ML to join our Practice Innovation team. This role will focus on developing and implementing both generative AI-driven solutions and traditional data extraction techniques. The ideal candidate will leverage structured API integrations, advanced NLP technologies, large language models (LLMs), and classic methods to make the firm’s data more accessible and actionable for attorneys and business users. In this role, you'll collaborate closely with attorneys, product owners, and stakeholders to design scalable, user-friendly AI-powered solutions that drive measurable business value. Projects will follow best practices across the software development lifecycle and Agile/Scrum methodologies. The successful candidate must reside proximate to Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, Portland, or Phoenix and this position may be remote or hybrid.

Essential Functions

• Leverage generative AI and NLP libraries (e.g., GPT, Claude, spaCy, NLTK, RegEx) to extract, structure, and enrich text from unstructured documents and other data sources.
• Design and deploy GenAI-powered solutions that automate the creation, classification, summarization, and tagging of legal content, making data more accessible and actionable for attorneys.
• Collaborate with product owners, attorneys, and business stakeholders to define and refine technical requirements, ensuring AI solutions are well-aligned with real-world legal workflows and business needs.
• Continuously evaluate and implement opportunities to improve processes, tools, and technologies through advanced AI and data engineering techniques.
• Develop scalable solutions to automate or enhance workflows involving data extraction, transformation, and visualization.
• Translate complex AI and NLP concepts into clear, actionable insights for attorneys, clients, and stakeholders with varying technical backgrounds.
• Engage regularly with legal teams and clients to present solution prototypes, gather feedback, and iterate on AI-driven products that deliver measurable value.
• Identify and leverage both internal and external data assets to support strategic initiatives in marketing, pricing, talent, and client service through advanced analytics and GenAI.
• Lead and manage projects from discovery through deployment, ensuring clear communication, alignment, and timely delivery.
• Apply Agile/Scrum best practices, using tools like Jira to track progress, prioritize tasks, and facilitate collaboration across cross-functional teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) in Computer Science, Data Science, or a related technical field, or equivalent work experience.
• 4+ years of experience in data engineering, AI/ML, or natural language processing roles, ideally including work in professional services or legal tech.
• At least 2 years of hands-on experience with generative AI tools or platforms, such as GPT, Claude, or open-source LLMs (e.g., LLaMA, Mistral), with a focus on developing and deploying real-world solutions.
• Experience implementing transformer-based models (e.g., BERT, FastText) and traditional NLP pipelines using libraries such as spaCy, NLTK, or CoreNLP.
• Proficiency in Python and core data science libraries (pandas, numpy); strong understanding of unstructured data processing.
• Familiarity with REST/GraphQL APIs and integrating external data sources into ML/NLP pipelines.
• Solid grasp of data modeling, SQL, and ETL pipelines; experience transforming unstructured data into structured formats.
• Experience working in cloud environments such as Azure, AWS, or GCP for AI model development and deployment.
• Exposure to visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) and statistical tools (e.g., R, SAS, STATA).
• Comfortable collaborating with attorneys, product teams, and business users to define needs and translate technical results into business impact.
• Experience managing Agile workflows using tools such as Jira; familiarity with Scrum or Kanban.
• Demonstrated ability to manage projects independently and deliver results in fast-paced environments.
• Prior experience in a legal setting or with legal data is a plus, but not required.

Please note, we are not working with outside recruiters for this position.

Benefits

In accordance with California’s amended labor code as stated in Senate Bill 1162, the expected salary range for this California position is between $110,080 and $165,120. Actual pay will be adjusted based on experience, geographic location, and other job-related factors as permitted by law. This position qualifies for the benefits below.

In accordance with the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities act, the expected salary range for this Washington position is between $90,080 and $135,120. Actual pay will be adjusted based on experience, geographic location, and other job-related factors as permitted by law. This position qualifies for the benefits below.

In accordance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the expected salary range for this position in Colorado is between $85,840 and $128,760. Actual pay will be adjusted based on experience and other job-related factors permitted by law.

Ogletree Deakins offers a robust suite of benefits for our Staff including: Paid Time Off, Paid Sick Leave, a 401(k) matching program, Profit Sharing, Paid Holidays, Paid Parental Leave, affordable Health and Life Insurance including Dental & Vision coverage, Health Savings Account /Flexible Spending Accounts to help offset the cost of dependent care and/or health care expenses, Tuition Reimbursement and an Employee Assistance Program.

Contact Information

If you have questions, please e-mail Brooklyn Butler at [e-mail] with "Practice Innovation Data Engineer" in the subject line. Please note, applications submitted via e-mail will not be considered.

Firm Overview

Ogletree Deakins is one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters. Best Law Firms has named Ogletree Deakins a “Law Firm of the Year” for 14 consecutive years. In the 2025 edition, the publication named Ogletree Deakins its “Law Firm of the Year” in the Litigation – Labor and Employment category. Ogletree Deakins has more than 1,100 attorneys located in 59 offices across the United States and in Europe, Canada, and Mexico. The firm represents a diverse range of clients, including many of the Fortune 50 companies in the U.S.

We are fully committed to the importance of diversity within the legal profession, as well as all workplace environments.

Equal Opportunity Employer.