Senior Data Engineer

LEK; United States; On-site; USD 135,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Life and disability insurance

401(k) with employer contribution

HSA contributions

Paid time off

Job summary

L.E.K. Consulting is seeking a Senior Data Engineer with deep expertise in data engineering and a strong working command of AI and LLM tech stacks.

This role sits within our Data Science & Engineering team, building pipelines, platforms and apps that power client engagements and L.E.K.'s analytical products. You will work with clients across industries, translating complex technical work into measurable commercial outcomes while owning delivery across engagements and internal IP development.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in applied data engineering.
• Mastery of data modeling, ETL/ELT pipeline design, and large-scale data handling.
• Strong Python and SQL skills; fluency with PySpark and Airflow.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (Azure preferred) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end data engineering and AI/ML projects from conceptualization through deployment.
• Design and deliver data pipelines, data models, and infrastructure for analytical/AI solutions.
• Define and execute data/AI strategies, translating requirements into technical roadmaps.

Skills

Python

SQL

PySpark

Airflow

Azure

Docker

Kubernetes

FastAPI

Microsoft Fabric

Snowflake

Education

Degree in quantitative field

Tools

Azure

AWS

GCP

Snowflake

BigQuery

Redshift

Git

CI/CD

Job description

Job Description

About L.E.K. Consulting:

L.E.K. Consulting is a premier global strategy consulting firm that partners with clients to solve their most critical business challenges and deliver high-impact outcomes. We bring deep industry expertise and rigorous, evidence-based insight to global corporations, growth companies and private equity investors, helping them turn strategy into action.

How do we deliver impact? It’s the people. We hire exceptional individuals and invest in their growth through hands-on client work, close collaboration and a culture of ownership, inclusion and continuous learning. Across every level, curiosity unites us and challenge excites us.

Founded more than 40 years ago, L.E.K. employs more than 2,200 professionals worldwide and is consistently recognized as one of the industry's best firms to work for. For more information, visit lek.com.

About the Role:

We are seeking a Senior Data Engineer with deepexpertisein data engineering and a strong working command of AI and LLM techstacks. This role sits within our Data Science & Engineering team andoperatesat the intersection oflarge-scale structured and unstructureddata, infrastructure and AI while building the pipelines, platforms, and appsthat power client engagements and L.E.K.'s proprietary analytical products

The ideal candidate brings fluency in production data engineering (e.g., cloud platforms, pipelines, warehousing, and scalable app deployment) and in building and shipping LLM-based and agentic AI solutions.You will work directly with clients across multiple industries, translating complex technical work into measurable commercial outcomes, owning delivery across client engagements and internal IP development while working with data scientists, strategy consultants, and client teams to build solutions that create high client impact

Responsibilities:

Client engagements :

• Lead end-to-end data engineering and AI/ML projects from conceptualization through deployment in clients' cloud environments,optimizingfor scalability, performance, and reliability
• Design and deliver data pipelines, data models, and infrastructure that underpin analytical and AI solutions for client use cases
• Support clients in defining and executing data and AI strategies, translating businessobjectivesinto actionable technical roadmaps and governance frameworks
• Lead or contribute to agentic AI engagements, designing and deploying multi-agent architectures and automation workflows that deliver measurable client outcomes
• Support technology due diligence engagements, assessing data infrastructure, AI/ML capabilities, engineering practices, and technical risks of target organizations
• Guide clients through the interpretation of analytical outputs and integration of data-driven insights into their business workflows

Client / business development:

• Support Managing Directors in developing and scoping client proposals where data engineering and AI capabilities are central to delivery
• Serve as the technical interface between the Data Science & Engineering team, consulting partners, and clients while ensuring alignment onfit, feasibility, and delivery expectations
• Translate technical requirements, outputs, and constraints into clear, actionable language for client-facing presentations and proposals
• Support the design and commercialization of new offerings across data strategy, AI strategy, agentic AI, and LLM-powered analytics
• Contribute to internal enablement by keeping Managing Directors informed of current data strategy and AI capabilities

Capabilitydevelopment:

• Drive development of scalable, production-grade data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes that feed L.E.K.'s proprietary analytical products and client-facing tools
• Build andmaintaincloud data infrastructure (e.g., warehouses, data lakes, and data models) that support both internal service lines and bespoke client solutions
• Develop AI-powered analytical applications, leveraging LLMs, RAGarchitectures, and ML techniques to solve complex client problems
• Championbest-in-class engineeringpracticesindata quality, CI/CD, containerization, and scalable architecture across all IP assets
• Stay current on best-in-class data engineering tooling, cloud platforms, and AI/LLM frameworks; contribute to the D&A technical roadmap, including platform architecture and engineering standards
• Proactivelyidentifynew use cases where data infrastructure or AI can deliver outsized value for clients or strengthen internal firm capabilities
• Collaborate with data scientists, product owners, and consulting stakeholders to continuously innovate on the apps and proprietary data assets we offer

Qualifications:

Data engineering:

• 4+ years of experience in applied data engineering, with a strong track record delivering scalable, production-grade data solutions
• Mastery of data modeling, ETL/ELT pipeline design, and working with large-scale structured and unstructured datasets
• Strong Pythonand SQLskills; fluency in core data engineering libraries (e.g.,PySpark, Apache Airflow) and familiarity with Big Data tools such as SparkorScala
• Hands-on experience designing and deploying data solutions onAzure(preferred) oranothermajor cloud platform (e.g.,AWS, GCP); familiarity with on-prem platforms such as Microsoft SQL Server
• Hands-on experience with APIs(e.g.,FastAPI), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), DevOps practices, Git, and CI/CD pipelines
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Fabric across multiple workloads (e.g., Data Factory, Lakehouse, semantic models, Power BI)
• Familiarity withbuilding and deploying cloud-based analytics web applicationsis preferred
• Familiarity with one of the cloud data warehouses (e.g., Snowflake,BigQuery, Redshift) and data lakearchitectureis preferred

AI engineering:

• Hands-on experience developing and deploying LLM-based applications in production, including RAG pipelines, prompt engineering, and LLM evaluation
• Experience designing agentic AI systems(e.g.,multi-agent orchestration, or automation workflows)using frameworks such asLangChainor equivalent
• Familiarity with at least one major cloud AI platform (Microsoft Foundry, AWS Bedrock, or GCP Vertex AI) and associated deployment patterns
• Familiarity with understanding of LLM evaluation frameworks (e.g., Ragas,LangSmith) and retrieval quality assessmentispreferred
• Familiaritywith core agentic AI and LLM libraries (e.g., Transformers, LangGraph, PydanticAI) and experience applying them in production settingsis preferred

Stakeholder engagement:

• Ability to understand and articulate requirements to technical and non-technical audiences, working alongside data science, engineering, and consulting teams
• Prior experience in strategic consulting is preferred; exposure to one or more of L.E.K.’s core sectors (life sciences, healthcare, consumer, industrials, TMT) is a strong plus
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to translate business needs into technical solutions; comfortable working at pace in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment with a high degree of ownership

Education:

• Degree ina quantitativeand/or business discipline preferred, examplesinclude:Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics, Operations Research, Economics

Why Join L.E.K.?

• Drive the growth of a rapidly expanding data-driven capability in a top-tier strategy consulting firm
• Collaborate with C-suite clients and life sciences innovators to deliver market-shaping insights
• Be a leader in L.E.K.’s evolvingData & Analytics and digital solutions strategy
• Join a supportive, entrepreneurial, and intellectually curious team with access tocutting-edgetools and professional development

Additional Information:

• The expected base salary for this position is $135,000 - $165,000 annually. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, skills, and location. This position may also be eligible for discretionary bonus and a comprehensive benefits package.
• L.E.K. Consulting offers a competitive total rewards package including medical, dental, vision,lifeand disability insurance, 401(k) with employer contribution, HSA contributions (where applicable), paid time off, and other firm-sponsored benefits.
• This role is based in our Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, or San Franciscooffices and follows our hybrid work model for U.S. offices. We require employees to be in their assigned home office Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week, as well as the first Friday of each month.
• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a permanent basis without the need for employer sponsorship. Unfortunately, we are unable to consider candidatesrequiringvisa sponsorship, including but not limited to H-1B, TN, F-1 (OPT/CPT/STEM), or other work authorization.
• L.E.K. Consulting is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed toprovidingequal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age,disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
• In accordance withapplicable state and local laws, we will provide reasonableaccommodationsfor qualified individuals with disabilities and forsincerely heldreligious beliefs, practices, or observances.

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