Senior Data Engineer
1 day ago
City of London
Senior Data Engineer London | Hybrid | AI-Native Consulting Environment £80,000-£90,000 + package Our client is a fast-growing, AI-native, engineering-led consultancy building advanced semantic, ontology-driven and agentic AI systems. As they deepen their data engineering capability, they are seeking a senior-level Data Engineer to design and operate high-fidelity, ontology-aligned data foundations that power knowledge graphs, reasoning systems, retrieval layers and AI products. This is a strategic engineering role for someone who sees data not simply as pipelines and tables, but as structured, semantically coherent knowledge that underpins intelligent systems. The Purpose of the Role You will build production-grade data pipelines explicitly aligned to ontologies and semantic models. Your work will ensure that entity definitions, relationships, taxonomies and domain constraints are faithfully represented in data flows, making them reasoning-ready and AI-consumable. Working within a senior, cross-functional delivery model (consulting, ontology and engineering), you will play a foundational role in building robust semantic layers and enabling high-value AI systems for clients. Key Responsibilities Data Pipeline Engineering (Semantic & Ontology-Aligned) • Design, build and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines aligned to ontology and knowledge graph structures, • Implement transformations that respect entity models, relationships, taxonomies and domain constraints, • Apply semantic enrichment patterns including mapping, harmonisation, linking and feature extraction, • Deliver high-quality, structured data to downstream AI systems, agents, retrieval layers and decision engines Ontology & Knowledge Graph Collaboration • Translate conceptual ontologies into implementable schemas and data flows, • Partner with ontology architects on entity modelling, semantic definitions, metadata and lineage, • Deploy pipelines into ontology-aware platforms (e.g. graph databases, semantic layers, Foundry-style systems), • Ensure semantic compliance, data integrity and reasoning-readiness Data Quality, Observability & Lineage • Implement robust data quality frameworks (validation, profiling, anomaly detection), • Build observability into pipelines (lineage tracking, logging, freshness monitoring, schema drift detection), • Ensure alignment with governance, security and industry standards AI Enablement & Data Serving • Build high-quality datasets for retrieval pipelines (RAG), embeddings and conversational agents, • Create data foundations supporting decision engines, reinforcement learning and value measurement, • Partner with AI engineers to operationalise pipelines for LLM workflows and agentic systems Standards, Documentation & Reusability • Produce clear documentation for data models, schemas, ontologies and lineage, • Codify semantic ETL patterns and reusable modelling templates, • Contribute to internal accelerators, engineering standards and playbooks Experience & Technical Requirements We are looking for strong data engineering fundamentals combined with demonstrable semantic and ontology experience: • 5–8 years’ experience in data engineering, data platform development or data-intensive systems, • Strong SQL and Python for scalable data transformations and services, • Experience with at least one major cloud platform (AWS, Azure or GCP), • Hands-on experience with semantic or ontology-driven data models, including:, • Graph databases (e.g. Neptune, Neo4j, Blazegraph, Stardog, TigerGraph, Foundry, Timbr), • RDF/OWL modelling, SHACL validation or ontology tooling, • Semantic ETL and ontology mapping pipelines, • Knowledge graph construction, enrichment and query patterns, • Experience operationalising pipelines for AI systems, LLM workflows or retrieval ecosystems, • Familiarity with modern data tooling and platform engineering practices, • Comfortable working in iterative consulting delivery environments with evolving requirements Behavioural Attributes • High agency – independently drives complex workstreams end-to-end, • Structured thinker – brings clarity and rigour to ambiguous, messy data domains, • Collaborative – works effectively with ontology architects, AI engineers and consultants, • Quality-driven – prioritises correctness, observability, maintainability and semantic integrity, • Clear communicator – able to explain semantic concepts and data reasoning to non-technical stakeholders, • Low ego, high ownership – focused on outcomes and value creation What Success Looks Like • You deliver clean, trustworthy, semantically aligned data ready for ontologies and AI layers, • Ontology architects rely on your pipelines for entity consistency and semantic accuracy, • AI engineers build faster because your data structures and retrieval layers are reliable and predictable, • Your semantic ETL patterns and modelling templates are reused across engagements, • Clients trust your clarity, rigour and dependability in data work underpinning high-value AI systems, • Your work becomes foundational to the firm’s semantic and agentic engineering capability Why Join • Senior-heavy, engineering-led culture with deep focus on ontologies, knowledge graphs and AI systems, • Early-stage growth environment backed by significant investment and strong market traction, • High autonomy, low bureaucracy and meaningful system-building responsibility, • Opportunity to shape internal standards, accelerators and AI-native products, • Clear commitment to responsible AI and widening access to advanced technologies, • Flexible working model with a modern Central London presence, • Comprehensive health, wellbeing and pension benefits This is an opportunity to help define how semantic data engineering enables next-generation AI systems, within a firm where clarity, technical depth and real-world outcomes matter. If you are an experienced Data Engineer ready to work at the intersection of ontologies, knowledge graphs and AI, we would welcome a confidential conversation.
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