The Lead Data Engineer will help the BBC make practical use of AI tools and systems to solve business problems and help our internal teams work effectively and efficiently. The role is in the BBCs Generative AI Programme and will collaborate closely with project managers, data scientists, analysts, domain experts, and the BBCs technical teams. Working with Programme Leadership, the postholder will design and help build the data pipelines and solutions that enable AI projects to move effectively through piloting to successful handover to the business for scaling.
Key Responsibilities
* Develop secure, reliable and well-designed solutions that support high-quality AI piloting and transition to successful handover to the business for scaling.
* Design and build robust data pipelines, models and supporting data structures that enable AI projects to move effectively from piloting to successful handover into the business for scaling.
* Work closely with data scientists, analysts, project managers, business partners, researchers and designers to understand requirements and translate them into valuable solutions.
* Establish and promote strong engineering practices for data quality, resilience, maintainability and operational performance across the teams work.
* Help shape data approaches to architecture, integration and pilot design, ensuring solutions are appropriate for AI experimentation and future scaling.
* Provide technical leadership to others, mentoring, code review and setting standards, contributing to a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
* Ensure data used within AI projects is managed in line with the BBCs organisational values, security requirements and responsible approach to AI.
Key Qualifications
* Significant experience of designing, delivering and operating data engineering solutions, including pipelines, models and platform components, with the engineering discipline to build secure, resilient and maintainable systems in complex organisational environments.
* Experience of working collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams, translating a range of user, product and research needs into practical engineering solutions.
* Demonstrable experience of providing technical leadership to other engineers, mentoring, reviewing code, setting standards and improving engineering practices.
* Sound understanding of data governance, security and quality considerations, with the judgement to apply these appropriately in innovative or experimental contexts.
* Strong engineering practices including security by design, proficiency in Python, experience with Cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform preferred), CI/CD pipelines, and demonstrable use of AI-assisted development tools to improve code quality and delivery pace. Experience working in broadcast, media, start-up or research environments.
* Contributions to published technical documents or thought leadership in your area of expertise.
* Familiarity with API development frameworks (FastAPI or equivalent).
* Experience building with Generative AI frameworks (e.g. LangChain, LangGraph, PydanticAI) and managed AI services (e.g. Bedrock, Azure).
EEO Statement
We welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief.
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