AI Engineer - QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

AI Engineer - QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

Full-Time 59400 - 72600 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
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At a Glance

  • Tasks: Design and build innovative AI solutions while collaborating with global experts.
  • Company: Join QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, a leader in AI-driven solutions.
  • Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and a focus on holistic well-being.
  • Other info: Dynamic environment with mentorship and exceptional career growth opportunities.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact with cutting-edge technology and diverse perspectives.
  • Qualifications: Degree in relevant field and 2+ years of experience in data solutions.

The predicted salary is between 59400 - 72600 £ per year.

Who You'll Work With

Driving lasting impact and building long-term capabilities with our clients is not easy work. You are the kind of person who thrives in a high performance/high reward culture - doing hard things, picking yourself up when you stumble, and having the resilience to try another way forward. In return for your drive, determination, and curiosity, we'll provide the resources, mentorship, and opportunities you need to become a stronger leader faster than you ever thought possible. Your colleagues—at all levels—will invest deeply in your development, just as much as they invest in delivering exceptional results for clients.

Every day, you'll receive apprenticeship, coaching, and exposure that will accelerate your growth in ways you won’t find anywhere else. When you join us, you will have:

  • Continuous learning: Our learning and apprenticeship culture, backed by structured programs, is all about helping you grow while creating an environment where feedback is clear, actionable, and focused on your development.
  • A voice that matters: From day one, we value your ideas and contributions. You’ll make a tangible impact by offering innovative ideas and practical solutions, all while upholding our unwavering commitment to ethics and integrity.
  • Global community: With colleagues across 65+ countries and over 100 different nationalities, our firm’s diversity fuels creativity and helps us come up with the best solutions for our clients.
  • World‑class benefits: On top of a competitive salary (based on your location, experience, and skills), we provide a comprehensive benefits package to enable holistic well‑being for you and your family.

Your Impact

You will design and build innovative AI solutions by seamlessly combining advanced software development practices with robust data engineering expertise. You will collaborate with a global network of technologists, data scientists, and industry experts to help clients transform their businesses through advanced analytics and AI‑driven solutions. You’ll develop scalable data pipelines, build cutting‑edge software products, and contribute to the development of AI models while mentoring client teams and shaping engineering cultures.

You will take on diverse and impactful responsibilities that blend technical expertise with strategic collaboration. You will architect and build scalable, modular, and reproducible data pipelines tailored for machine learning and AI applications. Additionally, you will develop software products and services from the ground up, ensuring they are maintainable, scalable, and secure. Collaborating with cross‑functional teams, you will assess data landscapes, ensure data quality, and prepare data for advanced analytics models. Your work will also involve managing secure data environments and contributing to research and development initiatives, as well as internal asset development, to continuously expand your technical expertise.

Beyond technical execution, you will participate in cross‑functional problem‑solving sessions with client leaders, helping shape their digital strategies and delivering solutions that extend beyond the product itself. A key part of your work will be mentoring client teams on engineering best practices, user‑centric design, and Agile values, enabling them to build the technical capabilities and cultures necessary to sustain AI‑driven solutions. Your work will address real‑world challenges across industries, driving meaningful and lasting impact.

By partnering with QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey and QuantumBlack Labs teams, you will help create cutting‑edge machine learning systems that accelerate AI adoption and solve complex business problems at scale.

Your Qualifications and Skills

  • Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent experience
  • 2+ years of professional experience in building and deploying data solutions and software products
  • Strong coding skills in Python, with additional experience in Scala or Java being a plus
  • Experience working with structured, semi‑structured, and unstructured data
  • Hands‑on expertise in containerization and orchestration using Docker and Kubernetes for scalable production systems
  • Familiarity with distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Dask), cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), and analytics libraries (e.g., pandas, numpy, matplotlib)
  • Exposure to DevOps, DataOps, and MLOps concepts and best practices.
  • Experience with core technologies such as Python, PySpark, SQL, Airflow, Databricks, Kedro, Dask/RAPIDS, Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud services (AWS/GCP/Azure)
  • Experience with Generative AI (GenAI) or agentic systems, including building Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, implementing large language models (LLMs), or integrating advanced AI frameworks is a plus
  • Exposure to AI modeling frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras, or Scikit‑Learn, along with familiarity with AI Governance and Safety principles, including Responsible AI practices, bias and hallucination testing, and LLM safety guardrails
  • Demonstrated experience working collaboratively with other developers and technical and non‑technical people within software teams
  • Experience working in Agile teams, including active participation in sprint ceremonies
  • Exceptional time management to meet your responsibilities in a complex and largely autonomous work environment
  • Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, in English and local office language(s), with the ability to adjust your style to suit different perspectives and seniority levels

AI Engineer - QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey employer: QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

At QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer that fosters a high-performance culture where your contributions truly matter. Located in London, we offer world-class benefits and a commitment to continuous learning, ensuring you have the resources and mentorship needed to accelerate your growth as a data engineer. Join a diverse global community of experts, collaborate on cutting-edge AI projects, and make a meaningful impact while developing your skills in a supportive and innovative environment.

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Contact Details:

QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey Recruitment Team

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We think this is how you could land AI Engineer - QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

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We think you need these skills to ace AI Engineer - QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

Python
Scala
Java
Data Engineering
Containerization
Orchestration
Docker

Some tips for your application 🫡

Show Off Your Projects:In the world of data science, your projects can speak volumes about your skills. Make sure to showcase a few key projects in your CV or portfolio, especially those that highlight your ability to work with data sets, build models, or use relevant tools like Python, R, or SQL. Don’t forget to include links to any GitHub repositories if applicable!

Quantify Your Achievements:Employers love numbers! When drafting your CV, highlight your achievements with quantifiable results. For instance, mention how your data analysis led to a certain percentage increase in efficiency or revenue at a previous job or project. These details can really make your application pop!

Craft a Tailored Cover Letter:For a full-time role at QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, your cover letter should reflect your passion for data science and your excitement about the specific projects or values of the company. Dive into why you’re a good fit, how your skills align with their needs, and any unique perspectives you can bring to the team.

Stand Out with Relevant Courses and Certifications:Although experience talks, relevant courses or certifications can be your ticket to impressing hiring managers at QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey. Mention any standout courses you've completed that equipped you with essential skills, such as machine learning certifications or data visualisation courses. This shows your commitment to continuously developing your skills in the field!

How to prepare for a job interview at QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

Brush Up on Your Statistics

For a data science role, we need to seriously sharpen our statistics skills. Get ready to tackle technical questions on probability distributions, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis. These are often the bread and butter of data science interviews, so don't just skim over them!

Showcase Your Projects

Prepare a killer portfolio showcasing your data science projects. We should include details about the datasets used, the tools and techniques applied, and the impact of your findings. If we can walk them through a particularly challenging project or a cool visualisation that had real-world implications, it’ll really make us stand out!

Get Comfortable with Python and R

Most data science positions require us to be proficient in programming languages like Python and R. We should practice common libraries like pandas, NumPy, and scikit-learn, and be ready for live coding exercises or algorithm questions. Showing off our coding chops can really impress the interviewers at QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey!

Prepare for Case Studies

Expect to encounter real-world case studies during the interview. We might be asked how we’d approach a data problem or analyse a dataset to extract insights. It's essential to think out loud and demonstrate our problem-solving process so that the interviewer can see our logical thinking in action.