Senior Research Data Engineer

Senior Research Data Engineer – DeepL

Join us to build the next generation of AI-powered translation and writing tools. DeepL, founded in 2017, is a global communications platform powered by Language AI. We break down language barriers, serve over 100,000 businesses, and empower millions of users worldwide.

Overview

As part of our Foundation Model Training team, you will work with research scientists and data engineers to develop and manage foundation models that learn from massive unstructured datasets. This fast‑paced, highly competitive field focuses on real‑world research challenges and large‑scale data solutions.

Responsibilities

• Work on ambitious frontier research projects with the foundation model training research team.
• Architect, design, and build scalable data pipelines (e.g., downloading and preparing multimodal unstructured data for training).
• Use a modern tech stack (Kubernetes, Dask, Ray, etc.) and actively develop open‑source solutions, debugging low‑level issues and submitting upstream fixes.
• Deploy complex Python data solutions to cloud infrastructure (AWS, on‑prem data centers) and own operation of large‑scale data processing.
• Engineer and operate data solutions for real‑world unstructured data (text, code, image, audio modalities).
• Collaborate with stakeholders, research scientists, and platform teams.
• Champion data quality and availability for foundation model training.
• Ensure mission‑critical reliability of pipeline jobs, maintain high‑quality code, and provide great user experience.

Qualifications

• Degree in a scientific or technical field.
• Previous experience as a Data Engineer or similar role in a scaled‑up tech company focusing on large‑scale unstructured data.
• Extensive experience with large‑scale data engineering, writing high‑quality Python code, and deploying data pipelines on cloud platforms.
• Experience in exploratory data analysis, data cleaning, validation, and ML feature engineering for unstructured data.
• End‑to‑end ownership of data solution development, operations, testing, and quality assurance.
• Experience with distributed computing (Dask, Celery, Ray) and infrastructure‑as‑code, preferably Kubernetes on AWS.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills in an English‑speaking organization.

Desired Domain Experience

• LLM training data preparation.
• NLP, text classification, and model‑based GPU workflows.
• Dynamic workflow orchestration frameworks (e.g., Argo Workflows).
• Linguistics expertise or fluency in multiple languages.
• Programming in C++, Go, or Rust.

Benefits

• Diverse and internationally distributed team with more than 90 nationalities.
• Open communication, regular feedback, and a growth mindset.
• Hybrid work model with flexible hours; office twice a week.
• Regular in‑person team events and monthly hack Fridays.
• 30 days of annual leave (excluding public holidays) and access to mental health resources.
• Competitive benefits tailored to your location.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and celebrate diversity in our workplace. Apply today and help break down language barriers worldwide.