About the Senior Data Engineer - AI/ML Role at Robert Half

Join Robert Half's innovative technology team as a Senior Data Engineer - AI/ML in Plano, Texas. This high-impact position offers you the opportunity to architect cutting-edge real-time data pipelines that power advanced AI and machine learning initiatives. You'll be at the forefront of building scalable, secure, and cost-efficient data platforms that drive business intelligence and predictive analytics across the organization.

Robert Half is a global leader in professional services, and we're expanding our AI/ML capabilities to deliver transformative solutions for our clients. As a Senior Data Engineer, you'll collaborate with cross-functional teams including data scientists, product managers, and software engineers to ensure our data infrastructure supports mission-critical AI/ML workloads. This role is perfect for seasoned professionals passionate about GCP, streaming technologies like Kafka and Flink, and modern data engineering practices.

Plano, TX offers an ideal blend of professional opportunity and quality of life, with its thriving tech ecosystem, excellent schools, and proximity to Dallas. Enjoy competitive compensation starting at $140,000 annually, comprehensive benefits, and career growth in one of the fastest-growing tech markets in the U.S.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect Scalable Data Pipelines: Design, build, and maintain high-throughput real-time data pipelines leveraging GCP services, Apache Kafka for streaming, and Apache Flink for stream processing. Ensure pipelines handle petabyte-scale data volumes with sub-second latency.
• Platform Reliability Ownership: Take full ownership of the data and ML platform's reliability, implementing robust observability with tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and GCP Monitoring. Establish SLAs, SLOs, and error budgets for production systems.
• Performance and Cost Optimization: Continuously optimize cloud infrastructure for peak performance while minimizing costs. Implement auto-scaling, reserved instances, and FinOps practices to achieve 20-30% cost savings.
• Data Modeling Standardization: Lead adoption of dbt or similar ELT frameworks to standardize data modeling, testing, and documentation. Create reusable data contracts and ensure downstream consumers receive high-quality, governed datasets.
• Infrastructure as Code Excellence: Champion IaC using Terraform, Cloud Composer, or similar tools. Automate deployments, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure provisioning to enable zero-downtime updates.
• Security and Compliance Leadership: Implement data security best practices including encryption at rest/transit, RBAC, and compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and SOC2 standards. Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments.
• Technical Leadership and Mentorship: Lead cross-functional initiatives and mentor junior engineers. Conduct code reviews, architecture discussions, and knowledge-sharing sessions to elevate team capabilities.
• Continuous Improvement: Drive innovation in tools, processes, and standards. Stay ahead of emerging technologies in AI/ML infrastructure and advocate for best-in-class solutions.

Required Qualifications

To succeed in this role, you need proven expertise in modern data engineering with AI/ML focus:

• 7+ years of hands-on experience building production data platforms, with 3+ years specifically in AI/ML infrastructure
• Deep expertise in GCP (Dataflow, Pub/Sub, BigQuery, Vertex AI) and streaming technologies (Kafka, Flink, Spark Streaming)
• Strong proficiency in dbt, SQL, Python, and data orchestration tools (Airflow, Prefect)
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Pulumi) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Demonstrated success in cloud cost optimization and FinOps practices
• Expertise in data governance, lineage, and observability (Collibra, Monte Carlo, Great Expectations)
• Proven leadership mentoring engineering teams and delivering cross-functional projects
• Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or equivalent experience

Why Join Robert Half?

Robert Half offers more than just a job – we provide a career-defining opportunity in Plano, TX's booming tech scene. Enjoy a $140,000 - $170,000 salary range, comprehensive benefits including 401(k) matching, health coverage, and professional development. Our hybrid work model, modern tech stack, and collaborative culture empower you to do your best work.

Be part of a company that's revolutionizing professional services through AI/ML innovation. Apply now to shape the future of data engineering at Robert Half!