Applied Machine Learning & Data Engineer (Nairobi)

About the role

We are looking for an Applied Machine Learning / Data Engineer to design, build, and scale the data foundations behind intelligent products. The role blends data engineering, applied ML, and model‑facing development, focusing on reliable ingestion pipelines, retrieval systems, and evaluation frameworks for next‑generation AI solutions.

Key responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain robust data ingestion and retrieval pipelines.
• Develop model‑facing components such as retrieval systems, RAG workflows, and evaluation frameworks.
• Build scalable data solutions using Python and SQL to support machine‑learning applications.
• Work with structured and unstructured data to improve data quality, accessibility, and reliability.
• Implement testing practices and engineering standards for production‑ready solutions.
• Collaborate with product and engineering teams to translate business needs into scalable technical solutions.
• Evaluate and improve machine‑learning workflows, model performance, and data pipelines.
• Support the development and optimisation of AI‑powered features and applications.
• Contribute to technical decisions around data architecture, tooling, and best practices.

Required profile

• 4+ years of professional experience delivering production‑level data engineering or machine‑learning solutions.
• Strong problem‑solving abilities and capacity to work independently in a fast‑paced environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Comfortable collaborating asynchronously within distributed teams.

Required skills

• Python (typed)
• SQL
• Kafka
• Large Language Model (LLM) applications
• Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG)
• Vector search technologies
• Neo4j / Cypher (graph databases)