Senior AI & Data Engineer at Artefact in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

Who is Artefact? Artefact is a next-generation strategy and data consulting firm dedicated to transforming organizations through data and AI. We combine the rigor of top-tier strategy consulting with deep expertise in data, digital, and analytics to help clients achieve tangible business impact. With 1,800+ consultants, data scientists, and engineers across 23 countries, we work with global leaders such as Samsung, L’Oréal, Orange, and Sanofi. Our Romandie office (Geneva/Lausanne) is at the heart of Artefact’s growth, advising clients on their most pressing strategic challenges — from AI strategy and governance to digital transformation roadmaps and new business model design. Main Responsibilities As a Senior AI & Data Engineer, you will be the architect of the "AI Factory." Your role is less about training models from scratch and more about building the industrial-grade pipelines, infrastructure, and security frameworks required to run AI in a highly regulated environment. Production-Grade AI Infrastructure: Design and implement robust MLOps and LLMOps pipelines specifically for banking environments, focusing on data residency, air-gapping possibilities, and high availability. Data Engineering for AI: Build scalable ETL/ELT pipelines to feed RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems, ensuring data lineage, quality, and strict access control (RBAC). DevOps & Automation: Own the CI/CD lifecycle for AI assets. Automate the deployment of model APIs, vector databases, and monitoring stacks using Infrastructure as Code (IaC). Hybrid Cloud & On-Prem: Navigate complex hybrid-cloud architectures (Azure/AWS/GCP vs. Private Cloud) common in Swiss banking. Technical Advisory: Act as a bridge between IT Infrastructure, Risk/Compliance, and Business units to translate AI potential into stable, governed reality. Candidate Profile Engineer first, consultant second — with a builder’s mindset and a track record of shipping. Experience: 4+ years in Data Engineering, DevOps, or Software Engineering, with at least 2 years focused on deploying Machine Learning or AI systems at scale. The "DevOps" Stack: Expert knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes (K8s), and CI/CD tools (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins). Experience with Terraform or Pulumi is a strong plus. The "Data" Stack: Advanced SQL and Python. Deep experience with data orchestration (Airflow, Dagster), streaming (Kafka), and modern data warehouses (Snowflake, Databricks). AI/LLM Implementation: Hands-on experience with the "plumbing" of AI: Vector databases (Milvus, Qdrant, or pgvector), model serving (BentoML, vLLM), and RAG orchestration (LangChain/LlamaIndex). Banking Domain: Solid understanding of financial data structures and the regulatory landscape (Model Risk Management, Audit trails, Data anonymization). Languages:English is mandatory. German (B2 or higher) is a significant advantage for the Zurich market and stakeholder management. Education: Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related quantitative field. Nice to have Experience with responsible AI/governance frameworks, security reviews, and cost optimization. Domain experience in finance. Contributions to open-source, publications, or conference talks. Why Join Us Strategy with a Data Edge: Operate at the intersection of boardroom strategy and cutting-edge AI engineering. Zurich Office Impact: High visibility from day one; help shape our Swiss footprint and work directly with senior leadership. Learning & Growth: Advanced training across strategy, AI/ML/LLM, and cloud; international missions and communities of practice. Culture of Doers: Innovation, action, collaboration. We move fast, deliver impact, and support each other’s growth. Location: Zurich If you don’t meet 100% of the criteria, we still want to hear from you. Passion, curiosity, and impact orientation matter — tell us about yours.