Overview

Turnitin is an AI-focused leader in the educational and research sectors. We are a remote-first employer with an office in Newcastle (UK) and colleagues worldwide. This role is for a Senior AI Data Engineer who will help pioneer next-generation data and AI pipelines and collaborate with Turnitin teams to integrate AI and data science across products that enhance learning, teaching, and academic integrity.

We offer remote working as standard, a diverse and inclusive culture, and a comprehensive benefits package designed to support well-being.

Responsibilities

• AI Data Infrastructure & Pipeline Management for Applied AI: Design, build, and operate scalable real-time data pipelines supporting ongoing Applied AI model training. Deploy and maintain robust data infrastructure to ensure continuous model improvement and deployment cycles.
• Data Collection: Collect, normalize, and store data from multiple sources, including external LLM providers.
• Collaboration: Partner with AI R&D, Applied AI, and Data Platform teams to ensure data flow and quality; curate high-quality datasets to support retraining workflows and business objectives.
• AI R&D Support: Provide secondary support to AI Research & Development efforts with advanced data warehousing and engineering techniques; contribute to exploratory data initiatives.
• Communication: Maintain clear cross-team communication about data infrastructure needs and potential innovations, aligned with the company vision.
• Technology Evolution: Stay current with emerging tools and methodologies in AI data engineering and propose enhancements to our data infrastructure.

Qualifications

• At least 4 years of experience in data engineering, ideally focused on AI/ML data infrastructure or enabling AI R&D.
• Strong proficiency in Python, SQL, and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation); experience with orchestration frameworks (Airflow, Prefect, or dbt).
• Experience with cloud-native data platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Qdrant, or Chroma).
• Experience with MLOps tools and platforms (HuggingFace, SageMaker Bedrock, Vertex AI), experiment tracking (MLflow, Weights & Biases), and model deployment pipelines.
• Experience with LLMs, embedding generation, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, and frameworks for orchestrating LLM interaction (LiteLLM, LangFuse, LangChain, LlamaIndex).
• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and communication skills; ability to design scalable AI data systems and collaborate cross-functionally.

• 6+ years of data engineering experience with a focus on AI/ML projects.
• Experience in a technical leadership or mentorship role.
• Experience in education, EdTech, or academic integrity sectors.
• Experience using AI coding tools (Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot) for accelerated development.
• Familiarity with NLP, computer vision, or multimodal AI applications.
• Experience with data visualization (Streamlit) and data reporting.

Characteristics for Success

• Passion for solving complex data problems and ability to work collaboratively.
• Continuous learning mindset and a track record of delivering high-quality results.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; curiosity about problems and solutions.
• Strong system-level problem-solving skills.

Additional Information

Global benefits include a remote-first culture, health care coverage, education reimbursement, generous paid time off, self-care days, holidays, parental leave, retirement plan with matching, and wellness reimbursements. Turnitin is committed to equal employment opportunity and a policy of non-discrimination in hiring.

Our Mission and Values

Our Mission: to ensure the integrity of global education and meaningfully improve learning outcomes.

Our Values:

• Customer Centric - Put educators and learners at the center of our work.
• Passion for Learning - Support continuous learning and growth.
• Integrity - The heartbeat of Turnitin, shaping products and interactions.
• Action & Ownership - Bias toward action and decision-making.
• One Team - Break down silos and celebrate successes.
• Global Mindset - Respect local cultures and embrace diversity.

Note: This description does not include every possible criterion and applicants meeting the majority of requirements are encouraged to apply.