Senior Data, AI, and Machine Learning Engineer

About Woolworths Group and the Role

Woolworths Group unites over 200,000 passionate individuals with diverse viewpoints, all driven by a shared mission to create improved experiences today and for the future. By pushing innovation and boldly exploring new ideas, the Group serves over 24 million customers weekly across Australia and New Zealand. This role forms part of the wiqNZ team, a partnership between Woolworths Group and Quantium, leveraging world-class data science and analytics to reimagine retail through AI and advanced insights.

The wiqNZ team is dedicated to unlocking data's potential to benefit Kiwis' daily lives, collaborating closely with different Woolworths New Zealand business units and leveraging agile methodologies for rapid skill development and complex problem solving.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect, deploy, and oversee multi-agent AI ecosystems, including autonomous coding agents and generative AI features like retrieval-augmented generation and vector embeddings.
• Develop well-structured semantic data architectures and dimensional modeling in cloud warehouse environments tailored for use by large language models (LLMs) and AI agents.
• Implement automated testing frameworks to validate non-deterministic AI model outputs, ensure data quality, and adhere to enterprise performance benchmarks.
• Establish thorough AI governance and real-time observability to monitor for data drift, concept drift, algorithmic bias, and hallucination in models.
• Enforce responsible AI practices and security controls to mitigate vulnerabilities such as prompt injection and unauthorized data access, ensuring protection of personally identifiable information (PII) with full audit capabilities.
• Monitor and optimize cloud computing costs associated with token usage, BigQuery processing, and Vertex AI endpoint scaling.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate complex business needs into scalable technical solutions and engineering standards.
• Mentor and guide junior engineers, conduct peer reviews, and promote modern engineering best practices throughout the team.

Candidate Profile

• Demonstrates a product-driven, experimental approach with strong stakeholder management skills.
• Excels in fast-paced environments by rapidly prototyping and evolving early concepts into production-ready systems.
• Practical experience with generative AI production frameworks (e.g., Vector Databases, LangChain, ADK) and agentic coding assistants like Claude Code and GitHub Copilot.
• Experienced in building and managing end-to-end data pipelines utilizing modern cloud platforms, specifically BigQuery, Vertex AI, DBT, and Apache Airflow.
• Solid understanding of cloud infrastructure, microservices, and distributed computing, preferably with Google Cloud Platform and Kubernetes.
• Advanced proficiency in Python and contemporary development tooling, plus hands-on use of agentic coding tools.
• Strong foundation in statistical modeling, machine learning frameworks, and MLOps methodologies for scalable deployments.
• Knowledgeable in data warehousing concepts such as Kimball dimensional modeling.
• Excellent software engineering skills including version control with Git, CI/CD pipelines, and rigorous testing discipline.
• Demonstrated ability to contribute effectively in agile, multi-stakeholder project teams.
• Relevant certifications like Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer or Cloud Architect are highly valued.
• Full stack development experience is considered a plus.

What Woolworths Group Offers

• A global company with extensive opportunities for career advancement across diverse disciplines.
• Employee discounts on Woolworths Group brands and participation in a rewards program recognizing purpose-driven contributions.
• Generous parental leave benefits including 12 weeks paid leave for primary caregivers and up to 12 months of paid superannuation during parental leave, effective from day one.
• Supportive wellbeing initiatives such as 24/7 access to mental health apps and a competitive leave policy accommodating personal priorities.

Diversity and Inclusion

Woolworths Group is committed to fostering an inclusive environment where every team member feels valued and empowered to be their authentic self. Emphasizing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, the Group acknowledges that varied experiences enhance innovation and problem-solving capabilities. Candidates who meet some but not all qualifications are still encouraged to apply, as Woolworths values a wide range of skills and backgrounds.

Location and Work Arrangement

This full-time position is based on-site with hybrid work options, requiring three days per week in the Ponsonby or Favona offices in Auckland, New Zealand.