Sr. AI Data Engineer (UK Remote)

Turnitin, an AI-focused leader in the educational and research sectors, has been at the forefront of promoting academic integrity and innovation for over two decades. We are renowned for our cutting-edge solutions which have been embraced by thousands of academic institutions, corporations, and publishers worldwide.

At Turnitin, we believe in flexibility, offering remote working as a standard arrangement. We value diversity, respect local cultures, and honor individual choices. We are a remote-first employer, with an office in Newcastle (UK) and colleagues spanning the globe. Our team is diverse yet unified by a shared commitment to making a significant impact in education.

AI and data science are integral to our success and ambitious product roadmap, and great AI begins with great data. Joining us as a Senior AI Data Engineer means you'll become part of a global team of proactive, supportive, and independent professionals committed to delivering sophisticated, well-structured AI and data systems. You’ll help pioneer our next generation data and AI pipelines to scale our team’s impact. Additionally, you'll collaborate with different teams within Turnitin to integrate AI and data science across a broad suite of products, designed to enhance learning, teaching, and academic integrity.

Responsibilities

Your role as a Senior AI Data Engineer encompasses the following key responsibilities:

• AI Data Infrastructure & Pipeline Management for Applied AI: Design, build, and operate scalable real-time data pipelines that support ongoing Applied AI model training. Deploy and maintain robust data infrastructure using AI techniques and engineering best practices to ensure continuous model improvement and deployment cycles.
• Data Collection: Execute initiatives for collecting, normalizing, and storing data across multiple sources, including external LLM providers.
• Collaboration: Partner with AI R&D, Applied AI, and Data Platform teams to ensure seamless data flow and quality standards. Partner with stakeholders to collect, curate, and catalog high-quality datasets that directly support Applied AI retraining workflows and business objectives.
• AI R&D Support: Provide secondary support to AI Research & Development efforts by applying advanced data warehousing and engineering technologies. Contribute to exploratory data initiatives that uncover insights from Turnitin's extensive data resources.
• Communication: Maintain clear communication channels across teams, ensuring alignment with company vision while sharing insights on data infrastructure needs and potential innovations.
• Technology Evolution: Stay current with emerging tools and methodologies in AI data engineering, bringing recommendations to enhance our AI data infrastructure and capabilities.

Required Qualifications:

• At least 4 years of experience in data engineering, ideally focused on AI/ML data infrastructure or enabling and accelerating AI R&D.
• Strong proficiency in Python, SQL, and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation), with additional experience in modern orchestration frameworks (Airflow, Prefect, or dbt).
• Proficiency 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 Large Language Models (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, with the ability to design scalable AI data systems and collaborate effectively in cross-functional teams.

Desired Qualifications:

• 6+ years of experience in data engineering with a focus on AI and machine learning 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 natural language processing, computer vision, or multimodal AI applications.
• Experience with data visualization (Streamlit) and data reporting.

Characteristics for Success:

As a Senior AI Data Engineer, you should possess:

• A passion for creatively solving complex data problems.
• The ability to work collaboratively and cross-functionally.
• A continuous learning mindset, always striving to improve your skills and knowledge.
• A proven track record of delivering results and ensuring a high level of quality.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Curiosity about the problems at hand, the field at large, and the best solutions.
• Strong system-level problem-solving skills

Total Rewards @ Turnitin
Turnitin maintains a Total Rewards package that is competitive within the local job market. People tend to think about their Total Rewards monetarily — solely as regular pay plus bonus or commission. This is what they earn in exchange for what they do. However, Turnitin delivers more than just these components. Beyond the intrinsic rewards of unleashing your potential to positively impact global education, and thriving in an organization that is free of politics and full of humble, inclusive and collaborative teammates, the extrinsic rewards at Turnitin include generous time off and health and wellness programs that offer choice and flexibility and provide a safety net for the challenges that life presents from time to time. Experience a remote-centric culture that empowers you to work with purpose and accountability in a way that best suits you, supported by a comprehensive package that prioritizes your overall well-being.

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

Our Values underpin everything we do.

• Customer Centric - We realize our mission to ensure integrity and improve learning outcomes by putting educators and learners at the center of everything we do.
• Passion for Learning - We seek out teammates that are constantly learning and growing and build a workplace which enables them to do so.
• Integrity - We believe integrity is the heartbeat of Turnitin. It shapes our products, the way we treat each other, and how we work with our customers and vendors.
• Action & Ownership - We have a bias toward action and empower teammates to make decisions.
• One Team - We strive to break down silos, collaborate effectively, and celebrate each other’s successes.
• Global Mindset - We respect local cultures and embrace diversity. We think globally and act locally to maximize our impact on education.

Global Benefits

• Remote First Culture
• Health Care Coverage*
• Education Reimbursement*
• Competitive Paid Time Off
• 4 Self-Care Days per year
• National Holidays*
• 2 Founder Days + Juneteenth Observed
• Paid Volunteer Time*
• Charitable contribution match*
• Monthly Wellness or Home Office Reimbursement/*
• Access to Modern Health (mental health platform)
• Parental Leave*
• Retirement Plan with match/contribution*

* varies by country

Seeing Beyond the Job Ad
At Turnitin, we recognize it’s unrealistic for candidates to fulfill 100% of the criteria in a job ad. We encourage you to apply if you meet the majority of the requirements because we know that skills evolve over time. If you’re willing to learn and evolve alongside us, join our team!

Turnitin, LLC is committed to the policy that all persons have equal access to its programs, facilities and employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

When you join Turnitin, you'll be welcomed into a company that is a recognized innovator in the global education space. For over 25 years, Turnitin has partnered with educational institutions to promote honesty, consistency, and fairness across all subject areas and assessment types. Over 21,000 academic institutions, publishers, and corporations use our services: Feedback Studio, Originality, Gradescope, ExamSoft, Similarity, and iThenticate.

Experience a remote-centric culture that empowers you to work with purpose and accountability in a way that best suits you, supported by a comprehensive package that prioritizes your overall well-being. Our diverse community of colleagues are all unified by a shared desire to make a difference in education.

Turnitin is a global organization with team members in over 35 countries including the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, India, and the Philippines.