Data & AI Engineer

Associated Feed & Supply Company is hiring a Data & AI Engineer to build and maintain its data foundation, including pipelines, data models, and platform capabilities. The role also delivers analytics, integrations, workflow automation, and AI and machine learning solutions that improve business operations.

Responsibilities

• Work with business and IT stakeholders to understand business processes and desired outcomes before designing technical solutions
• Design, build, and maintain data pipelines that bring data from ERP, financial, manufacturing, and other enterprise systems into our central data platform
• Build and maintain data models and reusable data assets for reporting, applications, and AI, and monitor data quality and reliability
• Develop dashboards, reports, and semantic models that turn data into useful business information
• Build integrations and automations between enterprise applications using APIs and data pipelines, replacing manual work wherever possible
• Develop AI applications, such as natural-language interfaces built on large language models and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and train, tune, and deploy machine learning models when they fit the problem
• Use AI-assisted development tools to build, test, and document faster while holding to sound standards for source control, testing, security, and maintainability
• Support and troubleshoot deployed solutions
• Evaluate emerging technologies and build prototypes to test their business value
• Help shape data, integration, and AI engineering standards and architecture decisions
• Support existing applications and solutions as required
• Perform related duties and/or special projects as assigned

Preferred

• Databricks experience (highly desirable)
• Microsoft Azure and related cloud services
• Machine learning model development and tuning, and generative AI development (LLM APIs, RAG, AI agents)
• Git-based source control and CI/CD practices
• Databricks
• Microsoft Azure
• Cloud Services
• Machine Learning Model Development
• Model Tuning
• Generative AI Development
• LLM APIs
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
• AI Agents
• Git-Based Source Control
• CI/CD Practices

Benefits

• On-site in Turlock, CA, with flexibility for some work from home

Company

• Animal feed manufacturer and supplier for livestock markets
• Turlock, CA, US
• http://associatedfeed.com/company.html
• 201-500 employees

Qualifications

• Data engineering: building and running data pipelines (ETL/ELT) and analytical data models
• SQL and relational database design
• Python or another modern programming language
• Analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to break complex problems into practical solutions
• Working knowledge of APIs and system integration
• Hands-on use of AI-assisted development tools
• Demonstrated clear written and verbal communication skills
• Learn the business process first and let it, not the technology, drive the solution
• Work independently with limited direction, and work well with others
• Learn unfamiliar tools, systems, and business processes quickly
• Balance experimentation with the reliability, security, and supportability that enterprise systems require
• Question assumptions and find better approaches
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, data science, engineering, mathematics, or a related field, or equivalent demonstrated technical capability and professional experience
• Demonstrated data engineering skills: pipelines you have built and run, from raw data to a usable result, through professional work, internships, or substantial projects
• Strong SQL and Python skills
• Hands-on experience taking a technical solution from prototype to working use
• 2–5 years of relevant experience is typical, but candidates at any level may be considered based on demonstrated ability, learning agility, and accomplishments
• Databricks experience (highly desirable)
• Microsoft Azure and related cloud services
• Machine learning model development and tuning, and generative AI development (LLM APIs, RAG, AI agents)
• Git-based source control and CI/CD practices

Required skills

• AI-Assisted Development Tools, APIs, Analytical Data Modeling, CI/CD, Data Engineering, Databricks, ETL/ELT Pipelines, Generative AI, Git, Machine Learning, Microsoft Azure, Python, Relational Database Design, SQL

Preferred skills

• Databricks experience (highly desirable), Git-based source control and CI/CD practices, Microsoft Azure and related cloud services

Experience

• 2-5 years