Engineering Director

dunnhumby is the global leader in Customer Data Science partnering with the worlds most ambitious retailers and brands to put the customer at the heart of every decision. We combine deep insight advanced technology and close collaboration to help our clients grow innovate and deliver measurable value for their customers.

dunnhumby employs nearly 2500 experts in offices throughout Europe Asia Africa and the Americas working for transformative iconic brands such as Tesco Coca-Cola Nestlé Unileverand Metro.

Atdunnhumby the Media Planning & Recommendation team builds the intelligence layer that powers campaign planning optimization and measurement for CPGs and agencies across online and in-store channels.
We design scalable platforms that transform audience performance and contextual data into actionable insights and campaign recommendations that drive measurable business outcomes.

Our mission is to enable data-driven media planning and optimization through AI Generative models and Vector Search integrating predictive prescriptive and explainable systems that empower CPGs and agencies to plan activate and measure campaigns with precision and transparency.

Role Summary

As Engineering Director you will lead multiple engineering teams responsible for building and scaling platforms that unify media planning optimization and recommendation capabilities.
Youll define the technology vision partner closely with Product and Data Science and ensure delivery of high-availability low-latency systems that continuously learn and improve campaign performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and execute the engineering strategy for Media Planning and Recommendations aligned to business and client outcomes.
• Build and scale real-time data ML serving and recommendation platforms integrating AI/LLMs vector search and optimization models.
• Partner with Data Science and Product to productionize planning and measurement models (ROAS iROAS uplift reach frequency).
• Drive adoption of Agentic AI systems that leverage autonomous reasoning orchestration and workflow automation across campaign planning and optimization.
• Lead multiple teams through technical excellence operational rigor and innovation across architecture delivery and DevOps.
• Ensure platform reliability observability and cost efficiency through well-defined SLOs metrics and governance.
• Coach and develop Engineering Managers and Leads fostering a culture of ownership experimentation and collaboration.

Technical Expertise

• Proficiency in .NET/Java Kafka Flink Spark GCP/AWS Kubernetes REST/GraphQL APIs and modern BI tools.
• Strong understanding of microservices domain-driven design (DDD) CI/CD pipelines observability and DevOps frameworks.
• Experience building ML inference pipelines optimization engines vector and hybrid search systems and streaming data architectures.
• Hands-on exposure to feature stores embedding stores and experimentation frameworks for campaign planning and recommendations.
• A strong understanding of Agentic AI systems and LLM-based architectures including experience with tools like GitHub Copilot or leading teams that have built autonomous agents using OpenAI Anthropic or similar models.

The ideal candidate will bring a deep appreciation for howGenerative AI can enhance decision-making automate workflows and unlock new capabilities in media intelligence.

Leadership & Experience

• 15 years in software engineering including 5 years leading multi-team platform-scale initiatives.
• Proven track record in delivering AI/ML-driven media planning optimization or recommendation platforms at scale.
• Strong architectural judgment data-driven decision-making and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Ability to balance strategic direction with hands-on technical depth and delivery focus.

What we expect from you

• Degree or equivalent in a relevant subject.
• Certified Agile Product Owner
• Product management experience across the product lifecycle
• Strong communicator who can work with commercial and technical teams
• Experience of running scrum teams

What you can expect from us

We wont just meet your expectations. Well defy them. So youll enjoy the comprehensive rewards package youd expect from a leading technology company. But also a degree of personal flexibility you might not expect. Plus thoughtful perks like flexible working hours and your birthday off.

Youll also benefit from an investment in cutting-edge technology that reflects our global ambition. But with a nimble small-business feel that gives you the freedom to play experiment and learn.

And we dont just talk about diversity and inclusion. We live it every day with thriving networks including dh Gender Equality Network dh Proud dh Family dh One dh Enabled and dh Thrive as the living proof. We want everyone to have the opportunity to shine and perform at your best throughout our recruitment process. Please let us know how we can make this process work best for you.

Our approach to Flexible Working

At dunnhumby we value and respect difference and are committed to building an inclusive culture by creating an environment where you can balance a successful career with your commitments and interests outside of work.

We believe that you will do your best at work if you have a work / life balance. Some roles lend themselves to flexible options more than others so if this is important to you please raise this with your recruiter as we are open to discussing agile working opportunities during the hiring process.

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