Research Data Engineer

TEKsystems • Kirkland, WA

7d • $70 - $90 • Remote

About The Position

The Research Data Engineer will support the development of Computer Use Agents (CUA) and next-generation AI systems. The role combines data engineering, analytics, AI research, and vendor operations. The engineer will help build and evaluate large-scale training datasets, improve data quality, automate workflows, develop research tooling, and support experimental environments used by researchers developing agentic AI systems. The successful candidate is comfortable with ambiguity, solves open-ended problems, and can independently drive initiatives from investigation through execution.

Requirements

• Strong Python and SQL skills.
• Experience with large-scale data analysis and engineering.
• Strong debugging and problem-solving skills.
• Experience building automation, tooling, or data pipelines.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work independently in fast-moving, ambiguous environments.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with AI/ML, reinforcement learning, agentic AI, or evaluation systems.
• Experience with Linux, cloud infrastructure, virtual machines, or containers.
• Experience supporting research teams, experimentation platforms, or AI data initiatives.
• Experience working with external vendors or operational partners.
• Research experience in machine learning, computer science, statistics, or related fields.

Responsibilities

• Analyze large-scale datasets to identify quality issues, coverage gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
• Build scalable pipelines, automation, dashboards, and tooling to support AI data generation and evaluation.
• Establish data quality metrics, reporting frameworks, and operational processes.
• Collaborate with external vendors to improve data collection workflows and output quality.
• Support research environments, evaluation systems, and experimentation workflows.
• Debug data, tooling, infrastructure, and environment-related issues.
• Investigate long-tail domains, edge cases, and system failure modes.
• Partner with researchers, engineers, and cross-functional stakeholders to accelerate AI development.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage, if eligible.
• Critical illness, accident, and hospital coverage, if eligible.
• 401(k) retirement plan with pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available, if eligible.
• Voluntary life and AD&D insurance for the employee and dependents, if eligible.
• Short- and long-term disability coverage, if eligible.
• Health Spending Account (HSA), if eligible.
• Transportation benefits, if eligible.
• Employee Assistance Program, if eligible.
• Time off/leave, including PTO, vacation, or sick leave, if eligible.

What This Job Offers

• Education Level: No Education Listed