Principal Data Engineer - QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company

Software Engineering, Data Science

Boston, MA, USA

USD 216,700-220k / year

Posted on Nov 13, 2026
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • New York City
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Washington DC
Do you want to do work that matters, alongside supportive leaders who will help you grow faster than you ever thought possible? Are you a creative problem-solver who is energized by challenges? You’ve come to the right place.

YOUR IMPACT

You will lead technical teams, architect data platforms, and build scalable pipelines while mentoring colleagues and collaborating with clients at all levels.
You’ll tackle impactful challenges, contribute to R&D, and grow as a leader by working with diverse experts on cutting-edge AI projects across industries.
You will lead multiple technical teams and own the technology stack for enterprise data and AI platforms. You’ll design and build robust, scalable, and reproducible data pipelines for machine learning while ensuring information security standards are upheld. Additionally, you’ll mentor junior colleagues, contribute to R&D projects, and drive innovation within the QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey Data Engineering community.
Your work will address real-world challenges across industries. Partnering with QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey and QuantumBlack Labs teams, you’ll help create innovative machine learning systems that accelerate AI adoption and solve business problems at speed and scale, enabling clients to achieve meaningful and lasting impact.
You will be based in one of our North America offices as part of our global Data Engineering community. You’ll work in cross-functional Agile teams alongside Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, and industry experts to deliver advanced analytics solutions. Collaborating with clients from data owners to C-level executives, you’ll help architect impactful solutions that solve complex business problems and drive value.
You will be in an exceptional environment to grow as a technologist and leader. You’ll develop expertise at the intersection of technology and business by tackling diverse challenges. Surrounded by inspiring, multidisciplinary teams, you’ll gain a holistic understanding of AI while collaborating with some of the best design, technical, and business talent in the world.

YOUR GROWTH

Driving lasting impact and building long-term capabilities with our clients is not easy work. You are the kind of person who thrives in a high performance/high reward culture - doing hard things, picking yourself up when you stumble, and having the resilience to try another way forward.
In return for your drive, determination, and curiosity, we'll provide the resources, mentorship, and opportunities you need to become a stronger leader faster than you ever thought possible. Your colleagues—at all levels—will invest deeply in your development, just as much as they invest in delivering exceptional results for clients. Every day, you'll receive apprenticeship, coaching, and exposure that will accelerate your growth in ways you won’t find anywhere else.
When you join us, you will have:
  • Continuous learning: Our learning and apprenticeship culture, backed by structured programs, is all about helping you grow while creating an environment where feedback is clear, actionable, and focused on your development. The real magic happens when you take the input from others to heart and embrace the fast-paced learning experience, owning your journey.
  • A voice that matters: From day one, we value your ideas and contributions. You’ll make a tangible impact by offering innovative ideas and practical solutions, all while upholding our unwavering commitment to ethics and integrity. We not only encourage diverse perspectives, but they are critical in driving us toward the best possible outcomes.
  • Global community: With colleagues across 65+ countries and over 100 different nationalities, our firm’s diversity fuels creativity and helps us come up with the best solutions for our clients. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from exceptional colleagues with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
  • World-class benefits: On top of a competitive salary (based on your location, experience, and skills), we provide a comprehensive benefits package to enable holistic well-being for you and your family.

YOUR QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

  • Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent experience
  • 10+ years relevant professional experience
  • Ability to scope projects, define workstreams, and translate roadmaps into sprint goals, milestones, and deliverables within agile and iterative team environments
  • Proven experience architecting and building enterprise data and AI platforms as well as scalable data pipelines for advanced analytics use cases operating in production
  • Passion for and track record of effectively leading and mentoring more junior colleagues
  • Expertise in implementing software engineering best practices to drive enterprise-wide improvement, including DevOps, DataOps, and MLOps
  • Strong software engineering and data engineering expertise, including distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Dask), cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), analytics libraries (e.g., pandas, NumPy, matplotlib), and modern data platforms and orchestration tools such as Databricks, Airflow, SQL, PySpark, Kedro, and RAPIDS
  • Ability to write clean, maintainable, scalable, and robust code in object-oriented languages such as Python, Scala, or Java, and experience supporting the development of junior engineers through collaborative code reviews
  • Extensive commercial client-facing or senior stakeholder management experience
  • Exceptional time management to meet your responsibilities in a complex and largely autonomous work environment
  • Willingness to travel
  • Strong communication skills with the ability to adjust your style to suit different perspectives and seniority levels
Please review the additional requirements regarding essential job functions of McKinsey colleagues.
Our unwavering commitment to integrity drives everything we do, guiding us to always act in the best interests of our clients, our people, and the communities we serve.
Industries
Capabilities
  • Technology

FOR U.S. APPLICANTS: McKinsey & Company is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Certain US jurisdictions require McKinsey & Company to include a reasonable estimate of the salary for this role. To help you understand what you can expect, the salary range for new joiners in this role in United States, including all office locations where the job may be performed, is $216,700 - $220,000 USD gross per year. This reflects our best estimate of the lowest to highest [salary/hourly wages] for this role at the time of this posting, ensuring you have a clear picture right from the start, though it's important to remember that actual salaries may vary. Factors like your office location, your unique blend of experience and skills, start date and our current organizational needs all play a part in determining the final figure. Certain roles are also eligible for bonuses, subject to McKinsey's discretion and based on factors such as individual and/or organizational performance.

Additionally, we provide a comprehensive benefits package that reflects our commitment to the wellness of our colleagues and their families. This includes medical, mental health, dental and vision coverage, telemedicine services, life, accident and disability insurance, parental leave and family planning benefits, caregiving resources, a generous retirement contributions program, financial guidance, and paid time off.

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