Principal - Data Scientist / Ai Engineer

Slalom is a fiercely human consulting company focused on end-to-end business transformation enabled by technology. With 20-plus years of experience and operating in 45+ markets around the world, Slalom teams have the autonomy to move fast and do what's right for our clients, making us more personal and nimbler than traditional consulting firms. At Slalom, we offer variety, fulfilment, and balance. You can work with the world's top companies, keep up with the latest technology, flex your skills across industries, pursue your life outside of work, and spend quality time with your family. After launching our Auckland office in February 2023, we are continuing to grow, and the below role is yet another opportunity to start your journey with Slalom and help us shape the future.

**Principal - AI Engineering**

Our Data teams help organisations of all kinds redefine what’s possible, give shape to the future—and get there. We focus on high-impact projects, meeting our clients where they are to uncover business needs and deliver results. Our teams go beyond the expected to help clients move confidently through ambiguity and risk and drive more transformative outcomes.

As a modern technology company, we've never met a technical challenge we didn't like. We enable our clients to learn from their data, create incredible digital experiences, and make the most of new technologies. We blend design, engineering, and analytics expertise to build the future.

**What You Will Do**

As a member of the Data & AI team, you will help evangelise and deliver cutting-edge data solutions for our most important customers. You will be delivering on client engagements alongside a project team, where you will be supporting in various aspects of data and analytics: from analytics, ML, product development, visualisation, reporting and strategy.

You are a strategic thinker, an empathetic leader, and an experienced consultant comfortable with ambiguity and complex stakeholder environments.

Key responsibilities include:

- Lead cross-functional teams to deliver complex data and AI-driven solutions from strategy through to execution.
- Guide project delivery and ensure alignment with client objectives, timelines, and success metrics.
- Provide technical direction and mentoring to junior team members.
- Synthesize large volumes of data into meaningful insights using structured and programmatic methods.
- Develop compelling data visualizations to communicate complex data patterns clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Translate findings into actionable business recommendations.
- Craft narratives that resonate with clients and stakeholders, turning data into stories that drive understanding and engagement.
- Structure content and delivery approaches to clearly explain complex concepts to a variety of audiences.

**What You’ll Bring**
- Hands-on experience across data analytics, machine learning, visualisation, reporting, and high-level data architecture.
- At least 3 years’ experience developing or architecting applied AI and machine/deep learning solutions on cloud platforms.
- Proven experience leading data/AI project teams and delivering complex, multi-stakeholder engagements.
- Strong project and people management skills, including mentoring junior team members and managing client relationships.
- Experience delivering complex projects, understanding client needs, and identifying performance improvement opportunities.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships at all levels.
- Graduate or postgraduate degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field.
- Proficiency in machine/deep learning and GenAI frameworks.
- Experience with ML workflow tools and MLOps best practices.
- Proven ability to lead or contribute to GenAI projects from design to implementation.
- Experience architecting and deploying GenAI solutions, including LLMs and agentic workflows.
- Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and modern data platforms (e.g., Databricks, Snowflake).
- A creative and collaborative mindset with the ability to design and deliver innovative solutions.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to explain technical AI concepts in a clear, business-relevant way.

**Our Values**

Our culture and values reflect each individual Slalomer. We are dedicated to encouraging workplace diversity and ensuring all our people, from any background, can contribute to their full potential. We wish to build a team that echoes the diversity of the communities we serve, and our values are an active part of our everyday, guiding our decisions.

**What keeps us here?**

Our New Zealand office knows the importance of a good work/life balance. We have the freedom to be ourselves when life gets in the way. We make a big effort to bring everyone together and allow space when space is needed. We believe in helping each other thrive in work and life and are pr