Associate Manager, AI/NLP Engineering

About the role

IDC's Data Engineering team is seeking an Associate Manager, AI/NLP Engineering to lead hands‑on delivery of AI‑powered data engineering workflows and manage a small team of engineers. The role combines people management with deep experience in governed AI development environments and building large‑scale NLP pipelines that make unstructured content AI‑ready.

Key responsibilities

• Manage and direct the day‑to‑day work of a small team of data engineers, reviewing output while contributing personally.
• Operate within Claude Code and other governed AI‑powered development workflows, applying guardrails such as safe‑zone scoping and reviewing agent‑generated plans.
• Build and operate large‑scale NLP pipelines that ingest, parse, chunk, embed, and extract metadata/entities from millions of documents and derive insights using LLMs or NLP models.
• Rapidly ramp on unfamiliar codebases using documentation and skills files as primary context.
• Manage stakeholder relationships, secure specialist sign‑off, and communicate trade‑offs or interim delivery options, escalating unrealistic scopes.

Required profile

• BA/BS in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Data Engineering or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of NLP experience with an AI focus at scale, having built or operated pipelines ingesting millions of documents and extracting insights via LLMs or NLP models.
• Hands‑on experience with Claude Code or similar governed AI workflow, understanding guardrails such as safe‑zone scoping and ability to critically review agent‑generated plans.
• Strong applied Python, SQL, and Snowflake fundamentals sufficient to assess solution feasibility and challenge technical proposals.
• People‑management experience directing and reviewing junior team members alongside personal responsibilities.
• Willingness to travel up to 10% and work hybrid in the Czech Republic.

Required skills

• Python
• SQL
• Snowflake
• Claude Code
• Large Language Models
• NLP pipelines

What we offer

• 25 days holidays, 4 sick days, meal allowance, lifestyle/leisure benefit allowance.
• Company‑wide closures (Unplug Day Aug 19 2026, Global Shutdown Dec 24 – Jan 1) and a volunteering day.
• Opportunity to work in a globally respected market‑research and advisory firm where initiative is rewarded.
• Equal‑opportunity employer and participation in E‑Verify.