Software Engineer in Data ScienceVitol is the world's largest independent energy and commodities trading company. Every day we use our expertise and logistical networks to distribute energy around the world, efficiently and responsibly. From 40 offices worldwide, we seek to add value across the energy supply chain, including deploying our scale and market understanding to help facilitate the energy transition. To date, we have committed over $1 billion of capital to renewable projects and are identifying and developing low-carbon opportunities around the world.Our people are our business. Talent is precious to us and we create an environment in which individuals can reach their full potential, unhindered by hierarchy. Our team comprises more than 65+ nationalities and we are committed to developing and sustaining a diverse work force.This role is located in Houston, TX - In office 5x a week.Job DescriptionAs our portfolio of work continues to grow, we are looking for an experienced Software Engineer to join our global data science and machine learning team. This role will have an initial focus on supporting our GenAI tools, including our firmwide virtual assistant. Concretely this means you will:Implement: take the requirements from our broad range of commercial stakeholders and translate these into application features.Design: Ensure we design and build the models and tools to meet the functional/non-functional requirements, as well as being supportable.
The role will also help partner teams understand how they can support and integrate to the AI tools.Translate: Act as a local champion for data science and AI, helping users adopt tools and articulate their changes and requirements to the wider team.The individual will work both with our data scientists and machine learning engineers but will also need to directly engage with the commercial teams (across trading, operations, support functions, etc.).The role will also act as a bridge between the Data Science team and other technology teams for areas like application integration, data sourcing, infrastructure and tooling.For the successful candidate, this role will give them exposure across the machine learning lifecycle, being able to apply their skills wherever they can add value, from working with business stakeholders to help define the project, to data collation through to solution design and model implementation.We are looking for a candidate who brings both a breadth and depth of experience, from a theoretical and practical perspective; but equally someone who can and wants to continue learning.As a small team, everyone is expected to organize, prioritize and execute their own tasks; with a strong focus on maximizing the business value from their actions. This means the individual will need to be comfortable working on multiple projects simultaneously, managing competing priorities and stakeholder requirements.The successful candidate will join a team of experienced, collaborative practitioners, who are (pragmatically) solving some of the most challenging and impactful problems the energy industry is facing; as well as pushing the boundaries around the 'art of the possible'.Core Responsibilities include:Act as the primary point of contact in Houston for our GenAI toolsetIn conjunction with the global Data Scientists deliver models and solutions to business users, and other technology teams across a wide range of projects and technologiesDevelop, test, maintain software tools and data pipelines for machine learningProvide software engineering and design expertise and best practices (Python) with a focus on maintainability, performance, and reliabilityAs needed, take ownership of key technical infrastructureEngage with projects at any point in their lifecycle, understand and debug bespoke applications; driving performance and reliabilityManage relationships and priorities across projects, focused on maximising valueActively participating in and leading code reviews, experiment design and tooling decisions to help drive the team's velocity and qualityQualificationsEssential Qualifications:3-5+ years in industry; fluency in Python with ability to design and write clean, modular, well-documented code and a solid understanding of coding best practicesMaster's degree in Computer Science or a related fieldAbility and desire to learn and apply new technologiesAbility to logically evolve an architecture from prototype to product, considering technical debt and delivery riskCollaborative approach to problem solving - ability to effectively pair programEffective technical communicator - both written and verbal; able to translate loose designs into documentation / process / operating modelExperience with data engineering, APIs, and cloud platforms (ideally AWS) and containerization technologies (Docker)Experience with enterprise software development lifecycle and tooling including continuous integration and delivery concepts/technologiesDesired Experience:Experience with machine learning workflows, cloud scale machine learning infrastructure (including LLMs)Experience in the energy or commodities trading industry, with knowledge of financial markets and trading conceptsData orchestrators (Airflow, Dagster) and cloud-based ETL/ELT pipelinesPersonal Characteristics:A self-motivated individual who thrives on seeing the results of their work make an impact in the businessStrong communication skills, both verbally and in writingProven ability to be flexible, work hard, and a sense for the art of the possibleMethodical, organized and with an attention to detail - in general, in experimental design, and in code!Willingness to share their knowledge and learn from othersAn interest in learning about the commodities spaceResourceful, able to think creatively and adapt in a dynamic environmentTeam player, with an open non-political style and a high level of integrityDesire to be a thought-partner in a fast-growing team, and make an impact at a business that sits at the heart of the world's energy flowsAdditional InformationWhat we offer:Competitive salary and benefits packageLarge diversity of projects with real-world impacts on a truly global scaleEntrepreneurial environment within a flat hierarchy, where great ideas come to life quicklyClose collaboration with various business units across our key regions (eg. London, Singapore, Geneva)A highly motivated DS and ML team comprised of experienced individuals with a supportive attitude and great team spiritBeing part of the energy transition through increased emphasis on renewable & alternative energy sources at a pivotal moment in the industryStrong management commitment to incorporating machine learning into the future of Vitol's operationsThis role is located in Houston, TX - In office 5x a week.