About Kantar
Kantar is the world’s leading AI-native marketing data and analytics business and an indispensable brand partner to the world’s top companies. We combine the most meaningful attitudinal and behavioural data with deep expertise and advanced analytics to uncover how people think and act. We help clients understand what has happened and why and how to shape the marketing strategies that shape their future.
Our $4 bn business is undergoing our largest tech transformation yet. We’re evolving into a global data/analytics powerhouse, providing innovative insights to giants like Google and Unilever. Since our acquisition by Bain Capital in 2019, we’ve been expanding and modernizing our tech platforms and infrastructure. We’re looking for top talent in Tech and DevOps to help us solve long‑term problems with innovative solutions and to support your growth as we continue to grow.
Why this job is important
This role can be based in London or Reading and works on a hybrid basis.
Role Summary
As a Senior Software Engineer in our Digital Twins Division, you’ll help build the systems behind one of Kantar’s most ambitious AI products. Your work will enable thousands of AI‑driven “digital twins” to simulate real‑world consumer behaviour in real time, giving brands powerful insight into complex decisions.
This isn’t a traditional full‑stack role. You’ll focus on scalable backend systems, event‑driven architectures, and AI‑enabled platforms, working closely with product, data science and platform teams to turn advanced AI capabilities into reliable, production‑ready systems. Your work will directly shape how clients interact with data and insights at scale.
What you’ll be doing
- Creating scalable, distributed backend services for AI‑driven applications
- Building event‑driven systems that process large volumes of behavioural data in real time
- Developing services in Node.js/TypeScript and/or Python
- Designing APIs that support high‑throughput, low‑latency workloads
- Helping orchestrate and optimise AI agent‑based systems running at scale
You’ll also contribute to technical direction, mentor others, and help us continuously improve how we build and operate our platforms.
Skills & experience you’ll bring
- Strong backend engineering experience with cloud‑based systems (Azure, AWS, or GCP)
- Experience designing distributed or event‑driven architectures (Kafka or similar)
- Proficiency in TypeScript/Node.js and/or Python
- Experience building scalable APIs and microservices
- Working knowledge of containers and cloud‑native delivery approaches
- Curiosity about AI‑enabled systems and how they scale
- Experience with LLMs, AI agent orchestration, or tools such as RAG, vector databases or LangChain (bonus)
What’s in it for you
- Flexible hybrid working arrangements
- 25 days annual leave plus 2 days paid for volunteering and life events
- Competitive salary and bonus (bonus dependent on role)
- Company pension
- Enhanced parental leave
- Healthcare options
- Wide range of flexible benefits
This role does not offer visa sponsorship or relocation support. Candidates must be eligible to work in the country where the role is located.
Why Join Kantar?
We shape the brands of tomorrow by better understanding people everywhere. By understanding people, we can understand what drives their decisions, actions, and aspirations on a global scale. By amplifying our expertise of human understanding alongside breakthrough technology, we help brands find concrete insights that help them succeed in a fast‑paced, ever‑shifting world. We also ensure our people are well‑looked after; equality of opportunity for everyone is our highest priority, and we support all colleagues to work in a way that supports their health and wellbeing. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and sections of society.
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