Data & Applied M/L Engineer

Company: GATEKEEPER SYSTEMS
Location: Lake Forest
Posted on: February 15, 2026

Job Description:

Job Description Job Description At Gatekeeper Systems, we’re revolutionizing retail loss prevention and customer safety through a powerful combination of physical deterrents and cutting-edge technology—including AI, computer vision, and facial recognition. As a global leader with over 25 years of industry excellence and a growing, diverse team of 500 employees across offices in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia , we’re driven by innovation, integrity, and impact. Join us and be part of a mission-focused team that’s making a real difference in the future of retail, providing innovative solutions and services that redefine industry standards. POSITION SUMMARY: WHAT WE OFFER… Join the team at Gatekeeper Systems and watch your career grow! We offer competitive compensation and benefits packages that include: Attractive Total Compensation Package, including annual bonus Comprehensive healthcare benefits including medical, dental, and vision coverage; Life/ADD/LTD insurance; FSA/HSA options. 401(k) Plan with Employer Match Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) policy Observance of 11 paid company holidays Various Employee Engagement Events Exciting Growth Opportunities Positive Company Culture This role bridges the gap between core data engineering and practical machine learning applications. Primarily, you will be a data platform engineer responsible for owning core data pipelines, data models, and quality controls that power Gatekeeper analytics and future data products. Secondarily, you will drive the production lifecycle of our shopping cart computer-vision feature. You will orchestrate the data workflows that interface with our Machine Learned models to ensure accurate cart classification, while leveraging the FaceFirst ML team for deeper capacity. You will collaborate with BI Analysts, software engineers, and product teams to transform raw data into actionable insights. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS; but not limited to: Data Platform, Pipelines, & Quality (Primary Focus) Pipeline Design & Operation: Design, build, and operate scalable ELT/ETL pipelines that ingest data from IoT/smart-cart telemetry, video events, operational systems, and external partners into our cloud data lake/warehouse. Infrastructure Management: Build and maintain robust data infrastructure, including databases (SQL and NoSQL), data warehouses, and data integration solutions. Data Modeling: Establish canonical data models and definitions (schemas, event taxonomy, metrics) so teams can trust and reuse the same data across products, BI, and analytics. Data Quality Assurance: Own data quality end-to-end by implementing validation rules, automated tests, anomaly detection, and monitoring/alerting to prevent and quickly detect regressions. Consistency & Governance: Drive data consistency improvements across systems (naming, identifiers, timestamps, joins, deduplication) and document data contract expectations with producing teams. Root Cause Analysis: Troubleshoot pipeline and data issues, perform root-cause analysis, and implement durable fixes that improve reliability and reduce operational load. Collaboration & Analytics: Partner with BI Analysts and Product teams to create curated datasets and self-serve analytics foundations (e.g., marts/semantic layer), as well as support internally facing dashboards to communicate system health. Applied ML Ownership - Smart Exit Cart-Empty Classifier (Secondary Focus) Lifecycle Management: Own the production lifecycle for the cart classification capability, including data collection/labeling workflows, evaluation, threshold tuning, and safe release/rollback processes. Pipeline Implementation: Implement and optimize machine learning pipelines, from feature engineering and model training to deployment and monitoring in production. Evaluation & Monitoring: Build and maintain an evaluation harness (offline metrics repeatable test sets) and ongoing monitoring (accuracy drift, data drift, false positive/negative analysis). Cross-Team Collaboration: Collaborate with the FaceFirst ML team to incorporate improvements (model updates, feature changes) while keeping Gatekeeper’s production integration stable. Integration: Work with software engineers to ensure the classifier integrates cleanly into the product workflow with robust telemetry, logging, and operational runbooks. QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Exemplifies professionalism in all aspects of day-to-day duties and responsibilities. Self-aware and open to learning about personal effectiveness in the workplace. Exhibits a positive attitude toward the vision, policies, and goals of Gatekeeper Systems. Constantly strives to improve performance and effectiveness of the team and the company. EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE Work Experience: 5 years Core Engineering: Strong experience building and operating production ELT/ETL pipelines and data warehouses. Programming: Fluency in SQL and Python (or similar) for data transformation, validation, and automation. Cloud Platforms: Experience with cloud data platforms (Azure and/or GCP), including object storage, security/access controls, and cost-aware design. Tooling: Hands-on experience with orchestration and transformation tooling (e.g., Airflow/Prefect) and batch processing frameworks (e.g., Spark/Databricks). Quality Practices: Practical experience implementing data quality practices (tests, monitoring/alerting, lineage/documentation) and improving data consistency across systems. Operations: Collaborate with operational teams to identify, diagnose, and remediate in-field system issues. Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related technical field. SALARY RANGE $150,000 to $175,000; 5% AIP PHYSICAL DEMANDS The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a team member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Repetitive motions and routine use of standard office equipment such as computers, telephones, copiers/scanners and filing cabinets. Ability to see, speak, walk, hear, stand, use of hand/fingers to handle or feel; climb stairs, stoop, carry/lifting up to 50 lbs. Ability to sit at a desk. Specific vision abilities required include close vision, color vision, peripheral visions, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus. Regularly utilizes manual dexterity to put parts or pieces together quickly and accurately. DISCLAIMER This Job Description is a general overview of the requirements for the position. It is not designed to contain, nor should it be interpreted as being all inclusive of every task which may be assigned or required. It is subject to change, in alignment with company/department needs and priorities. Gatekeeper Systems, Inc., is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to developing a diverse workforce and cultivating an inclusive environment. We value diversity and believe that we are strengthened by the differences in our experiences, thinking, culture, and background. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any protected basis.

Keywords: GATEKEEPER SYSTEMS, Camarillo , Data & Applied M/L Engineer, Engineering , Lake Forest, California