Python Software Engineer (API, Azure)

How you can make a difference

In this senior role, you’ll design and build innovative tools that empower teams across Europe to manage their own data securely and efficiently. Ready to make a real impact in a collaborative, forward-thinking environment? Join our Guardians team in shaping the future of data-driven innovation at Albert Heijn!

Our Data Platform

The Data Differentiation Platform (DDP) operates the Thor suite, a modern data platform built to handle the scale of Ahold Delhaize, including several different components handled by different specialised teams. The features offered include:

• Provisioning and configuring data resources as code for the organisation, such as managed Databricks workspaces, Data Marts and PowerBI;
• Real time ingestion of Kafka topics to a Delta Lake using Spark structured streaming;
• Building software to manage data initiatives and their data access, ensuring compliance with the law and internal policies;

Thor’s architecture is designed around the concept of Data Mesh: instead of centrally taking care of data operations, the data platform team builds tools to enable the business teams to take care of those things themselves. This means the work has shifted from traditional data engineering towards profiles focused on software engineering, system integration, DevOps, and cloud engineering.

Currently serving all Dutch operating companies of Ahold Delhaize, our challenge for the coming year is to scale our data platform to multiple new countries in Europe.

Our products

As you can see from the list in the previous section, the Thor Suite offers a wide range of tools. The Guardians team holds the keys to all of them: we manage access to data and infrastructure. We develop and maintain three main components:

• Databricks Unity Catalog: This is the infrastructure we use to enforce access policies within Databricks. It mainly involves Terraform work and Databricks administration.
• User Access Management tool (UAM): manages metadata about data initiatives and their participants and then leverages it to generate Data Access policies to apply in the Unity Catalog. It’s a full stack Python application running on Azure, whose main components are an API built in FastAPI and a set of complex syncing scripts in Python and Terraform orchestrated through GitHub workflows;
• Use Case Registry (UCR): the new tool we are currently building (again full stack application in Python with FastAPI, this time deployed on Kubernetes), which has three main purposes:

• moving the information about data initiatives to a central point where it can be consumed by all the data platform components, and by administrators who want to have an overview of what is happening in the platform,
• managing centrally the identities associated to a specific data initiative
• establishing a message-queue-based interface for tools in the suite which do not have an API.

This is how you will reinvent food retail.

• You build and maintain the backbone of our Data Differentiation Platform (DDP), working on a secure, scalable, and auditable access API for the vast collection of datasets available within the Dutch operating companies—and soon, across Europe.
• You engineer solutions that enable business teams to manage their own data initiatives and the related metadata, while granting the data governance and management teams a clear view of the big picture in terms of risk, costs, and general development direction.
• You take part to the departmental shift from a traditional centralized data engineering team to a data-mesh-oriented data platform team, building tools to empower stakeholders to take back control over their data operations.
• You collaborate closely with your team through pair/mob programming, design sessions, and knowledge sharing, setting the example for best engineering practices within DDP.
• You mentor and support other engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning, mutual support, and meaningful innovation. Even more importantly, you develop yourself and try new things, especially during the monthly innovation day.

Your new team and office.

Our team has been the first software engineering team in a data-engineering-focused department. As such, we strive to be early adopters of the latest tools available, both from Ahold enablement teams and the broader market, and set the example for best engineering practices within DDP.

We do our best to be respectful to our stakeholders, to each other, and to the other engineers, helping everyone but enforcing healthy boundaries. We focus on building solutions that deliver real business value. Growth is important to us: we share knowledge, encourage skill development, and make sure everyone gets to pick up tasks that help them improve. Every month, we have an “innovation day” to freely explore new tools and solutions, and share our findings with the team.

As early adopters, we use Ahold-approved AI tools to accelerate our work, but nothing gets merged or deployed unless the team understands it. We only use AI to speed up work we could have done ourselves, and we expect engineers to review and understand all code they contribute.

The team currently consists of three software engineers, a tech lead, and a product owner. Besides this senior position, we are also hiring a cloud DevOps engineer, to take on cloud infrastructure, Databricks administration, and general ops.

The recipe for maximum impact

Our Senior Python Engineer should be:

• An expert in OOP Python practices and API development, who wants to focus on software development and system design
• A pragmatic crafter, experienced with building tools that make both users and maintainers happy
• A continuous learner, striving to always be up to date with new tech and practices
• Someone open to work in a democratic environment were we safely exchange knowledge, feedback, and opinions
• Somebody who is happy to work together with other engineers, both with pair/mob programming and design sessions
• A mentor and example for other engineers in the team and in the department

Here is a list with some key concepts you will need to be an expert of:

• Python (Pydantic, FastAPI, SQLModel, SQLAlchemy, pytest) and OOP,
• API architecture,
• Oauth2-based authorization,
• Async/await,
• Error handling,
• Testing (unit and integration),
• Git,
• Software design and architecture.

We would also appreciate you to at least have a basic understanding of the following:

• Data platforms and governance,
• Azure Cloud,
• Terraform, CI/CD, containerization, and other DevOps practices
• Domain Driven Design,
• Cloud security

What we offer.

• A minimum of 20 days paid vacation, optionally 12.5 days extra (you can take the extra time off, convert the extra days into discounts, or sell them for cash);
• Access to a challenging training curriculum – AH Tech Academy;
• An excellent pension plan where we as an employer contribute 4,5 more than you as an employee;
• A travel allowance or a NS-business card for traveling to and from Zaandam by train;
• Attractive discounts on various insurance policies;
• 10% staff discount on groceries in all Albert Heijn stores, to a maximum of €300 per year;
• A free Mijn Albert Heijn Premium membership with many benefits;
• A company laptop and telephone.

Meet your colleagues

“We need to offer the best digital experience: that's our goal!” Robert Němec Solution Architecture Manager

“An endless race we must win” Christy Elgee Manager of Cyber Defense and Operations, Ahold Delhaize USA