Alation Integration Engineer

ob Description
Alation Integration Engineer
Role Overview
The Alation Integration Engineer is responsible for implementing, configuring, and optimizing the technical integration between Alation, enterprise data platforms, and downstream analytics tools. This role focuses on enabling metadata-driven governance, automated lineage, and scalable catalog adoption in complex, regulated data environments.
The engineer partners closely with the Data Governance Lead, data engineering teams, and business stakeholders to ensure governance policies are technically enforced, metadata is accurate and complete, and critical data assets are audit-ready.
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Key Responsibilities
Alation Platform Configuration & Integration
•  Configure and maintain Alation data catalog integrations with enterprise data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, cloud data lakes, on prem systems).
•  Implement and manage Alation scanners, metadata harvesting schedules, and incremental updates.
•  Configure Alation policy engine, risk ratings, and metadata requirements to support tiered (T1–T4 or H/M/L) governance models.
•  Support configuration of Alation modules such as: 
o  CDE / KDE Manager
o  Business Glossary
o  Lineage
o  Data Quality integrations (where applicable)
Metadata, Lineage & Governance Enablement
•  Enable end to end technical lineage from source systems through ingestion, transformation, and consumption layers.
•  Ensure technical metadata (schemas, tables, columns) is accurate, complete, and consistently refreshed.
•  Support classification and tagging of Critical / Key Data Elements in alignment with governance policies.
•  Implement metadata standards that support regulatory, audit, and compliance requirements.
Snowflake & Data Platform Collaboration
•  Partner with data engineering teams to align Alation configuration with: 
o  Snowflake medallion architecture (Bronze / Silver / Gold)
o  Ingestion pipelines (batch and streaming)
o  Transformation frameworks (dbt, SQL-based transformations, etc.)
•  Ensure governance consumes existing metadata pipelines rather than duplicating engineering effort.
•  Troubleshoot integration issues between Alation and Snowflake or other data sources.
Automation & API Enablement
•  Leverage Alation APIs to automate metadata updates, glossary synchronization, and governance workflows where appropriate.
•  Support scripted or programmatic updates to Alation to scale governance across domains.
•  Identify and implement opportunities to reduce manual governance effort through automation.
Testing, Validation & Production Support
•  Validate metadata accuracy, lineage completeness, and policy enforcement across governed assets.
•  Support user acceptance testing (UAT) for governance and catalog functionality.
•  Troubleshoot and resolve integration, scanner, or metadata issues in lower and production environments.
•  Document configurations, standards, and operational procedures.
Knowledge Transfer & Documentation
•  Contribute to governance and platform runbooks, configuration documentation, and technical playbooks.
•  Participate in knowledge transfer sessions with client technical and governance teams.
•  Support training for stewards and platform users from a technical perspective.
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Required Qualifications
•  5+ years of experience in data engineering, data platform integration, or metadata management
•  Hands-on experience implementing and configuring Alation (strongly preferred)
•  Strong experience with Snowflake or modern cloud data platforms
•  Solid understanding of: 
o  Metadata management
o  Data lineage concepts
o  Data cataloging best practices
•  Experience working in regulated or compliance-driven environments
•  Strong SQL skills and familiarity with data transformation workflows
•  Experience troubleshooting complex platform integrations
•  Ability to collaborate effectively with governance, engineering, and business teams
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Preferred Qualifications
•  Experience with Alation CDE / KDE Manager
•  Familiarity with tiered or risk-based data governance models
•  Experience using Alation APIs or scripting for automation
•  Exposure to dbt, Airflow, Azure Data Factory, or similar tools
•  Experience supporting audit, risk, or regulatory initiatives