Senior Data Engineer

Title: Senior Data Engineer
Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid 2 3 days onsite)
Duration: 6+ Months
Interview Mode: Phone / Video

Must to Have

• Strong experience building and managing Data Lakehouse environments on Google Cloud Platform
• Hands-on expertise with Google Cloud Platform native services: BigQuery, Dataflow, Dataproc
• Experience with Capella or MongoDB
• Strong SQL skills with Postgres, Oracle, or MS-SQL
• Experience designing large-scale automated data pipelines
• Solid understanding of data governance, data quality, and lineage
• Ability to make architectural decisions related to data modeling and storage
• 5 6 years of experience as a Data Engineer or similar BI role
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, or related field
• Willingness to work full-time onsite (Mon Fri, 8am 5pm) with possible remote Fridays

Client Feedback

• Environment is actively being built and going live
• Candidate must be hands-on and capable of owning, managing, and enhancing the new Data Lakehouse
• Looking for a technical leader, not just an executor
• Strong preference for candidates who can mentor junior engineers and guide architecture

About the Role

Client is building a new Data Lakehouse platform on Google Cloud Platform that is currently going live. This Senior Data Engineer will play a critical role in managing, enhancing, and scaling this environment while also helping establish data governance, quality, and integrity standards.

The role is highly technical and requires deep expertise in Google Cloud Platform-based data engineering, automated pipelines, and scalable data frameworks. The ideal candidate will lead architectural decisions, translate business requirements into technical designs, mentor junior engineers, and ensure data platforms are reliable, cost-efficient, and performant.

Job Responsibilities

• Design and build large-scale, automated, and cost-efficient data pipelines using Google Cloud Platform native services (BigQuery, Dataflow, Dataproc)
• Make key architectural decisions related to data modeling, storage, real-time processing, and orchestration
• Develop scalable, reusable data frameworks ensuring data quality, integrity, and performance
• Write and optimize complex multi-statement SQL queries and troubleshoot performance issues
• Assist in establishing data governance, quality, and lineage practices using tools such as Data Catalog, DLP, and Cloud Audit Logs
• Create and maintain intermediate to advanced Terraform scripts
• Translate business requirements into technical design documents and implementation plans
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers; conduct code reviews and enforce best practices
• Participate in support rotations and proactively resolve issues
• Monitor and optimize Google Cloud Platform resources to manage and reduce costs
• Stay current with latest Google Cloud Platform services and features
• Evaluate and recommend new tools and technologies to improve data engineering practices

Preferred / Bonus Skills

• Terraform (Infrastructure as Code)
• Python or similar language (2 3 years)
• Experience with NoSQL databases (Capella or MongoDB 3 4 years)
• Experience in logistics or transportation industry (1 3 years)
• Proven ability to mentor and lead technically