Fractional Data Engineer

Data Engineer (Contract-to-Hire, Part-Time) Overview: Zeno Group is hiring a data engineer to join our team on a part-time, contract-to-hire basis (approximately 20 hours per week). This role reports into Zeno's AI & Innovation practice and works closely with our Data & Intelligence (D&I) team daily. Zeno's D&I team performs both internal and client-facing data work and has built strong workflows to support it. We're investing in data engineering to take those workflows further: migrating to a new architecture, building reusable pipelines, and scaling what works across more clients. You're joining active, revenue-generating client work with clear opportunities to improve how data moves through the organization. As the first dedicated data engineer at Zeno, you'll shape the tools, architecture, and practices that define how the organization works with data going forward. The Team You're Joining AI & Innovation is a small team building a new practice inside a large organization. We move fast, cover a lot of ground, and hold ourselves to a high standard. A few things define how we work: Craft over speed. We optimize for doing things well. AI and automation save us real time, and we reinvest those hours into work that is more durable and more useful. A pipeline that is clean, well-documented, and built to last is worth more than one that shipped yesterday and breaks next week. Build what others can't access. We license tools when they solve the problem. But the work that differentiates Zeno is built in-house: proprietary data systems, AI products, and infrastructure that our clients and teams can't get anywhere else. You're rebuilding Zeno's data layer for where it needs to go next, not maintaining someone else's platform. Makers who can hold a room. This role isn't heads‑down only. You'll be in architecture conversations, working through migration decisions with the DevOps team, and sitting across from analysts who need you to understand their client context before you build anything. We look for people who are strong technically and comfortable communicating what they know to people who don't share their vocabulary. Radical visibility. We're a small team with outsized scope. There's no room to go quiet. We surface our work as we go, share what we're stuck on, flag when we have capacity, and keep each other in the loop without being asked. If you're the kind of person who finishes something and immediately shares it with the team, you'll thrive here. If you prefer to disappear into your work and surface only when it's done, this isn't the right fit. Responsibilities Transition data infrastructure to a modern architecture built around AWS. Improve and scale existing client data pipelines while keeping client deliverables running smoothly. Support the Snowflake migration by documenting current schemas, validating that the new architecture preserves existing functionality, and testing with real client data. Build the data layer for AI products, including ingestion pipelines, APIs, and programmatic access layers that connect data sources to LLM interfaces. Build and maintain data pipelines by configuring Fivetran connectors for paid media data, building pipelines for sources Fivetran doesn't cover, and writing validation and transformation steps. Connect data to BI tools by building views and clean tables that analysts can query directly without writing complex SQL. Support ongoing client work alongside client‑facing analysts, from adjusting tables for new data cuts to standing up pipelines for new clients. Qualifications 6+ years of hands‑on data engineering experience. You've built pipelines, debugged data issues, and written clean SQL in a production environment. Comfortable with cloud data warehouses and modern tooling. Experience with at least one of Redshift, Snowflake, or BigQuery. You understand ETL/ELT patterns. Python for data work. AWS experience preferred. You hold your own in architecture conversations. You'd be in the room for decisions about schema design, warehouse selection, and data modeling, making sure what gets built serves the team's needs. You work well with analytically strong teammates. Our analysts have deep client and data experience from running operations at previous agencies. You need to understand their context and build things the team can maintain and use alongside you. Preferred Skills Familiarity with and curiosity about LLM tooling, vector databases, or document processing pipelines. Consulting or agency experience. Technical Environment Current: Snowflake, Fivetran, Tableau, Alteryx, Excel. Target: AWS (Redshift, S3, Lambda), Fivetran, Tray.ai, Tableau/PowerBI/Looker, and Hex. Adjacent: Claude/LLM integrations via MCP, custom dashboard development. Data types: paid media performance (Meta, Google, TikTok), earned media (Muckrack, Cision), employee engagement event data (Amplitude), creator/influencer campaign data. Work Arrangement Part‑time contract‑to‑hire, approximately 20 hours per week. Preferred location: Chicago, Illinois, USA (New York, New York, USA also available). Reports to: Head of AI & Innovation Compensation Level 08. An employee's pay position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, travel requirements, revenue‑based metrics, and contractual agreements. The range listed is just one component of Zeno's total compensation package for employees. Other rewards may include annual bonuses, a paid time off policy, and region‑specific benefits. Benefits Healthy, happy employees make Zeno better, so we have programs that support physical, mental and financial wellness. Our culture and benefits are designed to promote flexibility, celebrate diversity and support work/life balance. We offer a variety of medical, dental and vision insurance with prescription plans, as well as short and long‑term disability. Our Be Kind to Your Mind program focuses on mental health, providing a paid subscription to Headspace and access to mental health providers and other services through a best‑in‑class employee assistance program. Employees are encouraged to bring their authentic self to Zeno and participate in our employee resource groups which build communities for sharing and support. And while we love our work, we believe in the restorative power of time off with generous vacation, paid holidays and self‑care time. Employees are supported in their pursuit of financial wellness with a 401(k) plan, pretax flexible spending accounts, tuition assistance, life insurance and free access to a certified financial coach. Our unique ZenoFit program provides a monthly allowance to fund activities in your personal life that bring you joy and keep you healthy. These and other benefits are available to non‑temporary employees in the US. #J-18808-Ljbffr