Lead Data Engineer

Inspire Brands is hiring a Lead Data and AI Engineer for the Enterprise Data Organization to design, build and manage data pipelines (Data ingestion, data transformation, data distribution, quality rules, data storage etc.) using cutting edge AI solutions (Generative AI, Agentic AI, etc.). The candidate will need to possess strong technical, analytical, programming and critical thinking skills.RESPONSIBILITIESLead/guide multiple technical data engineering team membersLead by example – designing, building, maintaining and using of our platforms and services to manage dataDesign, develop, deploy including documenting AI solutions from concept to operationalizationDemonstrate and guide implementation of Infrastructure as code, automated testing and modern observability strategiesResponsible for growing an engineering culture of craftsmanship through mentoring, technical leadership as well as formal and informal presentations across data teams at InspireWork closely with Product owners/managers to understand the business needsCollaborate with architects, data modelers and other team members to design Data and AI jobs to fulfill business needsLead sessions with data engineers and provide necessary guidance to solve technical challengesDevelop new and/or enhance existing data processes (Data Ingest, Data Transformation, Data Store, Data Management, Data Quality)Actively contribute towards setting up and refining data engineering best practicesHelp data engineers adhere to coding standards, best practices, etc. and produce production deployable code that is robust, scalable and reusableDocument technical artifacts for data engineering solutionsStay up-to-date with latest AI trends and integrate emerging technologies to drive improved system performance with balanced operational pragmatismEDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATIONS8+ years of experience in a data engineering role required5+ years of experience with advanced SQL queries, scripts, stored procedures, materialized views, and views5+ years of hands-on design and development experience in the data space specifically focused on ELT to load data and perform transformations in databases3+ years of experience with DevOps Models utilizing CI/CD toolsExperience in one of the cloud platforms like Azure, AWS, GCP is required, Azure specifically is preferredDemonstrated hands on experience with Python is required Snowflake experience a plusREQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, OR ABILITIESStrong ability to use analytical SQL functionsAbility to delivery AI/ML projects from POC to production and support leveraging GitHub Copilot, Azure OpenAI, AI Search, Temporal, Pydantic AI, etcStrong expertise in LLMs building agents: open/closed-source models, advanced prompt engineering techniques, RAG, Agentic AI, document processing, vector/hybrid search, guardrails, observability & monitoring, and LLM evaluationAbility to work hands-on in a Cloud environment of Azure Cloud Platform (ADLS, Blob)Strong skills one of the ETL tools like Informatica, Talend, Azure Data Factory, and BI tools like Tableau preferredStrong skills with orchestration tools like Apache AirflowExpert ability to analyze data modelsStrong skills performance tuning and scaling of servicesGood interpersonal skills; comfort and competence in dealing with different teams within the organizationSkilled leveraging Agile practices and methodologiesThis position is based in our Atlanta Support Center, with an expected on-site presence of 80%.Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,300 Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin', Jimmy John's, and SONIC restaurants worldwide. We're made up of some of the world's most iconic restaurant brands, but we're much more than just a restaurant company. We're a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it's an experience. At Inspire, that's our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.