Senior Data Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

About Us

Smart Data is a technology consulting and talent solutions firm that partners with organizations to solve complex business and technology challenges. For more than 20 years, we’ve supported clients through software development, technology consulting, project delivery, and highly specialized technical talent solutions.

Our teams work closely with clients and consultants to build long-term partnerships, deliver high-quality technology solutions, and connect talented professionals with meaningful opportunities. We value collaboration, technical excellence, continuous improvement, and people who are comfortable taking ownership in evolving technology environments.

Role Overview

We are seeking a Senior Data Engineer to play a key role in a major data modernization initiative as the organization transitions its data warehouse and integration ecosystem to Snowflake, dbt, Microsoft Fabric/Airflow, and IBM StreamSets .

This is more than a traditional development position. We are looking for someone who can be hands-on technically while also providing mentorship, knowledge transfer, and technical direction to an established data warehouse team as they adopt this new technology stack.

Snowflake and dbt are required for this position. Experience with Airflow and/or StreamSets is highly preferred and will be particularly valuable as the organization replaces legacy SAP Data Services processes and modernizes its data integration and orchestration capabilities.

The right person will ultimately become a key technical resource within the data engineering environment—helping establish best practices, guiding engineers through the transition, and taking ownership as knowledge is transferred from existing subject-matter experts.

What You’ll Do

• Design, develop, and support data engineering solutions within a Snowflake data warehouse environment
• Build and maintain transformations and data workflows using dbt
• Support the migration of data from existing SQL-based environments into the new data platform
• Work with IBM StreamSets to support data migration, integration, FTP, and enterprise data-feed processes
• Use Airflow/Microsoft Fabric to orchestrate data workflows, scheduling, StreamSets jobs, dbt jobs, and processes within the Snowflake ecosystem
• Help transition legacy data integration processes away from SAP Data Services and into the organization's modern data engineering platform
• Work with existing SQL Server environments and data sources as they are migrated and modernized
• Build and support data feeds that bring information from multiple enterprise systems into the data warehouse
• Help establish development standards, patterns, and best practices across the new data engineering stack
• Provide hands-on technical mentorship and knowledge transfer to existing data warehouse engineers
• Initially partner closely with key members of multiple data teams and progressively help expand knowledge across a broader group of approximately 15 team members
• Provide technical guidance on how existing engineers can successfully transition their skills into Snowflake, dbt, Airflow, and StreamSets
• Collaborate with internal technical resources and subject-matter experts during the initial knowledge-transfer period
• Troubleshoot data integration, transformation, orchestration, and migration issues across the environment
• Take increasing ownership of the modern data engineering ecosystem as the implementation matures

Required Qualifications

• Strong hands-on Snowflake experience
• Strong hands-on dbt experience
• Senior-level data engineering or data warehouse development experience
• Strong SQL and relational database experience
• Experience developing and supporting enterprise data pipelines, integrations, and data feeds
• Experience working with data warehouse environments and large-scale data movement
• Ability to understand existing data processes and translate them into modern data engineering patterns
• Ability to provide technical mentorship, guidance, and knowledge transfer to other engineers
• Strong communication and collaboration skills
• Ability to operate effectively in an environment undergoing significant technology modernization

Highly Preferred Qualifications

• Apache Airflow experience
• IBM StreamSets experience
• Experience with Microsoft Fabric
• Experience migrating data from SQL Server or other traditional relational environments into Snowflake
• Experience orchestrating dbt, StreamSets, database, or cloud-storage workloads through Airflow
• Experience modernizing or replacing legacy ETL/data integration platforms
• Experience with SAP Data Services or similar enterprise ETL technologies
• Experience establishing data engineering standards and helping teams adopt new technologies

Nice to Have

• Python development experience
• Experience with Azure-based data or storage services
• Experience working on enterprise data modernization or data warehouse migration initiatives
• Previous experience serving as a technical mentor, lead, or senior resource for a data engineering team

What Makes Someone Successful in This Role?

This position is particularly well suited for someone who enjoys being the person a team can turn to when adopting unfamiliar technology.

You should be comfortable building solutions yourself , but equally comfortable sitting alongside other engineers, explaining how and why something works, establishing repeatable patterns, and helping the team become self-sufficient.

The goal isn't simply to bring in someone who can execute Snowflake and dbt work independently. We need someone who can help an established data warehouse team retool its skills, establish confidence with the new platform, and ultimately take technical ownership of the environment.

Why Join Smart Data?

• Play a meaningful role in a large-scale enterprise data modernization initiative
• Work hands-on with Snowflake, dbt, Airflow, StreamSets, Microsoft Fabric, and modern data engineering technologies
• Help shape engineering standards and technical practices rather than simply maintaining an established environment
• Serve as a technical mentor and influence how an existing data warehouse organization adopts its next-generation technology stack
• Work directly with experienced technical leaders and engineers
• Opportunity for long-term employment through a contract-to-hire engagement
• Competitive compensation and access to Smart Data benefits for eligible employees

EEO Statement

Smart Data is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

Engagement Type: Contract-to-Hire – 6-Month Minimum Contract Period

Location: Remote-Friendly | Raleigh-Durham, NC Area Preferred

Work Authorization: U.S. Citizenship Required – Sponsorship is not available