Data Systems Engineer

Data Systems Engineer

The Data Systems Engineer plays a foundational role in establishing and operating the agency's enterprise data environment. This position is responsible for defining and implementing an agency-wide data governance framework, leading the technical design and implementation of the enterprise data warehouse, and deploying reliable data pipelines that connect enterprise systems to analytics and visualization tools.

Working in close partnership with the enterprise systems team and business units across the agency, the Data Systems Engineer translates departmental data collection and reporting needs into standardized, governed, and scalable data solutions. This role ensures data from transit operations, maintenance, finance, planning, and customer-facing systems is accurate, accessible, and structured to support performance monitoring, operational decision-making, and public accountability.

The Data Systems Engineer connects enterprise systems to analytics and reporting tools, ensuring integrated and standardized data while improving data quality, supporting enterprise-wide transparency, and reducing siloes across departments.

Core Responsibilities:

• Define and implement an agency-wide data governance structure, including data standards, ownership, quality controls, metadata, and access policies, in coordination with enterprise systems leadership and stakeholders.
• Lead the technical design and implementation of the agency's enterprise data warehouse, ensuring scalability, performance, and alignment with agency reporting and analytics needs.
• Collaborate with departments to define data metrics and collection methods that impact reporting requirements, translating business needs into dashboards, reports, and actionable datasets.
• Deploy, monitor, and maintain data pipelines that integrate data from enterprise systems (e.g., operations, asset management, etc.) into the enterprise data warehouse and downstream analytics and visualization platforms.
• Lead report creation and optimization for current and future agency needs.

Job Functions:

• Lead the implementation of an enterprise data warehouse solution that is flexible, scalable, and compliant.
• Manages the design, implementation, and maintenance of the data infrastructure and ETL/ELT pipelines.
• Manages the integration of operational and administrative systems data to optimize reporting environments and database management best practices.
• Oversee Business Intelligence tools used by internal and external stakeholders, ensuring data accuracy, consistency, and accessibility.
• Optimize data models and existing reports, establishing best practices and frameworks for future report development.
• Create and maintain reports, visualizations, and dashboards that are optimized for performance, consistency, and print-ready presentation.
• Monitor the health and troubleshoot data pipeline performance, reliability, and failures.
• Establish and implement automated alerts and recovery processes for optimal uptime for all critical systems.
• In coordination with the IT Department and the Director of Enterprise Systems, develops and maintains the data governance program for the agency.
• Implement data quality checks, validation rules, and reconciliation procedures to ensure reliability and accessibility.
• Ensure compliance with all security, privacy, data standards, and policies as governed by Metro ITS.
• Lead and promote business intelligence tactics to enhance operational goals of service reliability and customer service.
• In coordination with the Director of Enterprise Systems, partner with business units to gather requirements and develop solutions to promote data driven workflows across the agency.
• Collaborate closely with the Director of Enterprise Systems and Director of IT to align data systems with enterprise architecture including integrations, scalability, reliability and compliance with agency IT standards.
• Manage requests and report projects
• Ability to translate department needs into actionable outputs.

Required Education, Experience, and Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 3–6 years of experience in data engineering, data systems, or analytics infrastructure roles.
• Experience in public sector, transportation, or large operational environments is a plus.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as SQL, Python, etc.
• Experience with relational databases.
• Experience building ETL/ELT pipelines using tools or frameworks such as Azure Data Factory, SSIS, dbt, or similar.
• Familiarity with cloud data platforms (Azure, AWS, or similar) and data storage solutions.
• Experience with APIs, data integrations, and automation workflows.
• Understanding of data modeling, data warehousing concepts, and performance tuning.
• Familiarity with BI tools (Power BI, Tableau, etc.) and how data structures support reporting.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating across technical and non-technical teams.
• Detail-oriented with a strong commitment to data accuracy and reliability.
• Clear communicator capable of explaining technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Additional Preferred Experience / Qualifications:

• Experience supporting transit or transportation data systems (AVL, APC, GTFS, fare systems).
• Knowledge of DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, or infrastructure-as-code.
• Experience with real-time or near-real-time data processing.

Physical Requirements with or without Reasonable Accommodations:

• Physical activity includes but is not limited to: Sitting, standing, lifting, reaching, walking, talking, writing, carrying, grasping, holding, clarity of vision, speaking, listening, repetitive motion of wrists
• Must be able to operate office equipment, including but not limited to telephone system, computer system, printer, copy machine, etc.

Other Requirements:

• Understand and carry out detailed written or verbal instructions
• Perform arithmetic calculations
• Solve problems
• Speak clearly and distinctly
• Work with little supervision
• Troubleshoot problems independently
• Perform repetitive work
• Practice good customer service skills
• Meet required deadlines
• Ability to work schedule and work overtime as needed
• Respond to emergency situations
• Maintains effective working relationship with all levels of employees