Lead Data Engineer

Join us as we Rise to the Challenge

At KCI, we're building an enduring community that provides unparalleled value to our employee-owners. We make our mark designing and delivering our world-class solutions, so we invest deeply in supporting and developing our team. We reward integrity and commitment, and when we do well, you do well. Our employees have the freedom to innovate, unlimited growth, a voice that matters, a lifestyle that works, and skin in the game. Achievements are shared and celebrated. As a team, we are motivated to better ourselves, each other, and the world around us.

THE COMPANY

KCI Technologies, Inc. is a 100% employee-owned engineering, consulting and construction firm serving clients throughout the United States. KCI is recognized as an industry leader, employing cutting-edge technologies, management practices and strategic growth initiatives. Employee ownership fosters an entrepreneurial spirit, encourages technical expertise, and shapes strategic planning.

KCI is currently ranked #50 on Engineering News-Record's list of the Top 500 design firms in the nation.

KCI BENEFITS INFORMATION

We offer a competitive compensation package, family friendly benefits, a collaborative working environment, and the training, mentoring and resources you need to advance in your career.

We understand that you have choices, and we know that together we will make a great team!

KCI is committed to building a diverse and inclusive staff, and we encourage women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and individuals with disabilities to apply.

KCI Technologies, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.

The Lead Data Engineer is a senior, hands-on technical leader responsible for owning and shaping KCI's enterprise data foundation, with a strong emphasis on Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365 FO) and Dataverse / Project Operations. This role ensures ERP and operational data is accurately modeled, governed, and made analytics- and AI-ready for Power BI and emerging use cases.

This person serves as the authoritative gatekeeper and enabler of enterprise data - owning the data contract that ERP developers, report developers, and Power BI developers build upon. They define how data is exposed through SQL views, semantic models, and curated datasets, ensuring that no developer builds directly on raw ERP tables without a governed, well-documented, and trustworthy data layer beneath them.

This position sits within the Enterprise Technology organization led by the CTO and reports through Enterprise Systems, which focuses on the operation and evolution of ERP and other core business systems. The role works closely with ERP developers and Power BI developers to establish trustworthy, well-documented data assets. It is ideal for someone who is motivated by creating something meaningful, bringing rigor to ERP, and growing with the platform as the organization evolves toward Microsoft Fabric.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities*:

Serve as the technical owner for enterprise data engineering related to D365 FO, Dataverse / Project Operations, and related operational systems
• Bring deep ERP expertise to eliminate ambiguity and ensure data is sourced, transformed, and represented correctly
• Design, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines that stage, transform, and curate ERP and operational data for analytics and AI
• Design and own the semantic data layer - including SQL views, reusable curated datasets, and gold-layer models - that developers and report builders consume; raw ERP tables are not accessed directly without a governed abstraction layer
• Establish and govern modern data architecture patterns, including medallion layers (bronze, silver, gold)
• Partner closely with ERP developers and Power BI / report developers to ensure enterprise data is consistently modeled, performant, and analytics-ready; serve as the primary point of contact for data questions, data access, and data structure guidance
• Act as the dedicated data enablement resource for Power BI and report developers - proactively surfacing available datasets, documenting common reporting tables and fields, and ensuring developers have what they need to build confidently without guessing at ERP data structures
• Enable AI and solution teams by providing trusted, well-curated data assets suitable for experimentation and production use
• Collaborate with the Data Operations Manager to align ingestion processes, data quality checks, monitoring, and operational support
• Own a living enterprise data dictionary and catalog covering the most commonly used D365 FO and Dataverse tables, fields, domains, data lineage, refresh paths, and semantic meaning - with business-plain definitions that report developers and BI developers can rely on without needing to decode raw ERP schema
• Establish practical standards for SQL development, data modeling, testing, and deployment
• Provide hands-on technical leadership and set direction without direct people management (initially)
• Translate analytics and AI needs into clear, executable data designs grounded in ERP reality
• Communicate data risks, dependencies, and opportunities to leadership
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Education and/or Work Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in a technical or analytical field, or equivalent experience
• 7+ years of experience in data engineering, analytics engineering, or enterprise data platforms
• Deep, hands-on experience with ERP data, specifically Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (Dataverse / Project Operations strongly preferred)
• Advanced SQL expertise, including complex transformations, performance tuning, data validation, and the design of reusable SQL views and semantic models that serve as the governed data layer for developers and report builders
• Demonstrated experience enabling Power BI and report developers with well-modeled, documented datasets - including the ability to explain data structure, field definitions, and join logic clearly to non-ERP-expert developers
• Strong understanding of data modeling for analytics and reporting
• Proven ability to document complex data structures clearly and accurately
• Ownership mindset with the ability to lead through expertise and influence

Education and/or Work Experience Preferred:

• Experience with cloud data platforms such as Azure Synapse, Azure Data Factory, or Microsoft Fabric
• Familiarity with Python or similar languages for data processing or orchestration
• Exposure to AI or machine-learning initiatives from a data enablement perspective
• Experience contributing to data governance, lineage, or cataloging efforts

Certificates, licenses, and/or Registrations Preferred:

• Microsoft certifications in data engineering, analytics, or enterprise application architecture (e.g., Azure Data Engineer, Fabric Analytics Engineer, or Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations)

Pre-employment drug screening and background check are conditions of employment. Motor vehicle checks may be required based upon position.