Principal Data Engineer

We are seeking a Principal Data Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and delivery of modern data platforms and analytics solutions for clients. This is a hands‑on technical leadership role for someone who can move comfortably between executive‑level client conversations, solution architecture, engineering delivery, and mentoring high‑performing data teams.

The ideal candidate combines deep data‑engineering expertise with strong consulting instincts: they can translate business objectives into scalable technical solutions, communicate complex concepts through clear presentations, and guide teams from discovery through implementation and operationalization.

• Lead the end‑to‑end architecture, design, and delivery of enterprise data engineering, data platform, and analytics solutions for client engagements.
• Serve as a trusted technical advisor to client stakeholders, including technology leaders, data leaders, architects, and business partners.
• Facilitate discovery sessions, requirements workshops, technical assessments, architecture reviews, and solution‑design discussions.
• Translate business goals, data challenges, and operating‑model requirements into practical data strategies, roadmaps, reference architectures, and implementation plans.
• Define scalable, secure, reliable, and cost‑effective architectures for data ingestion, transformation, storage, governance, orchestration, analytics, and data consumption.
• Remain hands‑on in engineering work, including designing data pipelines, reviewing code, building proof of concepts, resolving complex technical issues, and establishing engineering patterns.
• Architect and implement batch, real‑time, streaming, and event‑driven data solutions as appropriate for client needs.
• Design modern cloud data platforms using technologies such as Snowflake, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Factory, AWS Glue, Amazon Redshift, Big Query, or equivalent platforms.
• Lead the development of robust ETL/ELT pipelines, data models, data APIs, semantic layers, and data products.
• Establish data engineering standards for code quality, testing, CI/CD, observability, metadata management, data lineage, documentation, security, and production support.
• Drive adoption of Data Ops practices, infrastructure as code, automated testing, deployment pipelines, monitoring, and incident‑management processes.
• Partner with data architects, data scientists, analysts, application architects, security teams, and business stakeholders to ensure solutions are aligned to enterprise architecture and business outcomes.
• Present technical recommendations, architecture options, delivery status, risks, and strategic roadmaps to both technical and executive audiences.
• Lead client‑facing demonstrations, workshops, steering‑committee updates, and technical presentations.
• Mentor senior, mid‑level, and junior data engineers; provide technical coaching, career guidance, design feedback, and hands‑on support.
• Lead and influence cross‑functional delivery teams, including onshore/offshore engineers, architects, analysts, and client technical resources.
• Participate in project estimation, staffing, delivery planning, risk management, solution scoping, and proposal development.
• Support pre‑sales and business‑development activities, including solutioning, client presentations, technical discovery, RFP responses, estimates, and statement‑of‑work development.
• Stay current on emerging data, cloud, AI, governance, and analytics technologies; evaluate where they provide meaningful business value for clients.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field; equivalent professional experience may be considered.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in data engineering, data warehousing, data integration, data architecture, or related technical disciplines.
• 3+ years of experience in a technical leadership, lead engineer, solution architect, staff engineer, principal engineer, or consulting leadership capacity.
• Demonstrated experience architecting and delivering enterprise‑scale data platforms and data integration solutions.
• Strong hands‑on expertise…