Principal Data Engineer

Location and Job Title

Jackson, Michigan – Principal Data Engineer #1052690

The Principal Data Engineer is responsible for partnering with diverse analytics teams and business stakeholders across the enterprise to design, develop, and maintain data pipelines and architecture aligned with established IT best practices.

• Develop data warehouses, design, extract, load, and test data solutions.
• Perform data modeling, ensure application stability, assemble and cleanse large datasets, create and optimize ETL processes.
• Identify opportunities to automate manual data processes.
• Lead and provide guidance to lower-level Data Engineers, establishing team standards, frameworks, and best practices.
• Assemble and cleanse large datasets to support business requirements.
• Capture and evaluate requirements, assess development alternatives, and establish clear delivery timelines.
• Create data visualizations to support customer insights and operational efficiency.
• Identify opportunities to improve internal processes via automation, performance optimization, and data quality enhancement.
• Prepare documentation and artifacts to support solution delivery and project activities.
• Provide day‑to‑day guidance and mentorship to lower-level Data Engineers.
• Deliver incident management and technical consulting for current applications and solutions.
• Provide technical direction for enhancements, including solution alternatives, design, testing, and documentation.
• Collaborate with stakeholders and IT partners to design and build efficient data pipelines supporting business and technical requirements.

• Ability to work effectively with contract employees and external vendors.
• Knowledge of change and release management tools and processes.
• Strong understanding of data design principles and systems engineering concepts.
• Knowledge of project planning and full lifecycle delivery using Agile methodologies.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships across business and IT teams.
• Understanding of data testing methodologies and associated tools.
• Knowledge of database management principles, including data structures, data modeling, data warehousing, and transaction processing.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science or a related field, plus seven (7) or more years of software engineering and intermediate level data engineering experience.
• OR Associate's degree in a related field, plus nine (9) or more years of relevant experience.
• OR High School Diploma, plus eleven (11) or more years of relevant experience.

• Ownership of enterprise‑level lakehouse architecture.
• Recognized expertise in Databricks platform strategy and governance.
• Mastery of analytics data modeling standards.
• Proven ability to create and enforce engineering standards.
• Expert‑level proficiency in Spark and distributed compute optimization.
• Strong experience designing secure, discoverable, self‑service data products.
• Ability to shape cross‑team roadmaps and influence leaders.
• Demonstrated leadership in platform reliability and operational excellence.
• Experience enabling modern analytics and machine learning practices.
• Recognized ability to mentor and coach technical talent.

• Medical and Dental (Fast Tek pays majority of the medical program).
• Vision.
• Personal Time Off (PTO) Program.
• Long Term Disability (100% paid).
• Life Insurance (100% paid).
• 401(k) with immediate vesting and 3% employer match.

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