Lead Data Engineer

The firm is looking to hire a Lead Data Engineer to join their team building this greenfield data lake. The Lead’s primary responsibility will be to serve as the technical anchor for the data engineering squad, leading design discussions, enforcing best practices, and mentoring team members. This role combines leadership with hands-on development, focusing on data transformation and strategy initiatives using dbt-cloud (or dbt-core) as the ELT tool. This lead will also be producing some outputs both leading and doing hands on. Primary focus is leading a squad and 2nd is product delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Oversight

-Act as the technical lead for the squad, guiding design decisions and ensuring adherence to standards.

-Mentor and coach data engineers, fostering a culture of quality and innovation.

-Coordinate with architects and other leads across squads for consistency in design and implementation.

Technical Delivery

-Own design discussions and establish best practices for data engineering workflows.

-Lead implementation of data transformation pipelines using dbt-cloud or dbt-core.

-Contribute hands-on to building and optimizing data solutions.

Cross-Squad Collaboration

-Partner with the Data Foundation/Platform Squad to manage ingestion, Unity Catalog integration, and MDM components.

-Ensure interoperability across squads delivering domain-specific data products.

Governance & Standards

-Define and enforce coding standards, performance benchmarks, and documentation practices.

-Align solutions with enterprise security, compliance, and governance requirements.

• 7+ years Data Engineering from a senior/lead capacity
• experience in a Data Transformation and/or Data Strategy Program using dbt-cloud (or dbt-core)
• proven leadership experience in data engineering
• Strong knowledge of modern data architectures (Lakehouse, Medallion zones)
• Proficiency in Python, SQL, and Scala or Java for data processing
• Big Data tool experience (Databricks preferred, Spark, Hadoop,, etc)
• Data Vault experience
• dbt certifications: dbt Analytics Engineering Certification or dbt Architect Certification; or Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional - Law firm background
• Microsoft Azure Data Engineer Associate (DP-203), Data Vault 2.0 Certification (CDVP2)
• Familiarity with Unity Catalog, ingestion tools, and data governance principles
• Knowledge of data modeling and integration with MDM systems

$73/hr to $78/hr.

Exact compensation may vary based on several factors, including location, skills, experience, and education.

Employees in this role will enjoy a comprehensive benefits package starting on day one of employment, including options for medical, dental, and vision insurance. Eligibility to enroll in the 401(k) retirement plan begins after 90 days of employment. Additionally, employees in this role will have access to paid sick leave and other paid time off benefits as required under the applicable law of the worksite location.

A global law firm with nearly 1,400 lawyers and more than 3,000 employees across 19 offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia is looking to build out a data lake to encompass both internal and external data. The role is a long-term contract with the right to hire, so the candidate must be commutable to one of their office locations: Boston MA, NYC, Palo Alto CA, Chicago IL, Denver CO, LA, Miami FL, Reston VA, San Diego CA, San Francisco CA, Santa Monica CA, Seattle WA, or Washington DC. The role will require 4-8 days onsite per month. The firm is widely recognized for its expertise in corporate law, litigation, intellectual property, life sciences, technology, and venture capital, advising on transformative deals, IPOs, and complex regulatory matters. The firm has earned numerous workplace accolades, including being named to Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For and receiving honors such as Best Workplaces for Women, Best Workplaces for Flexibility, Best Workplaces for Giving Back