Data Engineer

The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering’s primary research mission involves managing high-impact, multi-disciplinary research initiatives, specialized laboratory facilities, and large-scale sponsor portfolios. To support faculty innovation and maintain seamless operations across complex grant portfolios, the department utilizes embedded administrative professionals who provide direct, localized support to large faculty research groups, multi-investigator centers, and specialized laboratory infrastructure. Operate the Self-driving Platforms for Expedited Experimental co-Design (SPEED) as an NSF-funded national autonomous-science user facility. Provide remote access to integrated self-driving laboratories. Connect robotics, scientific instruments, AI, and data infrastructure. Enable reproducible experiments in chemistry and materials science. Serve academic, government, and industry research users. Wolfpack Perks and Benefits As a Pack member, you belong here, and can enjoy exclusive perks designed to enhance your personal and professional well-being. As you consider this opportunity, we encourage you to review our Employee Value Proposition and learn more about what makes NC State the best place to learn and work for everyone. What we offer, Disclaimer: Perks and Benefit eligibility is based on Part-Time or Full-Time Employment status. Eligibility and Employer Sponsored Plans can be found within each of the links offered. Essential Job Duties The Data Engineer supports the NSF-funded Programmable Cloud Lab Center’s research mission by developing and maintaining data infrastructure for the SPEED national autonomous-science user facility. The position connects scientific instruments, laboratory automation, robotics, AI, and research data systems to support reliable, organized, and accessible experimental data. As the Data Engineer, you will contribute to an interdisciplinary research environment serving academic, government, and industry users while supporting reproducible experimentation and data-driven scientific discovery.

Core Job Responsibilities:

• Build and operate scientific data ingestion, transformation, and processing pipelines
• Design schemas for samples, experiments, metadata, provenance, and instrument outputs
• Maintain databases, object/time-series storage, indexing, and data-access services
• Implement automated data-quality, validation, unit, completeness, and provenance checks
• Integrate data systems with laboratory automation, software, AI, and user workflows
• Manage access controls, monitoring, backup/recovery, documentation, and user support

If you are a data engineering professional interested in applying your expertise to scientific research, this position offers an opportunity to support innovative autonomous laboratories and contribute to data-driven discovery in chemistry and materials science. We welcome you to apply and join our team. Other Responsibilities

• Develop data dictionaries, API specifications, and schema documentation.
• Support FAIR data practices and persistent identifiers.
• Assist users with data access, export, and troubleshooting.
• Evaluate new databases, storage technologies, and interoperability standards.
• Participate in technical reviews, platform commissioning, and sponsor demonstrations.

Minimum Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, data science, engineering, IT, or related field..

Other Required Qualifications

• Python and SQL for data engineering and automation.
• ETL/ELT pipelines, APIs, data modeling, and schema design.
• Relational/document databases and structured scientific metadata.
• Git, Linux, testing, monitoring, and technical documentation.
• Data quality, provenance, identifiers, access control, and backup/recovery.
• Ability to collaborate with scientists, automation, software, AI, and IT teams., * Scientific data engineering or laboratory informatics, including ETL/ELT pipelines and structured data models.
• Proficiency with relational, document-oriented, object, and/or time-series databases, such as MongoDB or PostgreSQL.
• Familiarity with FAIR data practices, metadata standards, ontologies, and/or provenance systems.
• Cloud or container infrastructure and scalable data services.
• AI/ML data pipelines or integration of data systems with autonomous laboratories.
• Scientific data from spectroscopy, chromatography, imaging, or process-based applications.

Required License(s) or Certification(s) N/A Valid NC Driver’s License required No Commercial Driver’s License required No Recruitment Dates and Special Instructions

Anticipated Hiring Range Commensurate with experience and education (anticipated hiring range $70,000 - $80,000) Work Schedule Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm (additional work outside of standard hours may be required due to business needs)

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