Data Engineer (SQL, Python, Cloud)

Summary of position/daily activities: AEM is seeking a Data Engineer to support education data systems, data management, and data use initiatives. This role partners with state and local education agencies, as well as early childhood service providers, to integrate data from operational and custom systems into secure, scalable platforms for reporting, analytics, interoperability, and decision support. The Data Engineer will collaborate with project managers, business analysts, technical teams, and clients to design, build, and maintain reliable data pipelines, data models, and cloud-ready data solutions. Responsibilities span project startup, execution, and closeout, with a focus on data integration, data quality, analytics enablement, and modernization of data platforms and workflows. This is an ideal opportunity for someone with strong SQL ETL and data modeling experience who also brings modern data engineering capabilities across Python, cloud platforms, automation, and production-ready data operations. Key responsibilities of this work will include: Design, develop, test, and maintain scalable ETL/ELT pipelines and data integration solutions using SQL, Python, and cloud-native services Develop and optimize SQL queries, stored procedures, transformations and data pipelines Design and maintain analytics-ready data models for reporting, dashboards, and downstream applications, including dimensional and semantic modeling patterns Integrate data from databases, flat files, APIs, and third-party systems into governed, reusable datasets Monitor, troubleshoot, and tune data pipelines and database workloads for reliability, performance, and cost efficiency Establish and maintain data quality controls, including profiling, validation, testing, reconciliation, monitoring, and alerting Operationalize pipelines using CI/CD practices, code review, and environment promotion processes Implement and support orchestration, scheduling, and observability for batch and near-real-time data workflows Support cloud adoption and modernization efforts, including migration of legacy or on-premises data workflows to cloud environments Model and serve data for analytics and BI use cases, including support for Power BI data sets, row-level security, and refresh orchestration Document data lineage, architecture, and data contracts, contributing to metadata/catalog solutions (e.g., Microsoft Purview) Collaborate within a Scrum team, participating in sprint ceremonies and refining user stories with stakeholders Work with business users to gather and translate functional and technical requirements Provide technical assistance and support to education stakeholders (remote and/or on-site) Continuously improve processes through automation, standardization, and best practices Basic qualifications/experience (the required qualifications which are critical to be considered for the position: Five years experience designing, building, and supporting SQL-based ETL/ELT and data integration solutions Advanced SQL skills, including complex transformations, performance tuning, and working with large datasets Experience with Python for data engineering, automation, data transformation, or data quality workflows Strong experience with data modeling for analytics and reporting, including schema design and dimensional modeling Hands-on experience with cloud data platforms and services; Azure preferred, with AWS or GCP experience also valued Experience helping modernize or migrate data workloads from legacy or on-premises environments to the cloud Experience with orchestration, scheduling, or workflow automation for production data pipelines Experience with version control (Git) and CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Azure DevOps) Knowledge of data architecture principles (e.g., lakehouse patterns, partitioning, schema design, performance tuning) Experience with automated testing (unit/integration testing for data solutions) Strong understanding of data governance, quality, and lineage concepts Excellent communication, organizational, and time management skills Experience working collaboratively in Agile/Scrum environments Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools and/or applying generative AI to improve data engineering, documentation, or analytics workflows Desired skills/certifications (any additional skills desired but not required to be considered for the position): Experience with .NET / C# for adjacent integration, services, or application development work Experience with dbt for modular data transformations, testing, documentation, and deployment Experience with Azure data services and modern cloud data architectures Experience working with state or local education agencies or education data systems Familiarity with data standards, interoperability, and cross-agency data integration Experience with Microsoft Purview or similar data catalog/lineage tools Experience enabling analytics through Power BI (data modeling, performance optimization, RLS) Experience working with APIs, event-based integrations, or semi-structured data Familiarity with modern data engineering tooling such as Airflow, Dagster, Prefect, Databricks, Spark, Snowflake, or similar platforms Experience with AWS data services (e.g., S3, Glue, Lambda) or multi-cloud environments Demonstrated ability to build strong client relationships and support stakeholder engagement What Makes a Successful Developer at AEM Thrives in a fast-paced environment and manages multiple priorities effectively Values the impact of data in education and supports meaningful data use Collaborates effectively, both offering and seeking support within a team Communicates clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders, including delivering presentations and trainings Builds strong relationships across teams, clients, and partners Brings a continuous improvement mindset, offering creative and practical solutions Demonstrates adaptability, accountability, and attention to detail AEM and its affiliates are equal opportunity employers, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. – AA M/F/Vet/Disability Federal law requires AEM and its affiliates to verify identity and employment eligibility with information from your Form I-9. The E-Verify system is used. The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) imposes specific obligations on businesses processing personal information of California residents. Pursuant to the CCPA, AEM and its affiliates are required to provide applicants who are California residents a notice, used at or before the point of collection of such personal information, which identifies the categories of personal information that may be collected and why AEM and its affiliates collect such information. Applicants can find information about AEM’s privacy policy and CCPA here. AEM is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. XJ6