Lead Data Engineer

*** This position is not available for sponsorship or C2C candidates at this time. *** The Opportunity Our client is looking for a sharp, hands-on data engineering leader to own and evolve their Microsoft-centric data platform. This role sits at the intersection of data infrastructure and analytics strategy. You'll lead a team of engineers, shape pipeline architecture, and build the data foundation the business relies on to make decisions. If you're the kind of person who gets equally energized by optimizing an ingestion pipeline and whiteboarding a platform roadmap with stakeholders, this one's worth a look. What You'll Own Data pipeline architecture and development across Azure and Microsoft Fabric, including Fabric Data Factory, Azure Data Factory, and related orchestration tools Data modeling, transformation logic, and the semantic layer powering Power BI and self-service analytics Governance, data quality, and platform reliability across the lakehouse and warehouse layers A team of data engineers and analysts you'll develop, mentor, and hold accountable Integration workflows connecting source systems to the data platform, including ERP, CRM, and third-party feeds The bridge between data engineering and the broader business, translating analytical needs into scalable, maintainable solutions What You Bring 5+ years of hands-on data engineering experience, with a focus on Azure or Microsoft Fabric environments 2-3 years leading or mentoring a team of engineers or analysts Strong proficiency in SQL and Python, with experience building and maintaining production-grade pipelines Hands-on experience with Power BI, semantic models, or the broader Microsoft Fabric ecosystem Familiarity with Azure Synapse, Data Lake, Purview, and/or DevOps is a plus A bachelor's degree in a technical field, or equivalent experience Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences Why It's a Good Move This is a direct hire role with an organization that has real infrastructure in place and the appetite to modernize it. You'll have genuine ownership, a team to lead, and the mandate to build a data platform that actually moves the business forward.