Sr. Data Engineer | ITP-A, Exempt

City of Seattle • Seattle, WA

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

The City of Seattle Information Technology (IT) Department is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to support the Seattle Police Department’s Data Analytics Platform (DAP) and related data systems. This position is part of a collaborative team that provides technical leadership across data engineering and data science functions, ensuring reliable, scalable, and secure analytics capabilities for public safety operations. The role supports an AWS-based data warehouse and analytics environment that powers public safety reporting, operational analysis, and the City’s commitments to data transparency and equitable service delivery. The data generated by this platform is high-visibility and high-stakes, informing decisions made by department leadership, City officials, oversight bodies, and the public. As a city, Seattle is recognized as a progressive leader in technology, innovation, and environmental stewardship. As an employer, the City of Seattle continues to lead local government in advancing environmental responsibility, social justice, and equitable services—values that shape both the city’s identity today and its vision for the future. The City’s workforce plays a critical role in making this progress possible. Seattle IT is a trusted partner that provides secure, reliable, and compliant technologies, enabling the City of Seattle to deliver equitable and responsive services to residents. This purpose statement reflects Seattle IT’s role and mission: it serves as a guide to ensure the department stays focused on why its work matters and remains committed to solving complex challenges. It underscores that Seattle IT exists to support City partners and is part of a larger organization working collectively to improve the lives of Seattle’s residents. More than 600 professionals across Seattle IT contribute to the full spectrum of modern IT services, creating a dynamic environment with diverse career opportunities. We hope you will consider joining us.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, business information systems, database management or a related degree. (Or an equivalent combination of experience in lieu of a degree.)
• 5+ years of demonstrated proficiency with database technologies, SQL, scripting, performance optimization, scheduling, and integration tools such as Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL), scripting, ETL/ELT tools, scheduling, and integration frameworks.
• 4+ years of demonstrated experience delivering data solutions that support business and operational needs, including developing data warehouses, operational data stores, and analytics models
• 3+ years of demonstrated experience designing reliable, observable, and testable data pipelines, and implementing automation, CI/CD practices, and workflow orchestration.
• 3+ years of demonstrated experience designing and recommending architectures for large-scale analytics initiatives, assessing resource requirements, and working extensively with AWS cloud services. This includes cloud-native analytics tools such as CloudFormation, S3, Glue, Python, Spark, Lambda and Athena, and the ability to design, build, and support cloud - based data warehouses, datamarts, and curated data stores, data migrations, resource provisioning, and security, privacy, and cost-management principles.
• Demonstrated experience working in Agile environments using tools such as Jira, Confluence, SharePoint, and Teams.
• Must pass a criminal background investigation and obtain CJIS certification for work on Seattle Police systems.

Nice To Haves

• Strong written, verbal, and visual communication skills, with the ability to tailor technical information for diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with customers who have high expectations by guiding discussions toward clear, actionable business requirements and translating those requirements into effective, well-structured solution designs.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders and communicate architectural recommendations clearly.
• Experience collaborating with diverse stakeholders such as business owners, program managers, data scientists, data architects, developers, and external partners.
• Skilled at establishing confidence through transparent communication, consistent follow-through, and a structured approach to aligning on priorities, timelines, and deliverables.
• Familiarity with analytics and reporting tools (Tableau) and a commitment to learning emerging data technologies to support future-state analytics planning.
• Experience supporting data science and machine-learning workflows (e.g. feature pipelines, model deployment, SageMaker or similar platforms).

Responsibilities

• Collaborates closely with data scientists, data architects, developers, business stakeholders, program managers, and external partners to translate requirements into well-engineered data products.
• Contributes to long-term technology strategy by assessing emerging tools and AWS services for feasibility, cost, and business value.
• Coordinates Seattle IT resources to support and enhance the Seattle Police Data Analytics Platform (DAP) Data Mart/Warehouse.
• Responsibilities include operational monitoring, troubleshooting, stakeholder support (including occasional work outside standard business hours), and leading production support, infrastructure design, development, testing, and deployment.
• Plans, builds, and implements improvements to AWS-based analytics systems, on-premises data stores, and analytical models.
• Evaluates requirements, feasibility, resource needs, and delivers updated data products in collaboration with business stakeholders, program managers, technical teams, and external partners.
• Researches future-state analytics solutions using emerging technologies and AWS services, evaluating feasibility, cost, business value, and resource impact.
• Participates in strategic discussions and presentations with leadership.
• Build and maintain scalable, secure, high-performance data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes.
• Ensure pipeline observability, testability, reliability, and workflow automation via CI/CD and monitoring.
• Plan and implement improvements across AWS-based analytics systems, on-premises data stores, and analytical models.
• Provision, manage, and optimize AWS data resources.
• Collaborate with data scientists, architects, developers, and other technical teams to deliver well-engineered data products.
• Develop clear documentation for pipelines, architecture, and data models.
• Review code, mentor teammates, and support skill development.
• Define and enforce standards for schema evolution, versioning, and overall data quality.
• Monitor and remediate security vulnerabilities identified by AWS Inspector.
• Research and recommend future-state analytics solutions, evaluating feasibility, cost, business value, and resource impacts for leadership.

Benefits

• vacation
• holiday
• sick leave
• medical, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance for employees and their dependents
• free public transportation options

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior