Lead Data Engineer (Remote)

8th Light

9d • $126,279 - $184,068 • Remote

About The Position

At 8th Light, we bring life to the best ideas. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Chicago, we are a technology solutions consultancy that partners with organizations from early-stage startups to the world's largest companies. We take on hard software challenges and turn them into durable results. We build agentic products, the platforms they run on, and the engineering and design at every layer. Our commitment to quality means we deliver solutions we’re truly proud of, while our curiosity sparks innovation and breakthrough thinking. 8th Lights thrive in an environment that champions continuous education, fueling our growth through mentorship and hands-on work. We foster an open, collaborative culture grounded in honesty that builds trust, and believe true success is measured by the outcomes we create for our clients. If this kind of work and our kind of people energizes you, you’ve found the right place.

Requirements

• Designed and built scalable data pipelines that ingest, transform, and move data from sources like EHRs, claims, APIs, and CRMs
• Worked hands-on with at least one cloud data platform (Snowflake, Databricks, Azure Data Factory, AWS Redshift, or Google BigQuery)
• Written and tuned production SQL, including query optimization and debugging
• Used Python or another language like Scala or Java to automate data workflows
• Applied ETL/ELT principles, data warehousing, and data modeling to real client problems
• Delivered projects on AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Picked up new and unfamiliar tools quickly, treating unknown challenges as part of the work rather than a blocker
• Shipped high-quality, maintainable software collaboratively and incrementally, tailored to the needs of the clients you've served
• Collaborated with teams using Git and CI/CD
• Communicated clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders about data decisions and tradeoffs
• Mentored teammates and shared what you know
• Actively sought out and given feedback

Nice To Haves

• Healthcare data: Epic, HL7, FHIR, and claims
• CI/CD pipelines, Git, and DevOps workflows
• Infrastructure as Code with tools like Terraform or CloudFormation
• Real-time and streaming data tools such as Kafka, Kinesis, or Pub/Sub
• Containerization with Docker and Kubernetes
• Cloud or data platform certifications

Responsibilities

• Making immediate contributions to projects and rapidly building trust with clients
• Designing and building data pipelines and schemas that hold up as data volume and complexity grow
• Leading data architecture and modeling discussions, weighing tradeoffs and documenting the reasoning
• Working pragmatically to balance technology choices while delivering high-quality work within deadlines
• Generating new solutions to technical and non-technical challenges alongside teammates and clients
• Leading or initiating retrospectives and feedback conversations with teams and clients
• Clearly articulating and documenting outcomes and driving action items forward
• Contributing to the health of your team and 8th Light's culture by modeling our Values
• Maintaining relationships with client technical leaders
• Identifying, mitigating, and resolving blockers to team progress
• Contributing to 8th Light by mentoring, leading workshops, representing us in the tech community, or supporting our hiring process

Benefits

• A robust L&D program featuring unlimited access to thousands of books, courses, and expert-led training on the O'Reilly learning platform.
• Annual financial stipend and time allotment for learning & development
• Coworking support for our global team
• Flexible PTO
• 12 weeks of new parent leave available for eligible employees

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed