Lead Data Platform Engineer
About The Position
Hamilton Beach Brands is seeking a Lead Data Platform Engineer to provide technical leadership for its Data Analytics, Reporting & AI Implementation team. The role will own the Microsoft Fabric architecture build-out as the company modernizes its legacy SQL Server environment using Azure SQL, Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, and Microsoft Fabric. The engineer will work hands-on while mentoring team members, lead the technical side of the Data Warehouse Modernization program with consulting partners, maintain production pipeline reliability, and use AI-first tools to improve team output. This is a full-time, hybrid role based at Hamilton Beach Brands’ corporate headquarters in Glen Allen, Virginia. The position reports to the Manager, Data Analytics, Reporting and AI Enablement. The annual salary range is $116,000–$140,000. The role leads migration from legacy SSIS packages to T-SQL and Azure services, develops reliable data pipelines, and builds and governs Bronze, Silver, and Gold layers in Fabric and OneLake. It will establish a Gold Enterprise Data Warehouse with shared customer, item, and vendor dimensions; optimize platform performance and cost; and maintain business-critical reporting pipelines across FP&A, forecasting, supply chain, and sales. The engineer will also mentor two Data Analysts, partner with IT and business teams and consulting partners, and establish platform governance, security, documentation, and deployment standards. The position calls for a bachelor’s degree in a related technical field or equivalent experience, at least seven years in data engineering, including at least two years in a lead, mentoring, or people-management role, and strong expertise in T-SQL, Python/PySpark, production data pipelines, Azure data services, Microsoft Fabric, dimensional modeling, and generative AI engineering. A master’s degree, relevant industry experience, Azure Databricks, and experience with Claude and Claude Code are preferred or strongly preferred as specified in the posting.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related technical field, or equivalent experience.
- At least 7 years of experience in data engineering.
- At least 2 years in a lead, mentoring, or people-management role.
- Expert T-SQL skills, including views, stored procedures, and performance tuning.
- Strong Python/PySpark skills and experience building and supporting production data pipelines.
- Hands-on experience with Azure SQL or SQL Server, Azure Data Factory, and Microsoft Fabric, including Lakehouse, Warehouse, Pipelines, Dataflow Gen2, OneLake, and Mirroring.
- Strong experience with dimensional modeling and medallion Lakehouse architecture, including star schemas, conformed dimensions, slowly changing dimensions, and Delta tables.
- Extensive hands-on use of generative AI in engineering.
- Experience building or operating MCP servers.
- Experience with Microsoft Copilot.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree.
- Consumer products, manufacturing, or supply chain experience.
- Azure Databricks experience (strongly preferred).
- Claude and Claude Code experience (strongly preferred).
Responsibilities
- Lead modernization of the data warehouse by directing contractor teams converting legacy SSIS packages to T-SQL and migrating workloads to Azure SQL and Azure Data Factory; validate results with business teams before retiring existing processes.
- Develop reliable data pipeline solutions using T-SQL, Python/PySpark, Azure Data Factory, and Microsoft Fabric, using Azure Databricks for the most complex workloads.
- Build and govern Bronze, Silver, and Gold layers in Fabric and OneLake, including Azure SQL mirroring and repeatable ingestion patterns.
- Create a Gold Enterprise Data Warehouse with shared customer, item, and vendor dimensions to support trusted reporting and Master Data Management.
- Optimize platform performance and cost by selecting processing tools, planning Fabric capacity, and separating heavy ETL processing to protect reporting performance.
- Manage and mentor two Data Analysts through technical guidance, code reviews, and development plans; strengthen team standards through design reviews and reusable solutions.
- Use Claude and Claude Code for development, SSIS reverse-engineering, troubleshooting, and documentation; own the internal Claude access layer and build secure MCP servers and agentic workflows connecting AI tools to enterprise platforms.
- Own production pipelines supporting FP&A, forecasting, supply chain, and sales across domestic and international operations, including scheduled loads, monitoring, and alerting.
- Collaborate with Infrastructure, ERP, and Security teams to integrate ERP, WMS, planning, and third-party data.
- Set priorities and acceptance criteria for consulting partners, review their deliverables, and resolve technical blockers.
- Maintain architecture documentation, data lineage, runbooks, and data dictionaries.
- Establish access controls, Microsoft Entra ID security, certification, and consistent environment promotion standards.
Benefits
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
- Company HSA contributions.
- 401(k) plan with immediate vesting.
- Profit sharing program.
- Paid vacation, holidays, and a paid charitable day.
- Summer hours to support work-life balance.
- Employee discounts on Hamilton Beach products.
- Hybrid work schedule.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
