Lead Flink Data Engineer IoT

Fusemachines•New York City, NY

About The Position

This is a role responsible for designing, building, and maintaining the real-time streaming infrastructure required for sensor data integration, complex state processing, and alerting in the Industrial IoT / Smart Buildings domain. We are seeking a Lead Data Engineer with expert-level Apache Flink (Java and SQL) skills, and proven implementation of custom ProcessFunctions, state management, and real-time data quality gates, delivering Data and Analytics products using Agile methodology. The ideal candidate will possess strong technical, analytical, and interpersonal skills.

Requirements

5+ years of hands-on data engineering experience with deep expertise in the Azure ecosystem.
5+ years in Java (backend) with 3+ years deep specialization in Apache Flink (DataStream API & SQL).
Experience with Flink State Management, Checkpointing, and Watermark strategies.
Experience upgrading to or using Flink 2.0/2.x.
Experience with Azure Event Hubs or Kafka.
Understanding of "Sensor/IoT" data patterns (out-of-order and missing events).
Proficient in Java, SQL, and writing optimized data integration and processing code.
Strong understanding of SDLC and Agile methodologies with hands-on experience in Azure DevOps, GitHub, CI/CD, and artifact management.
Deep expertise in Azure data services.
Skilled in data modeling, database design, and data warehousing solutions on Azure.
Knowledge of data quality, governance, and security best practices within Azure (AD, NSG, encryption, compliance).

Nice To Haves

Certifications preferred: Azure Fundamentals, Azure Data Engineer Associate, and Azure Solutions Architect Expert (nice to have).

Responsibilities

Architect, design, and implement scalable and efficient data solutions on Flink.
Design and implement the Flink 2.x streaming pipeline for IoT.
Develop custom KeyedProcessFunctions to handle "Heartbeat Injection" (detecting sensor silence) and complex windowing.
Implement the Gatekeeper Pattern: A Flink job that applies Data Quality tags (Validity, Completeness) to the stream without dropping data.
Optimize State Backends for high-cardinality sensor data (100k+ concurrent sensors).
Work with the "Shared Core" team to integrate libraries into the Flink runtime.
Manage and optimize Azure resources (Flink clusters) for performance, reliability, and cost-efficiency.
Transform, clean, and prepare data using SQL, and Java.
Monitor and fine-tune workloads and pipelines for optimal performance and reliability.
Maintain clear documentation of solutions, configurations, and workflows.
Actively participate in Agile team activities and continuous improvement initiatives.
Promote and enforce data engineering best practices, including data governance, security, and data quality.