Senior Data Platform Engineer

The Ohio State University • Columbus, OH

2d • $88,300 - $105,353 • Onsite

About The Position

The Data and Analytics Team within the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation (OTDI) at The Ohio State University manages the enterprise data reporting, analytics, and governance environments that support leaders, decision-makers, and data analysts/scientists across campus. Our vision is to enable a culture of data enablement and thought leadership through accurate, accessible information and innovative analytics. This Senior Data Platform Engineer position is a dual-discipline role at the intersection of data engineering and data platform operations. This position will help in designing, building, and operating the university’s shared data infrastructure – including data pipelines, medallion-layer and other framework data products, cloud and/or on-prem tooling, and the integration fabric that connects data systems across the university. In addition, the position, also an acting data engineer, will help realize the design and build of ETL/ELT and other data integration movement processes for the Reporting and Analytics Environment; among other systems we manage within the department. Our current system implementations include cloud-based analytics solutions (IAAS PAAS SAAS) and interactions with internal OSU systems across the enterprise. The Senior Data Platform Engineer will be responsible for engaging with other data engineers and enterprise/integration architects within the team, as well as collaborating with OTDI Infrastructure colleagues and specialists in designing and implementing integrations from multiple systems into the team's data environments. It is expected that this resource will work to obtain and refine data requirements, build data integration flows, partner with data and visualization analysts on query optimization and tuning, and confer with data governance resources on metadata requirements. Also, will provide production support duties for the systems we manage; this role will respond to help desk issues related to our systems, be responsible for monitoring the production support queue, and respond to data flow failures in a timely manner. This includes participating in rotating off-hours and weekend on-call/pager duty.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree with a Major in Computer & Information Science or equivalent experience
• 4 years of experience in data & integration methodologies, technologies, and tools
• Demonstrated deep understanding of SQL and hands-on experience implementing ETL/ELT best practices at scale
• Experience with Python, Java, Scala, or other programming languages for data processing (Python preferred)
• Experience working with business and process analysts in gathering requirements as well as in collaborative data movement design and data governance
• Proficiency in SQL across at least one analytical database platform (Redshift, Databricks, Snowflake, or equivalent)
• Demonstrated production experience with Apache Airflow (DAG authoring, operator development, environment administration)
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code in a team environment (modules, state management, CI/CD integration)
• Familiar with modern data analytics technologies and techniques, such as cloud-based analytics environments (AWS, Azure, GCP) serverless coding streaming and micro-batch data loads code automation continuous development delivery and integration
• Familiarity with data catalog or metadata management tooling and practical understanding of data governance concepts
• Experience with web services/APIs (REST, SOAP), S/FTP, and data interchange formats (JSON, XML, CSV)
• Strong interpersonal skills, including excellent customer service and relationship management skills
• Detail-oriented and desire to continually keep up with advancements in data engineering practices
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including presenting complex topics to business teams and leadership
• Ability to flex and adapt to changing environments and direction in team development goals
• Must have experience working with both technical and business/process analysts in a fast-moving and high caliber environment.

Nice To Haves

• Prior experience in a higher education, research, or large public institution environment
• 4-8 years of experience with the AWS or Azure data analytics components
• Experience with Tableau, Power BI, or other analytics tools
• Familiarity with identity and access management concepts as applied to data platform security (OIDC, SCIM, attribute-based access control)

Responsibilities

• Designing, building, and operating the university’s shared data infrastructure – including data pipelines, medallion-layer and other framework data products, cloud and/or on-prem tooling, and the integration fabric that connects data systems across the university.
• Realizing the design and build of ETL/ELT and other data integration movement processes for the Reporting and Analytics Environment; among other systems we manage within the department.
• Engaging with other data engineers and enterprise/integration architects within the team, as well as collaborating with OTDI Infrastructure colleagues and specialists in designing and implementing integrations from multiple systems into the team's data environments.
• Obtaining and refining data requirements.
• Building data integration flows.
• Partnering with data and visualization analysts on query optimization and tuning.
• Conferring with data governance resources on metadata requirements.
• Providing production support duties for the systems we manage.
• Responding to help desk issues related to our systems.
• Monitoring the production support queue.
• Responding to data flow failures in a timely manner.
• Participating in rotating off-hours and weekend on-call/pager duty.

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision coverage, with Ohio State paying a significant portion of the cost.
• Paid time off, including sick and vacation time and 11 holidays.
• State retirement plan or an alternative retirement plan, both with generous employer contributions.

What This Job Offers

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