Lead Data Engineer

Job Description Summary & Additional Information

Job summary:

This position is available within the University of Maryland’s Division of Information Technology (DIT).

Enterprise Data Services (EDS), part of Enterprise Engineering in the University of Maryland's Division of Information Technology (DIT), designs, builds, and supports the enterprise data platforms that power analytics, reporting, and decision-making across UMD, a top 20 public research institution. EDS manages core university data domains and partners with colleges, departments, and administrative units to ensure data is trusted, accessible, and ready for decisions.

The Lead Data Engineer will play a key role in building out and driving adoption of the University's Microsoft Fabric data platform, leading complex data initiatives, and raising the technical bar across EDS.

Role Overview

We're looking for a lead data engineer who loves turning messy, multi-system data into trusted, reusable solutions and who gets energy from helping other engineers and business partners grow. You'll lead complex, cross-team initiatives on Microsoft Fabric, turn architectural direction into proven engineering patterns, and partner with stakeholders, architects, and EDS leadership to deliver scalable, secure data solutions that the whole University can rely on.

What You'll Do

• Lead the design and delivery of complex data solutions on Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouse, Warehouse, Data Factory pipelines, Dataflows Gen2, notebooks, and Power BI semantic models), from solution design and estimation through production handoff.
• Develop reusable frameworks, templates, and patterns, such as medallion layers, ingestion frameworks, CI/CD, and automated testing, that speed up delivery across teams.
• Lead the modernization of legacy ETL and reporting solutions onto the Fabric platform.
• Contribute to architecture decisions and the platform roadmap with an eye for scalability, performance, cost, and maintainability.
• Establish and promote engineering best practices for data modeling, pipeline design, version control, code review, testing, and documentation.
• Partner with stakeholders, analysts, and data scientists to translate business needs into technical solutions and onboard new use cases onto the platform.
• Ensure solutions meet data governance, security, and compliance requirements (e.g., FERPA), including data quality, metadata, and lineage practices.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers through code reviews, design sessions, and pair programming.
• Serve as an escalation point for complex data and platform issues, driving root-cause analysis and lasting fixes.

**This position is considered essential and may be required to work at the normal work location or an alternative location during a major catastrophic event, weather emergency, or other operational emergency to help maintain the continuity of University services.**

**May be required to work evenings, nights, weekends, or different shifts for extended periods.**

Physical Demands:

Sedentary work. Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. Repetitive motion. Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading.

Preferences: (Bonus Points)

• Experience migrating legacy ETL and reporting solutions to cloud platforms.
• Familiarity with data governance practices such as data quality, stewardship, metadata, and lineage.
• Experience working with higher education data or regulated data environments (e.g., FERPA).
• A track record of mentoring engineers or building internal frameworks and tooling that improved team efficiency.
• Microsoft certifications (e.g., DP-700 Fabric Data Engineer, DP-600 Fabric Analytics Engineer, PL-300 Power BI Data Analyst).
  

Additional Information:

Please note that all positions within the Division of Information Technology (DIT) have an in-person component with expected time in our College Park, MD location per week. Telework is not a guaranteed work arrangement.

Visa Sponsorship Information:

• DIT will not sponsor the successful candidate for work authorization in the United States now or in the future.
• F1 STEM OPT support is not available for this position.

Required Application Materials: Applications missing the materials below will NOT be considered

• Resume
• Cover Letter 
• List of Three References

Best Consideration Date: November 17, 2026

Posting Close Date: N/A

Open Until Filled: Yes

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. Experience: Seven (7) years of professional experience supporting the operations, maintenance, and administration of information technology infrastructure. Other: Additional work experience as defined above may be substituted on a year for year basis for up to four (4) years of the required education. Knowledge of multiple RDBMS platform such as Oracle, SQL Server, Amazon Redshift, etc. Expertise in at least two ETL platforms or tools (ex.Informatica, AWS Glue, Talend, etc.) Skilled in writing SQL queries and building ETL processes Skilled in conducting user interviews, facilitating design walk through and guiding customers in developing business and technical requirements Excellent written and oral communication skills with the capability of adapting communication style to different audiences Ability to independently prioritize and execute advanced support and feature requests in area of expertise Skilled in overseeing IT projects and associated team members with a primary focus is on the execution and delivery of technical initiatives Ability to to lead presentations and training with large groups Proven track records for quickly learning new technologies up and to the point of being a subject matter expert Able to organize and provide significant mentorship to project team members Skilled in solving problems of high complexity both independently and with other team members A demonstrated commitment to customer service and adept stakeholder management Provides leadership and helps bridge the gap between team manager and team members on technical topics Ability to effectively manage workload and delivery assignments on time Skilled in the use of office productivity software such as Office 365 or Google Workspaces Subject matter expert in at least two (2) technical areas

Job Risks

Not Applicable to This Position

Department

DIT-EE-Enterprise Data Services

Worker Sub-Type

Staff Contractual (C2) (Fixed Term)

Salary Range

$144,560.00 - $173,472.00

Background Checks

Offers of employment are contingent on completion of a background check. Information reported by the background check will not automatically disqualify anyone from employment. Before any adverse decision, the finalist will have an opportunity to provide information to the University regarding disclosable background check information. The University reserves the right to rescind the offer of employment or otherwise decline or terminate employment if the information reported by the background check is deemed incompatible with the position, regardless of when the background check is completed.

Employment Eligibility

The successful candidate must complete employment eligibility verification (on Form I-9) by presenting documents that establish identity and work authorization within the timeframe required by federal immigration law, and where applicable, to demonstrate renewed employment authorization.  Failure to complete employment eligibility verification or reverification within the timeframe set forth by law may result in suspension or termination of employment.

EEO Statement

The University of Maryland, College Park is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment. Please read the University’s Equal Employment Opportunity Statement of Policy.

Title IX Non-Discrimination Notice

Resources

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