Job Title: AWS Data Engineering Lead

Employment Type: W2 (All valid US work visas accepted — H1B, TN, GC, GC-EAD, OPT/CPT, H4-EAD, etc.)

Location: Richmond, VA

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced AWS Data Engineering Lead to design, build, and scale enterprise data pipelines and cloud-native data platforms. This role combines hands-on engineering with technical leadership, guiding a team of data engineers while partnering with architecture, analytics, and business stakeholders to deliver reliable, high-performance data solutions on AWS.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the design and implementation of scalable ETL/ELT pipelines using AWS-native services
Architect data lake and data warehouse solutions leveraging S3, Redshift, Glue, EMR, and Athena
Build and orchestrate workflows using AWS Glue, Step Functions, Lambda, and Airflow
Define and enforce data engineering best practices, coding standards, and CI/CD pipelines
Mentor and technically guide a team of data engineers; conduct code reviews and design reviews
Collaborate with data architects, analysts, and product owners to translate business requirements into technical data solutions
Optimize pipeline performance, cost, and reliability across batch and streaming workloads
Implement data quality, governance, and security controls (IAM, KMS, Lake Formation)
Support real-time data streaming using Kinesis or Kafka where applicable
Troubleshoot production issues and drive root-cause resolution

Required Skills & Experience

8+ years in data engineering, with 3+ years in a technical lead capacity
Strong hands-on expertise with AWS data services: S3, Glue, Redshift, EMR, Athena, Lambda, Kinesis, Step Functions
Advanced SQL and strong programming skills in Python and/or Scala/PySpark
Experience with big data processing frameworks (Spark, Hadoop)
Solid understanding of data modeling, data warehousing, and dimensional design
Experience with orchestration tools (Airflow/MWAA, Step Functions)
Familiarity with CI/CD tools (Jenkins, CodePipeline, GitLab CI) and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/CloudFormation)
Strong understanding of data governance, security, and compliance in cloud environments
Excellent communication skills with proven ability to lead technical teams

Preferred Qualifications