Principal Data Engineer

We are the Metropolitan Council, the regional government for the seven‑county Twin Cities metropolitan area. We plan 30 years ahead for the future of the metropolitan area and provide regional transportation, wastewater, and housing services. We are committed to supporting a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve. Information Services (IS) is the central IT department within the Regional Administration (RA) division that supports all divisions of the Metropolitan Council. Our 140 team members provide technology, practices, and innovative solutions that enable the core services of the Council. How your work would contribute to our organization and the Twin Cities region: The Principal Data Engineer works with business and IS leaders and stakeholders to establish data engineering strategies that support the organization’s goals and objectives. They lead and influence decisions around data, collaborating with IS and business units to create solutions that make data available to systems and/or data consumers, such as system users, developers, data scientists, or business analysts. They create and socialize the data engineering technology roadmap and plan how to get there. They evaluate new technologies, tools, and techniques and work closely with the IS architects to build data engineering solutions on top of the overall technology architecture. They help establish data governance policies, procedures, standards, and best practices to ensure compliance with industry regulations, security and data privacy laws, and information security requirements. This role designs, develops, and maintains data solutions. This includes databases (DBs), data lakes, data warehouses, data marts and data movement (data pipelines/ETL/ELT), as well as integrating analytics and data science outputs into existing business processes or systems. They administer, monitor, and maintain data solutions and tools, ensuring their security, performance, and availability. They also identify and resolve data quality issues. The Principal Data Engineer requires the highest degree of expertise in database technologies, data modeling, structured and unstructured data, and strong programming skills. They often act as technical leads and work on small to large initiatives, advising and mentoring others. They play a critical role in ensuring the data is properly managed and leveraged to support strategic decision‑making and to achieve business objectives. Full Salary Range: $47.50 - $77.09 hourly / $98,800 - $160,347 yearly This position is eligible for a hybrid telework arrangement (both remote and onsite). Candidate's permanent residence must be in Minnesota or Wisconsin. Strategic Planning & Leadership Develop data engineering strategies for operations, reporting, and analytics. Create and socialize the data engineering roadmap to achieve the strategic plan. Evaluate new technologies, tools, and techniques and make recommendations. Develop data policies, procedures, standards, and best practices. Mentor, influence, and advise data engineers on industry best practices. May act as a technical lead on small to large data‑related initiatives. Data Operations Ensure data systems are available, scalable, secure, and supportable. Administer, monitor, and support 24x7x365 operations, ensuring data security, performance, and availability. Resolve incidents and meet Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Ensure compliance with industry regulations, security, and data privacy laws. Recommend performance improvements, optimizations, and automation. Help fulfill data practices requests, complete audits, and respond to cybersecurity events. Efficiently complete data service requests. Identify and resolve data quality issues. Data Development Design, develop, and implement data solutions for operational, reporting, and analytical systems. Build and leverage CI/CD development practices. Integrate analytics and data outputs into business processes or systems. Create solutions that make data available to systems and/or data consumers, including system users, developers, data scientists, and business analysts. Cross‑Functional Collaboration Effectively collaborate with business teams on data needs and requirements. Partner with IS teams to deliver available, secure, and supportable solutions for on‑premise, hybrid, and cloud environments. Mentor and train IS and business teams on data solutions. Any of the following combinations of education (in Computer Science/Engineering, Information Technology, or related) and relevant experience: Master’s degree and four (4) years of experience Bachelor’s degree and six (6) years of experience Associate’s degree and eight (8) years of experience High school diploma/GED and ten (10) years of experience Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required: Developed data strategies & roadmaps Defined data standards, best practices, policies, & procedures Administered & supported DB operations 24x7x365 & metrics for SLAs Developed data solutions for operations, reporting, & analytics ITIL, Incident, Service, Change & Problem Management experience Knowledge of & experience with data privacy laws, security, & industry regulations Installation & configuration of DB software & drivers on servers & clients Writing & tuning complex SQL queries Oracle DB Administration Oracle Exadata Administration What additional skills and experience would be helpful in this job (desired qualifications): Oracle Database@Azure Experience SQL Server Administration Experience leading a technical team Modern cloud data platform experience in Databricks Developing & supporting data integrations (data pipelines/ETL/ELT) Reporting & data visualization experience What knowledge, skills, and abilities you should have within the first six months on the job: Knowledge of IS teams, roles & responsibilities, services, & general technologies. Understand the data management team, group functions, & data technologies. Knowledge of the various business units & the types of data each has and needs. Understand & use incident, service, problem, & change management processes. Strong interpersonal relationships within and across teams, to remove barriers, reduce risk, build trust and improve insights. Skill and comfort in delivering strategic guidance to IS teams and leadership. What you can expect from us: We offer the opportunity to make a difference and positively influence the Twin Cities metropolitan area. We encourage our employees to develop their skills through on‑site training and tuition reimbursement. We provide a competitive salary, excellent benefits, and a good work/life balance. Union/Grade: AFSCME/Grade JFLSA Status: ExemptSafety Sensitive: No What your work environment would be: You would perform your work in a standard office setting. Work may sometimes require travel between your primary work site and other sites. If you are new to the Metropolitan Council, you must pass a background check, which verifies education, employment, and criminal history. If you have a criminal conviction, you do not automatically fail. The Metropolitan Council considers felony, gross misdemeanor, and misdemeanor convictions on a case‑prone basis, based on whether they are job‑related and whether the candidate has demonstrated adequate rehabilitation. If you are already an employee of the Metropolitan Council, you must pass a criminal background check if the job you’re applying for is in Information Services. Security Policy: This position involves direct access to Criminal Justice Information (CJI) as defined by the FBI CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services) Security Policy. In accordance with section 5.12.1.1 of the FBI CJIS Security Policy, final candidates must agree to submit to a state‑of‑residence and national fingerprint‑based record check. If the record check reveals criminal convictions, the Metropolitan Transit Police Department and/or the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will review the nature and circumstances of those convictions to determine whether access to Criminal Justice Information would be permissible. If it is determined that access to Criminal Justice Information would not be permissible, the candidate will no longer be eligible for this position. IMPORTANT: If you make a false statement or withhold information, you may be barred from job consideration. The Metropolitan Council is an Equal Opportunity, Affinitive Action, and veteran‑friendly employer. The Council is committed to a workforce that reflects the region's diversity and strongly encourages persons of color, members of the LGBTQ community, individuals with disabilities, women, and veterans to apply. If you have a disability that requires accommodation during the selection process, please email HR-OCCHealth@metc.state.mn.us #J-18808-Ljbffr