Pyspark Engineer

Citigroup Inc.; Chennai; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Citigroup Inc. is seeking an experienced PySpark / Big Data Engineer to design, develop, and maintain large-scale batch and real-time data pipelines.

You will transform complex raw data into actionable analytical models while ensuring data integrity, scalability, and security across enterprise platforms. The role emphasizes Spark architecture, Python development, cloud platforms, and lakehouse concepts (Delta Lake, Iceberg, Hudi).

Qualifications

• In-depth knowledge of Spark, PySpark, and SQL for big data processing.
• Experience designing scalable batch and streaming data pipelines.
• Understanding of lakehouse architectures and data governance.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines using PySpark and Python.
• Optimize Spark performance and manage data quality, security, and lineage.
• Collaborate with data architects on schemas (Star/Snowflake/Data Vault) and storage formats.

Skills

PySpark

Python

SQL

Spark Architecture

Distributed Computing

Cloud Platforms

Data Modeling

ETL/ELT

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS / IT / Data Science

Tools

Delta Lake

Apache Iceberg

Apache Hudi

Parquet / ORC / Avro

Apache Airflow

Databricks

Terraform

Job description

We are seeking an experienced and results-driven PySpark / Big Data Engineer to design, develop, and maintain large-scale batch and real-time data pipelines. In this role, you will be responsible for transforming complex raw data into actionable analytical data models, optimizing distributed computing workloads, and ensuring data integrity, scalability, and security across enterprise data platforms.

The ideal candidate possesses deep expertise in Apache Spark architecture, advanced Python programming, distributed systems optimization, modern cloud platforms, and data warehousing/lakehouse paradigms.

Key Responsibilities

Data Pipeline Design & Development

• Architect, build, and maintain robust, scalable ETL/ELT pipelines using PySpark and Python to ingest data from diverse batch and streaming sources (Kafka, relational databases, REST APIs, Object Storage).
• Design and implement Lakehouse architectures using formats such as Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg, or Apache Hudi.
• Build reusable frameworks and data ingestion libraries to standardize enterprise data processing.

Spark Performance Tuning & Optimization

• Diagnose and tune Spark application performance, managing memory allocation, partitions, execution plans, broadcast joins, data skews, and garbage collection.
• Optimize query execution plans using Catalyst Optimizer and Tungsten execution engine.
• Monitor and troubleshoot production Spark jobs across cluster management environments (YARN, Kubernetes, or Databricks).

Data Modeling & Architecture

• Collaborate with Data Architects to design dimensional (Star/Snowflake), normalized, and Data Vault schemas optimized for analytical workloads.
• Ensure efficient data storage, partitioning strategies, and file format selection (Parquet, ORC, Avro).

Orchestration, CI/CD & DevOps

• Schedule and orchestrate complex workflow DAGs using workflow orchestrators such as Apache Airflow, Prefect, or Dagster.
• Implement CI/CD pipelines (Git, Jenkins, GitLab CI, or GitHub Actions) for automated testing, packaging, and deployment of data pipelines.
• Write unit tests, integration tests, and data validation routines (e.g., Great Expectations, PyTest).

Governance, Security & Quality

• Implement enterprise data governance, lineage tracking, metadata management, and data quality frameworks.
• Ensure strict compliance with data security, masking, tokenization, RBAC, and regulatory privacy standards (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).

Required Technical Qualifications & Skills

• Core Technologies - Apache Spark, PySpark (Spark SQL, DataFrames, Datasets, Structured Streaming), Python 3.x
• Database & Querying - Advanced SQL, Query optimization, Indexing, Window functions
• Data Lake & Lakehouse - Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg, Apache Hudi, Parquet, Avro, ORC
• Workflow & Orchestration - Apache Airflow, Luigi, Prefect, or Databricks Workflows
• Cloud Platforms - AWS (EMR, Glue, S3, Redshift), Azure (Synapse, ADLS, HDInsight), or GCP (Dataproc, BigQuery, GCS)
• Streaming Technologies - Apache Kafka, Spark Structured Streaming, Event Hubs, or Kinesis

Key Competencies & Experience

• Distributed Computing Fundamentals: In-depth knowledge of Spark internals (RDD, Catalyst Optimizer, DAG execution, Shuffling, Narrow vs. Wide dependencies).
• Production Experience: Minimum 4+ years of hands‑on experience building and deploying production‑grade PySpark applications at enterprise scale.
• Problem Solving: Proven track record in debugging memory bottlenecks, Out-Of-Memory (OOM) errors, and resolving data skew issues.
• Data Engineering Best Practices: Experience implementing modular code architectures, logging, monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch), and alerting.

Preferred Qualifications (Nice-to-Have)

• Hands‑on experience with Databricks platform (Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Photon engine, MLflow).
• Familiarity with Scala/Java in addition to Python.
• Knowledge of DataOps and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation).
• Experience with modern analytical data warehouses (Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Amazon Redshift).
• Relevant certifications: Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate / Professional AWS Certified Data Engineer / Azure Data Engineer Associate (DP-203)CCA Spark and Hadoop Developer (or equivalent)

Educational Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, Data Science, or a related quantitative field (or equivalent practical experience).

Primary : Py Spark, Python

Secondary : Bigdata, Abinitio, Unix, Oracle

Technology

Applications Development

Full time

Most Relevant Skills: Please see the requirements listed above.

Other Relevant Skills: For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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