Data Engineer

GEI Consultants, Inc; Weston (NC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work schedules

Tuition reimbursement

Profit sharing

Job summary

GEI Consultants, Inc. is seeking a Data Engineer to design, build, and maintain data pipelines powering AI solutions and digital initiatives. You will prepare and integrate data foundations, build ingestion pipelines, and support secure, governed data for AI deployment.

You will collaborate with AI Engineers, solution architects, and platform teams to ensure data infrastructure is production-ready and aligns with GEI standards, including monitoring and data quality controls.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of data engineering experience building production data pipelines.
• Proficiency in Python and SQL; PySpark/Spark preferred.
• Experience with Azure data services (ADF, Synapse, Data Lake, Azure SQL).
• Familiarity with AI data stores and retrieval patterns for AI workloads.
• Experience with ETL/ELT pipelines from multiple data sources.
• Knowledge of data modeling, schema design, and indexing for analytical and AI workloads.
• Familiarity with IaC and CI/CD for data pipelines (Terraform, Azure DevOps).
• Knowledge of data governance, cataloging, lineage, access control, and privacy.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain data pipelines and integrations for AI solutions and business apps.
• Develop and manage integrations across enterprise data sources using APIs, Graph connectors, and batch/streaming patterns.
• Build data stores and indexing infrastructure to support RAG and AI consumption.
• Implement data quality, validation, and lineage controls for data accuracy and trust.
• Support and optimize data models underpinning Power BI dashboards and AI analytics.
• Collaborate with AI Engineers to define data contracts and meet schema, latency, and freshness needs.
• Instrument data pipelines for monitoring, alerts, and cost/performance optimization.
• Implement data governance and security controls including access management and encryption.
• Identify data-related risks and work with architecture/platform teams on mitigations.

Skills

Python

SQL

PySpark

Spark

Azure Data Factory

Azure Synapse

Data Lake

Azure SQL

Cosmos DB

ETL/ELT

Data modeling

Schema design

Indexing

Terraform

Azure DevOps

Data governance

Security best practices

Databricks

Delta Lake

Unity Catalog

Azure AI Search

Tools

Databricks

Delta Lake

Unity Catalog

Job description

The Data Engineer is responsible for designing, building, and maintaining the data pipelines and integrations that power GEI’s AI solutions and digital initiatives. This role focuses on ensuring enterprise data is accessible, reliable, and governed so that AI capabilities can be deployed and scaled with confidence.

The Data Engineer plays a hands‑on role by preparing and integrating the data foundations that AI solutions depend on. This includes building ingestion pipelines, managing data stores, implementing quality and governance controls, and supporting retrieval patterns such as RAG. This role works closely with AI Engineers, solution architects, and platform teams to ensure data infrastructure is production-ready, secure, and aligned with GEI standards.

• Design, build, and maintain data pipelines that ingest, transform, and deliver enterprise data to AI solutions and business applications.
• Develop and manage integrations across enterprise data sources using APIs, Graph connectors, event‑driven architectures, and batch/streaming patterns.
• Build and maintain data stores and indexing infrastructure that support retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) and other AI consumption patterns.
• Implement data quality, validation, and lineage controls to ensure accuracy and trustworthiness of data feeding AI workflows.
• Support and optimise data models underpinning Power BI dashboards and AI‑enabled analytics.
• Collaborate with AI Engineers to define data contracts and ensure pipeline outputs meet solution requirements for schema, latency, and freshness.
• Instrument data pipelines for monitoring, alerting, cost control, and performance optimisation.
• Implement data governance and security controls including access management, encryption, and compliance with organisational data policies.
• Identify data‑related risks and support mitigation strategies in collaboration with architecture and platform teams.

Minimum Qualifications

• 4+ years of data engineering experience, with demonstrated ability to build and operate production data pipelines.
• Proficiency in Python and SQL; experience with PySpark or Spark is strongly preferred.
• Experience with Azure data services, including Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Lake Storage, and Azure SQL.
• Familiarity with Azure AI Search, Cosmos DB, or similar services used to support AI retrieval and storage patterns.
• Experience building and managing ETL/ELT pipelines with structured, semi‑structured, and unstructured data sources.
• Knowledge of data modeling, schema design, and indexing strategies for both analytical and AI workloads.
• Familiarity with infrastructure‑as‑code and CI/CD practices for data pipeline deployment (e.g., Terraform, Azure DevOps).
• Knowledge of data governance principles, including data cataloging, lineage, access control, and privacy requirements.
• Knowledge of security best practices for data solutions, including encryption at rest and in transit, role‑based access control, and private networking.
• Experience with Databricks, including Delta Lake and Unity Catalog, is a plus.
• Prior experience in professional services, engineering, or construction environments is a plus.
• Azure or Databricks certifications (e.g., Azure Data Engineer Associate, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Databricks Data Engineer Professional) are a plus.

We are GEI.

Some of the world’s most pressing problems – from climate change to sustainable development, to critical infrastructure and the future of our energy supply – need our brightest and diverse minds working together to create safer, more resilient communities for tomorrow.

We are technical experts, collaborators, and entrepreneurs who draw from diverse backgrounds to solve our clients’ most complex challenges.

With several offices across North America, we offer a range of engineering, science, and technical consulting services. Our range of expertise, project types, and culture make us the choice for top talent in the AEC industry. See all our office locations here .

Employee-owned. Employee-focused.

As an employee‑owned company, our employees support our flat leadership structure, have a say in how our business operates and benefit from our financial success. We are committed to employee growth with career development opportunities, competitive total rewards, a well‑being program, flexible work arrangements and more. Our company culture is driven by our 4 Cs – we are Client‑Centered, Curious, Collaborative, and Community Minded – which support our focus on sustainability, safety, diversity, equity and inclusion. Get to know us better by visiting GEI’s career site here .

GEI’s Total Rewards Package Includes

• Market‑Competitive Compensation, including Eligibility for an Annual Performance Bonus
• Pay Range For This Position: $90,000.00 – $150,000.00/year
• Comprehensive Benefits Program, including Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Disability and More
• Well‑Being Program and Paid Parental Leave
• Hybrid Work Schedules and Cell Phone Stipends
• GEI University (GEIU) with Continuing Education Assistance and Tuition Reimbursement
• Connecting Conversation Program with a Focus on Professional Development and Opportunities for Advancement
• Support and Financial Rewards for Publication Awards, Professional Dues, and Professional Licenses
• Paid Holidays and Generous Paid Time Off Program
• Rewards and Recognition
• GEI‑Funded Profit Sharing and 401(k)
• Opportunity to be an Owner and Shareholder (Learn more here )
• A Vibrant Culture that is Focused on Partnership, Sustainability, Giving Back to Our Communities and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Functional Demands:

Sedentary

x

Light

Medium

Other

Activity Level Throughout Workday (check one per row)

Physical Activity Requirements

Occasional

(0-35% of day)

Frequent

(33-66% of day)

(67-100% of day)

Not Applicable

x

Standing

x

Walking

x

Climbing

x

Lifting (floor to waist level) (in pounds)

Lifting (waist level and above) (in pounds)

Carrying objects

x

Push/pull

x

Twisting

x

Reaching forward

x

Reaching overhead

x

Keyboard use/repetitive motion

x

Taste or smell (taste=never)

x

Talk or hear

x

Accurate 20/40

Very Accurate 20/20

Not Applicable

Near Vision

x

Far Vision

x

Yes

No

Not Applicable

Sensory Requirements

Minimal

Moderate

Accurate

Not Applicable

Depth perception

x

Hearing

x

Reasonably Anticipated

Not Anticipated

x

Chemical

x

x

Extreme temperatures

x

Radiation

x

Uneven surfaces or elevations

x

x

Dust/particulate matter

x

Other (exposure risks):

x

8

10

12

Other work hours

GEI is an AA/equal opportunity employer, including disabled and veterans.