Senior Analytics Engineer AI, Automation, & Data Engineering

SilkRoad; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 169,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Time Off: paid holidays and leave

Retirement plan with full vesting

Tuition Assistance Program

Wellness and other BU perks

Job summary

Boston University IS&T seeks a Senior Analytics Engineer to design analytics data architecture, semantic models, and data pipelines that power reporting, analytics, and AI solutions. You will set metrics, business logic, and AI-ready interfaces to enable LLMs to query institutional data with engineering rigor across dbt, Dagster, Iceberg, Trino, and AWS.

You will lead cross-functional initiatives, mentor engineers, and collaborate with researchers, faculty, and staff in a hybrid work environment

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, data science, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 8+ years of professional experience in analytics engineering or data engineering with technical leadership.
• Expert SQL and Python skills with experience building data models and transformations using dbt or similar tools.
• Advanced software engineering practices including Git, automated testing, CI/CD, code reviews, and pipeline orchestration.
• Deep expertise in data architecture, data modeling, and semantic layer design in cloud lakehouse environments (S3, Iceberg, Trino).
• Experience enabling AI/ML use cases with data (LLMs, embeddings, text-to-SQL); MCP familiarity is desirable.
• Strong understanding of data governance, privacy, security, and compliance for sensitive data.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills with stakeholders and engineers.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead development of scalable analytics data models and lakehouse layers using dbt, SQL, and Python.
• Define and govern the semantic layer as a single source of truth for reporting and AI.
• Lead context engineering for metadata, semantic models, and AI-ready interfaces like text-to-SQL.
• Design production-grade data and ML pipelines using Dagster and AWS.
• Set engineering and data quality standards and conduct code reviews.
• Lead technical planning and cross-functional initiatives; contribute to analytics/AI strategy.
• Mentor engineers and promote engineering excellence.

Skills

Analytical leadership

SQL

Python

Communication

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Info Systems/Data Science

Tools

dbt

Dagster

Apache Iceberg

Trino

AWS

Job description

Tracking Code

26500997921001

Posted Date

10/5/2026

Salary Grade

Grade 51

Expected Hiring Range Minimum

$120,400.00

Expected Hiring Range Maximum

$168,500.00

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, training and internal pay comparison. The above hiring range represents the University’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Position Type

Full-Time/Regular

Boston University Information Services & Technology (IS&T) is seeking applicants with diverse skills and experience to join our innovative and inclusive community. Join us as a Senior Analytics Engineer and help shape how Boston University turns its data into trusted, AI-ready insight. In this role, you will lead the design of the analytics data architecture, semantic models, and pipelines that power university reporting, analytics, and AI solutions. Working at the intersection of analytics engineering, data engineering, and artificial intelligence, you will define the metrics, business logic, and context that enable large language models (LLMs) and AI agents to reliably understand and query institutional data, and you will bring software engineering rigor to modern data tools such as dbt, Dagster, Apache Iceberg, Trino, and AWS. As part of the AI, Automation, and Data Engineering team, you will report to the [Reporting Manager Title], serve as a technical leader on high-priority initiatives, mentor fellow engineers, and partner with data engineers, AI engineers, researchers, faculty, and staff in a hybrid work environment based in Boston, MA. This is an opportunity to help define an evolving discipline and build the data foundations that support university operations, research, and innovation. You Will: Architect and lead development of scalable analytics data models and lakehouse data layers using dbt, SQL, and Python. Define and govern the semantic layer, including enterprise metrics and business logic, as a single source of truth for reporting and AI. Lead context engineering efforts, designing the metadata, semantic models, and AI-ready interfaces (e.g., MCP, text-to-SQL) that enable LLMs and AI agents to accurately use institutional data, and measure their accuracy. Design production-grade data and ML pipelines, including feature engineering and embedding pipelines, using Dagster and AWS. Set engineering and data quality standards and conduct expert-level code reviews. Lead technical planning and delivery for cross-functional initiatives and contribute to IS&T's analytics and AI data strategy. Mentor engineers and foster a culture of engineering excellence.

Required Skills

You Will Have:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Systems, Data Science, Data Analytics, or a related field (or equivalent combination of education and experience); advanced degree preferred.
• 8+ years of professional experience in analytics engineering, data engineering, or a related technical field, including technical leadership of complex projects.
• Expert SQL and Python skills, with extensive experience building data models and transformations using dbt or similar tools.
• Advanced software engineering practices, including Git, automated testing, CI/CD, code review, and pipeline orchestration.
• Deep expertise in data architecture, data modeling, and semantic layer design, including metrics frameworks and metadata management, in cloud lakehouse environments (e.g., S3, Apache Iceberg, Trino).
• Experience enabling AI and ML use cases with data, such as LLM integration, RAG, embeddings, text-to-SQL, or ML pipelines; familiarity with emerging standards such as MCP is desirable.
• Strong understanding of data governance, privacy, security, and compliance for sensitive institutional data.
• Excellent communication skills, with a proven track record of collaborating with technical and non-technical stakeholders, mentoring engineers, and leading technical initiatives.

Boston University offers an excellent benefits package including:

• Time Off: In addition to PTO and leave policy, BU employees have a paid intersession break and 13 paid holidays.
• Retirement: University-funded retirement plan with full vesting after 2 years of eligible service.
• Tuition Assistance Program: Competitive tuition assistance program for yourself and family members.
• Check out https://www.bu.edu/wellness/ and https://www.bu.edu/hr/part-time-employee-perks/ for more information!

Boston University IS&T invests in our staff and their personal and professional growth. We promote staff learning including lunch and learn sessions, an extensive library of online courses, Fun Advisory Board (FAB) arranges a number of events throughout the year and opportunities to engage with peers at NERCOMP and EDUCAUSE events. If you require a reasonable accommodation in order to complete the employment application process, please contact the Equal Opportunity Office at 617-353-6474. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We, at IS&T, appreciate each individual's knowledge, experiences and insights which enhance who we are, and as our DEIA knowledge and practice grows, we will ensure that our Mission, Vision, & Practices remain equitable and welcoming to all.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.