Senior Data Engineer

SONAR; Chattanooga (TN); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% employer-paid health, dental, vision insurance

Stock options

401(k) matching plan

Personal Development Credit

Annual life achievement bonus

Flexible vacation policy

Gym membership reimbursement

AI subscription reimbursement

Job summary

A fast-paced engineering firm in Chattanooga seeks a Senior Data Engineer. You'll implement data ingestion and transformation pipelines, support SaaS products, and ensure data quality. Ideal candidates have strong Python skills, cloud experience, and a background in using Apache Airflow. This hybrid role offers a competitive salary and generous benefits package including health insurance and flexible vacation policy.

Qualifications

• Strong working knowledge of Apache Airflow.
• Python expertise and SQL skills required.
• Experience with cloud platforms and automation.

Responsibilities

• Implement ingestion pipelines using Airflow.
• Build and maintain data automation stability.
• Work with Data Science on advanced data analysis.

Skills

Apache Airflow

Python

SQL

Linux

RDBMS (MySQL, Postgres, SQL Server)

NoSQL (Elasticsearch, MongoDB)

Multi-cloud experience

Interpersonal skills

Tools

BigQuery

DBT

DataFlow

Cloud Storage

Job description

Senior Data Engineer – Full‑time Hybrid, Chattanooga

SONAR/FreightWaves is on the hunt for a curious, tenacious, and team‑oriented Senior Data Engineer to join our fast‑paced engineering team. The ideal candidate is inquisitive, versatile, team oriented, thrives on change, and has a positive attitude. If you are ready to be challenged, learn new and exciting technologies, and have the unique opportunity to work with some of the most talented developers in the country, we want you to apply! This is a hybrid position based in the Chattanooga area with the expectation of being in the office at least once a week.

What you will be doing

• Implementing ingestion pipelines using Airflow as the orchestration platform, for consuming data from a wide variety of sources (API, SFTP, Cloud Storage Bucket, etc.).
• Implementing transformation pipelines using software engineering best practices and tools (DBT).
• Working closely with Software Engineering and DevOps to maintain reproducible infrastructure and data that serves both API‑only customers and in‑house SaaS products.
• Defining and implementing data ingestion/transformation quality control processes using established frameworks (Pytest, DBT).
• Building pipelines that use multiple technologies and cloud environments (for example, an Airflow pipeline pulling a file from an S3 bucket and loading the data into BigQuery).
• Creating and ensuring data automation stability with associated monitoring tools.
• Reviewing existing and proposed infrastructure for architectural enhancements that follow both software engineering and data analytics best practices.
• Working closely with Data Science and facilitating advanced data analysis (like Machine Learning).

What you bring to the table

• Strong working knowledge of Apache Airflow.
• Experience supporting a SaaS or DaaS product, bonus points if you were creating new data products/features.
• Strong knowledge of Linux environments and scripting languages.
• Python expert.
• Strong understanding of software best practices and associated tools.
• Experience in any major RDBMS (MySQL, Postgres, SQL Server, etc.).
• Strong SQL skills; bonus points for having used both T‑SQL and Standard SQL.
• Experience with NoSQL (Elasticsearch, MongoDB, etc.).
• Multi‑cloud and/or hybrid‑cloud experience.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Comfortable working directly with data providers, including non‑technical individuals.
• Experience with the following (or transitioning from equivalent platform services):
• Cloud Storage
• Cloud Pub/Sub
• BigQuery
• Apache Airflow
• dbt
• DataFlow

Bonus knowledge/experience

• Experience implementing cloud architecture changes.
• Working knowledge of how to build and maintain APIs using Python/FastAPI.
• Transforming similar data from disparate sources to create canonical data structures.
• Surfacing data to BI platforms such as Looker Studio.
• Data migration experience, especially from one cloud platform to another.
• Certification: Professional Google Cloud Certified Data Engineer.
• An excellent work environment, flat hierarchies, and short decision paths.
• A generous benefits package including 100% employer‑paid health, dental, vision and life insurance, STD, LTD.
• Stock options.
• Appealing 401(k) matching plan.
• Personal Development Credit (can be used toward student loans or relevant PD courses).
• Annual life achievement bonus for having a baby, buying a house, or getting married (max one per year).
• No set days off vacation policy (our team takes time off as needed with supervisor approval).
• Up to $50 for gym or virtual gym membership.
• Up to $20 for AI subscription (ChatGPT, Grok, etc.).

Seniority level

Mid‑Senior level.

Employment type

Full‑time.

Job function

Sales, General Business, and Education.

Industries

Wireless Services, Telecommunications, and Communications Equipment Manufacturing.

Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at SONAR by 2x.