Senior Data Engineer

fairlife LLC; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Parental leave

401(k) match

Wellness reimbursement

Tuition reimbursement

Employee discounts

Job summary

fairlife, LLC in Chicago, IL seeks a Sr. Data Engineer to design, build, and operate data pipelines and lakehouse models, transforming enterprise and factory data into analytics-ready products. You will craft reusable Python libraries and end-to-end data platforms supporting AI-ready capabilities.

You will collaborate with stakeholders across manufacturing and business functions, ensuring robust data governance, security, and cost efficiency while advancing the DI ecosystem.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or related field; 5+ years of data engineering experience.
• Expert-level SQL and strong Python; Spark/PySpark for large-scale transformation.
• Strong data warehousing and dimensional modeling (star schemas, Kimball).
• Proficiency with Azure data services including SQL DBs, Event Hubs, Functions, Data Factory, Key Vault, and Entra.
• Experience with Azure DevOps or similar: Git, YAML CI/CD, artifact management, code reviews.
• Lakehouse experience (Delta Lake, medallion architecture) in Fabric or Databricks preferred.
• Working knowledge of KQL is a plus; exposure to RAG/semantic search a plus.
• Experience with manufacturing/factory data (MES, historians, IIoT streaming) a plus.
• Excellent communication skills, comfortable with non-technical stakeholders.
• Detail-oriented self-starter with growth mindset; capable of handling ambiguity.
• Team player, documentation and sharing culture.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and operationalize batch and streaming data pipelines that integrate enterprise and factory data sources into lakehouses.
• Support development and maintenance of dimensional data models (star schemas) that deliver well-governed metrics.
• Build reusable Python libraries (ingestion, incremental loads, telemetry, alerting).
• Own the engineering lifecycle end to end: Git branching, PRs, CI/CD in Azure DevOps, automated testing, environment promotion.
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize solutions for reliability, performance, and cost; embed data quality validation and observability.
• Embed security and governance: identity-based authentication, secret management, access control, handling of sensitive data.
• Contribute to AI-facing platform capabilities: semantic search indexes, AI-ready data interfaces, agent tooling.
• Partner with stakeholders across manufacturing and business functions; translate needs into designs and communicate to non-technical audiences.
• Document, share, and support the technical growth of fellow team members.

Skills

SQL

Python

Spark

Data Modeling

Azure

DevOps

Delta Lake

KQL

RAG

MES

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Azure Data Factory

Databricks

Delta Lake

Job description

fairlife, LLC is a Chicago-based nutrition company that creates great-tasting, nutrition-rich and dairy products to nourish consumers.

With over $3B in annual retail sales, fairlife's portfolio of delicious, lactose‑free, real dairy products includes: fairlife ultra‑filtered milk; Core Power High Protein Shakes, a sports nutrition drink to support post‑workout recovery; fairlife nutrition plan, a nutrition shake to support the journey to better health.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola company, fairlife, LLC has been recognized by both Fast Company and Nielsen for its industry leading innovation.

To learn more about fairlife and its complete line of products, please visit fairlife.com.

Job Purpose

The Sr. Data Engineer will play a key role in delivering fairlife's ambition of building a best‑in‑class Decision Intelligence (DI) ecosystem. This role designs, builds, and operates the pipelines, data models, and reusable frameworks that turn data from across our enterprise and factories into trusted, analytics‑ready products in our lakehouse. We are looking for an engineer with natural intellectual curiosity who takes genuine pride in the quality of their designs, treats solution architecture as a core craft of data engineering, and is energized by the new use cases the age of AI presents, helping make our data platform reliable for people and legible to AI systems alike.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and operationalize batch and streaming data pipelines that integrate enterprise and factory data sources (ERP, IIoT, SaaS applications, APIs) into our lakehouses
• Support development and maintenance of dimensional data models (star schemas) in our lakehouses that deliver consistent, well‑governed metrics to the business
• Build reusable frameworks and shared Python libraries (ingestion patterns, incremental loads, telemetry, alerting) that accelerate the whole team, not just one project
• Own the engineering lifecycle end to end: Git branching, pull requests, CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps, automated testing, and environment promotion
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize solutions for reliability, performance, and cost, building data quality validation and pipeline observability into solutions from the start
• Embed security and governance into every solution: identity-based authentication, secret management, access control, and responsible handling of sensitive data
• Contribute to our growing AI‑facing platform capabilities, including semantic search indexes, AI‑ready data interfaces, and agent tooling
• Partner with stakeholders across manufacturing and business functions, translating their needs into well‑designed solutions and communicating to non-technical audiences
• Document, share, and support the technical growth of fellow team members

Skills / Qualifications Required

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or related field and 5+ years of data engineering experience (manufacturing/CPG preferred)
• Expert‑level SQL and strong Python (building shared libraries and frameworks, not just scripts); hands‑on Spark/PySpark for large‑scale transformation
• Strong grounding in data warehousing and dimensional modeling (star schemas, Kimball)
• Proficiency with Azure data services such as SQL databases, Event Hubs, Functions, Data Factory, Key Vault, and Microsoft Entra
• Experience with Azure DevOps or similar: Git, YAML CI/CD pipelines, artifact/package management, and disciplined code review practices
• Lakehouse experience (Delta Lake, medallion architecture) in Fabric or Databricks preferred
• Working knowledge of KQL (Azure Data Explorer, Event Hubs, or Application Insights) a plus
• Exposure to RAG/semantic search or MCP tool integrations a plus
• Experience with manufacturing/factory data (MES, historians, IIoT streaming) a plus
• Excellent communication skills, comfortable engaging non‑technical stakeholders
• Detail‑oriented self‑starter with a growth mindset and ability to handle ambiguity
• A natural team player with a habit of helping, documenting, and sharing

How fairlife nourishes you

At fairlife, we believe in better - and that includes how we support our people. We offer a comprehensive suite of benefits and wellbeing resources designed to support you physically, emotionally, socially, and financially, both in and out of work.

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, effective day one!
• Supplemental health plans (hospital indemnity, accident, and critical illness insurance)
• Paid Time Off to recharge and support work‑life balance
• Paid parental leave & adoption assistance (up to $10,000)
• Parental support & family care benefits, including childcare resources and lactation support
• 401(k) to support retirement planning with up to 9% in employer match
• Wellness reimbursement (up to $500 for qualified wellbeing expenses)
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for emotional wellbeing and work‑life support
• Company‑paid life insurance and short‑term disability
• Employer HSA funding (for HDHP participants)
• Tuition reimbursement (up to $10,000) and student loan repayment ($200/month)
• Learning & development programs to unlock your full potential
• Rewards & recognition, matching gifts, free product, and Business Resource Groups

fairlife's nour!sh program is designed to meet you where you are - supporting your individual wellbeing journey while enabling you to do your best work every day.

This position requires current authorization to work in the United States. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Position location

Chicago, IL

Reports to

Director, Data Engineering

Travel requirements

<10%

Exempt / Nonexempt

Exempt

Base pay offered may vary depending on geography, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. A full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position, is offered.

Base pay range: $110,000 — $125,000 USD

Equal Opportunity

fairlife, LLC is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. All qualified applicants and employees will be given equal opportunity. Selection decisions are based on job‑related factors.

In addition to its nondiscrimination commitment, the Company will also provide reasonable accommodation of qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the Company. If you have a disability and would like to request accommodation in order to apply for a position with us, please email [e-mail].

For Recruitment Agencies

At fairlife, we manage the majority of our hiring internally through our dedicated Talent Acquisition team, which is actively engaged in direct candidate sourcing. Most of our roles are filled through applications submitted via our careers site or through direct outreach by our team.

As our recruitment is primarily handled in‑house, we work only occasionally with external agencies, and only those on our existing, pre‑approved vendor list. At this time, we are not reviewing or expanding that list.

Unsolicited resumes or submissions from external agencies not authorized by our Talent Acquisition team will be considered direct candidate applications. As such, fairlife will not assume responsibility for any placement fees associated with these submissions.