Senior Data Engineer

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

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

PTO

401(k) matched

Tuition reimbursement

EAP

Life insurance

Job summary

The Sr. Data Engineer at fairlife, LLC will drive the design, build, and operation of data pipelines and models to turn enterprise and factory data into analytics-ready products in our lakehouse.

You will own batch/streaming pipelines, dimensional modeling, and reusable Python libraries while embedding security, governance, and cost optimization from day one.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or related field and 5+ years of data engineering experience.
• Expert-level SQL and strong Python; Spark/PySpark for large-scale transformations.
• Grounding in data warehousing and dimensional modeling (star schemas, Kimball).

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and operationalize batch and streaming data pipelines from ERP, IIoT, and SaaS sources into the lakehouse.
• Develop dimensional models and well-governed metrics for business use.
• Build reusable Python libraries and analytics frameworks to accelerate the team.
• Own end-to-end engineering lifecycle: Git, CI/CD, automated testing, and environment promotion.
• Monitor and optimize for reliability, performance, and cost with data quality and observability.
• Embed security and governance: identity-based auth, secrets, access control.
• Contribute to AI-facing platform capabilities, including semantic search and agent tooling.

Skills

SQL

Python

Spark/PySpark

Dimensional modeling

Azure data services

Azure DevOps

Data lakehouse

ETL pipelines

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Azure Data Factory

SQL Databases

Event Hubs

Key Vault

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.

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 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 lakehouse.
• Support development and maintenance of dimensional data models (star schemas) in our lakehouse 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.

Qualifications

• 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.

Benefits

• 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.

Reports to: Director, Data Engineering

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

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].