Job Description
Company Overview
Citco is a global leader in financial services, delivering innovative solutions to some of the world's largest institutional clients. We harness the power of data to drive operational efficiency and informed decision-making. We are looking for a
Tech Lead – Data Engineering
with
extensive Databricks expertise
and AWS experience to lead mission-critical data initiatives
Role Summary
As the
Tech Lead – Data Engineering
, you will be responsible for
architecting, implementing, and optimizing end-to-end data solutions
on
Databricks
(Spark, Delta Lake, MLflow, etc.) while integrating with core AWS services (S3, Glue, Lambda, etc.). You will
lead a technical team
of data engineers, ensuring best practices in performance, security, and scalability. This role requires a
deep, hands-on understanding of Databricks
internals and a track record of
delivering large-scale data platforms
in a cloud environment.
Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
* Databricks Platform & Architecture
* Architect and maintain Databricks Lakehouse solutions using Delta Lake for ACID transactions and efficient data versioning.
* Leverage Databricks SQL Analytics for interactive querying and report generation.
* Manage cluster lifecycle (provisioning, sizing, scaling) and optimize Spark jobs for cost and performance.
* Implement structured streaming pipelines for near real-time data ingestion and processing.
* Configure and administer Databricks Repos, notebooks, and job scheduling/orchestration to streamline development workflows.
* AWS Cloud Integration
* Integrate Databricks with AWS S3 as the primary data lake storage layer.
* Design and implement ETL/ELT pipelines using AWS Glue catalog, AWS Lambda, and AWS Step Functions where needed.
* Ensure proper networking configuration (VPC, security groups, private links) for secure and compliant data access.
* Automate infrastructure deployment and scaling using AWS CloudFormation or Terraform.
* Data Pipeline & Workflow Management
* Develop and maintain scalable, reusable ETL frameworks using Spark (Python/Scala).
* Orchestrate complex workflows, applying CI/CD principles (Git-based version control, automated testing).
* Implement Delta Live Tables or similar frameworks to handle real-time data ingestion and transformations.
* Integrate with MLflow (if applicable) for experiment tracking and model versioning, ensuring data lineage and reproducibility.
* Performance Tuning & Optimization
* Conduct advanced Spark job tuning (caching strategies, shuffle partitions, broadcast joins, memory optimization).
* Fine-tune Databricks clusters (autoscaling policies, instance types) to manage cost without compromising performance.
* Optimize I/O performance and concurrency for large-scale data sets.
* Security & Governance
* Implement Unity Catalog or equivalent Databricks features for centralized governance, access control, and data lineage.
* Ensure compliance with industry standards (e.g., GDPR, SOC, ISO) and internal security policies.
* Apply IAM best practices across Databricks and AWS to enforce least-privilege access.
* Technical Leadership & Mentorship
* Lead and mentor a team of data engineers, conducting code reviews, design reviews, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
* Champion Agile or Scrum development practices, coordinating sprints and deliverables.
* Serve as a primary technical liaison, working closely with product managers, data scientists, DevOps, and external stakeholders.
* Monitoring & Reliability
* Configure observability solutions (e.g., Datadog, CloudWatch, Prometheus) to proactively identify performance bottlenecks.
* Set up alerting mechanisms for latency, cost overruns, and cluster health.
* Maintain SLAs and KPIs for data pipelines, ensuring robust data quality and reliability.
* Innovation & Continuous Improvement
* Stay updated on Databricks roadmap and emerging data engineering trends (e.g., Photon, Lakehouse features).
* Evaluate new tools and technologies, driving POCs to improve data platform capabilities.
* Collaborate with business units to identify data-driven opportunities and craft solutions that align with strategic goals.
Qualifications
Qualifications
* Educational Background
* Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
* Technical Experience
* Databricks Expertise: 5+ years of hands-on Databricks (Spark) experience, with a focus on building and maintaining production-grade pipelines.
* AWS Services: Proven track record with AWS S3, EC2, Glue, EMR, Lambda, Step Functions, and security best practices (IAM, VPC).
* Programming Languages: Strong proficiency in Python (PySpark) or Scala; SQL for analytics and data modeling.
* Data Warehousing & Modeling: Familiarity with RDBMS (e.g., Postgres, Redshift) and dimensional modeling techniques.
* Infrastructure as Code: Hands-on experience using Terraform or AWS CloudFormation to manage cloud infrastructure.
* Version Control & CI/CD: Git-based workflows (GitHub/GitLab), Jenkins or similar CI/CD tools for automated builds and deployments.
* Leadership & Soft Skills
* Demonstrated experience leading a team of data engineers in a complex, high-traffic data environment.
* Outstanding communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate technical jargon into business insights.
* Adept at problem-solving, with a track record of quickly diagnosing and resolving data performance issues.
* Certifications (Preferred)
* Databricks Certified Associate/Professional (e.g., Databricks Certified Professional Data Engineer).
* AWS Solutions Architect (Associate or Professional).