Forward Deployed Data Engineer - Houston

Job Description

### The Opportunity

As a Forward Deployed Data Engineer (FDE) on our US Launch Team, you will act as the principal technical anchor embedded directly within high-stakes enterprise client accounts (focusing heavily on Financial Services and Healthcare). You won't just be writing specs or advising from afar---you will be on the front lines in client environments, bridging the gap between C-suite data strategy and hands-on production code.

Working at the tip of the spear alongside our elite partners at **Databricks** and **Anthropic**, you will lead architecture design, modernize brittle legacy ecosystems into cloud-native Lakehouses, build agentic AI data harnesses, and guide integrated "SWAT" pods to ship working software in weeks rather than months.

### Key Responsibilities

* **Embedded Technical Leadership:** Serve as the primary technical authority on client engagements. Partner directly with client VP/CTO stakeholders to scope architectures, map data domains, and turn complex requirements into execution-ready engineering plans.

* **Hands-On Lakehouse Modernization:** Roll up your sleeves to write and optimize production **PySpark** , **Databricks SQL** , and **Delta Live Tables (DLT)**---actively refactoring complex legacy logic (Informatica, PL/SQL, legacy stored procedures) into Medallion Architectures.

* **Agentic AI \& Data Infrastructure:** Architect deterministic, secure data "harnesses" that integrate LLM workflows (Anthropic/Claude) into traditional enterprise data pipelines safely and cost-effectively.

* **DataOps \& IaC Ownership:** Write modular **Terraform** scripts to provision cloud environments (AWS/GCP), manage governance and lineage via **Unity Catalog**, and enforce CI/CD rigor across projects.

* **Pod \& Delivery Guidance:** Partner with our LATAM-based nearshore engineering squads (600 experts) as the US technical lead---conducting code reviews, debugging performance bottlenecks, and maintaining high engineering standards.

* **Technical Unblocking \& Escalation:** Act as the ultimate technical safety net. If a pipeline breaks or a deployment stalls at 2:00 AM, you have the hands-on depth to jump into the code, fix the issue, and keep client delivery on track.

### Qualifications \& Requirements

**Technical Mastery \& Execution**

* **Extensive Hands-On Data Engineering:** Deep proficiency in **Python** and advanced **SQL** with a proven track record of shipping production data software.

* **Deep Databricks Platform Expertise:** Hands-on experience building, scaling, and tuning Databricks Lakehouse environments (Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, PySpark, DLT, Workflows).

* **Modern Stack \& IaC Discipline:** Expert-level experience with **dbt** (Core or Enterprise) for data modeling, **Terraform** for Infrastructure as Code, and **Git/Airflow** for orchestration and CI/CD.

* **Legacy Migration Experience:** Demonstrated background migrating enterprise client workloads from legacy platforms (Teradata, Netezza, Informatica, Oracle) to modern cloud infrastructure.

**Client Presence \& Startup Grit**

* **The "Player-Coach" Mindset:** Equal comfort pitching target architectures to a client CTO and debugging a failing PySpark job or dbt macro alongside junior engineers.

* **Executive Communication:** Ability to translate messy business requirements into clean architectural patterns and speak authoritatively across both technical and business functions.

* **Scrappy Nation-Builder:** High autonomy and resilience---thriving in a fast-paced, Series A growth environment without relying on rigid corporate playbooks or large support structures.

**Nice-to-Haves**

* Prior experience in forward-deployed, technical consulting, or ProServe roles at top-tier agencies or hyper-growth vendors.

* Pragmatic experience building or deploying LLM/GenAI orchestration frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, Anthropic API) into production pipelines.

* Official certifications in Databricks, AWS, GCP, or dbt.

*The anticipated base salary range for this role is $180,000 - $230,000. In addition to base pay, this position may be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. An individual's final salary offer will be determined based on a variety of factors, including geographic location, experience, specialized skills, and qualifications. This compensation range is subject to updates or modifications at the company's discretion*