AI Data Engineer

Position: AI Data Engineer (B2B / Freelancer Contract)

Location: Remote open to candidates based in the European Union, Serbia, or Moldova

Role Overview

We are recruiting on behalf of our client for an experienced AI Data Engineer to join their global Centre of Excellence as a subject matter expert (SME) for Agentic AI Services. In this role, you will help architect, design, and implement scalable data engineering solutions that prepare data for next-generation AI systems.

The successful candidate will be responsible for developing, optimizing, and automating data pipelines using Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Factory, and the broader Microsoft ecosystem, creating a robust and AI-ready data environment. You will collaborate with global cross-functional teams to build modern data architectures, ensure quality and compliance, and accelerate enterprise adoption of Agentic AI. This position offers the opportunity to work on complex, large-scale data environments while mentoring others and shaping the data foundation for advanced AI applications.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and optimize data pipelines using Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Factory, Dataflows, and related Microsoft tools to support Agentic AI use cases.

• Develop, automate, and maintain ETL/ELT processes that extract, transform, and load data from diverse on-premises and cloud sources into unified enterprise data lakes and warehouses.

• Analyze business and technical requirements to design scalable data models and data products supporting real-time, operational, and predictive analytics.

• Translate conceptual and logical data models into optimized physical schemas using Microsoft SQL, Azure Synapse, Microsoft Fabric Lakehouses, and related tools.

• Manage secure data migrations and transformations between systems such as SAP, Oracle, Dynamics, and SQL-based platforms, ensuring integrity and reliability.

• Collaborate with business analysts, data architects, and AI/ML engineers to ensure data assets are optimized for analytics and Agentic AI workflows.

• Define and execute data validation and quality assurance procedures, including unit and integration testing.

• Document pipelines, models, and migration activities to ensure transparency, reproducibility, and compliance.

• Implement governance, metadata management, and lineage tracing using Microsoft Purview and Fabric to ensure discoverability and audit readiness.

• Identify and automate data ingestion and transformation processes using scripting and orchestration tools.

• Mentor and guide other data engineers, promoting best practices and modern Microsoft data engineering methodologies.

Required Skills & Experience

• Bachelors degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field.

• 5-10 years of experience designing, building, and optimizing data solutions in Microsoft Azure, particularly with Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Factory, and Synapse.

• Relevant Microsoft certifications (e.g., Azure Data Engineer Associate, Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer) are highly valued.

• Expertise in data pipeline development, transformation, and automation using Microsoft Fabric, Power Query, Synapse Analytics, and SQL-based solutions.

• Strong understanding of data lakehouse architectures, ETL/ELT design, and data modeling for AI-driven analytics.

• Experience designing both logical and physical data models for high-performance, large-scale systems.

• Solid programming skills in SQL, Python, and PowerShell, with familiarity with Spark or Dataflow languages.

• Knowledge of data governance and lineage frameworks using Microsoft Purview or equivalent tools.

• Experience integrating and migrating data from various sources such as Azure SQL, Fabric Lakehouse, SAP, and Oracle.

• Proficiency in both real-time and batch data processing, handling large-scale, complex datasets.

• Proven experience automating and scripting data pipelines to enhance scalability and repeatability.

• Familiarity with big data tools (Hadoop, Spark) within the Microsoft Azure ecosystem.

• Experience with Power BI and Excel for data validation, QA, and analytics support.

• Strong collaboration, problem-solving, and mentoring skills.

• Excellent command of English, both written and spoken.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience in enterprise migrations to AI-driven data environments.

• Familiarity with data cataloging, metadata management, and compliance automation.

• Proven ability to coach and lead teams toward modern, cloud-native data engineering practices.

Contract Type

• Engagement Model: B2B / Freelancer

• Location: Fully Remote (EU, Serbia, or Moldova)