Lead Data Engineer

Deloitte’s AI & Data team is hiring a Lead Data Engineer II to help shape and govern enterprise data architecture while driving delivery across data engineering and migration initiatives. This onsite role in Richmond, VA partners closely with data scientists, analysts, and business stakeholders to ensure data models meet both operational needs and analytical goals.

In this leadership position, you will define standards and oversee technical execution, including pipeline design, quality controls, and architectural approvals. You will also plan and direct data migration activities, coordinating sequencing, mapping, validation, reconciliation, and cutover issue resolution.

Responsibilities

• Define and govern enterprise data architecture, including logical and physical data models, database schemas, and hierarchical and recursive data structures.
• Design and oversee canonical data models, ontology structures, and platform data standards to support consistency, scalability, and system performance.
• Provide technical oversight of data engineering delivery, including pipeline design, schema changes, code reviews, quality controls, and architectural approvals.
• Lead data migration planning and execution, including sequencing, mapping, validation, reconciliation, rollback planning, and issue resolution during cutover.
• Collaborate with data scientists, analysts, and business stakeholders to align architecture decisions with current operational requirements and future analytical needs.

Requirements

• Ability to work independently and collaborate as part of a team.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Meticulous attention to detail and quality of work product.
• Ability to build and sustain professional relationships.
• Ability to lead projects or workstreams.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills and professional demeanor.
• Ability to meet deadlines.
• Ability to mentor and provide clear guidance to others.
• Bachelor's degree.
• 5+ years of experience designing database architectures, including recursive and hierarchical data structures.
• 4+ years of experience with SQL and data modeling across relational, dimensional, and graph-oriented models.
• 4+ years of experience with PySpark and ETL/ELT pipeline tools (extract, transform, load; extract, load, transform).
• Must be able to obtain and maintain the required clearance for this role.
• Travel up to 25%, on average, based on work, clients, and industries/sectors served.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.

Technologies

• Structured Query Language (SQL)
• PySpark
• ETL (extract, transform, load)
• ELT (extract, load, transform)
• Relational models
• Dimensional models
• Graph-oriented models

Preferred

• Experience leading enterprise data migration efforts from legacy systems to target-state platforms.
• Experience leading data engineering teams or technical workstreams.
• Experience translating business requirements into technical data architecture designs.

Location and Compensation

This is an onsite role in Richmond, VA. The estimated wage range for this position is $110,700 to $174,600 per year (reasonable estimate of current range).