Lead Data Engineer

Deloitte’s AI & Data team is seeking a Lead Data Engineer to help shape how enterprise data is structured, governed, and delivered. In this onsite role in McLean, VA, you will provide technical leadership across enterprise data architecture, canonical data modeling, platform standards, and migration planning. You will also collaborate closely with data scientists, analysts, and business stakeholders to ensure architecture decisions align with operational needs and future analytical goals.

What you will do

• 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 that support consistency, scalability, and system performance.
• Provide technical oversight for data engineering delivery, including pipeline design, schema changes, code reviews, quality controls, and architectural approvals.
• Direct data migration planning and execution, including sequencing, mapping, validation, reconciliation, rollback planning, and issue resolution during cutover.
• Partner with data scientists, analysts, and business stakeholders to align architecture decisions with current operational requirements and future analytical needs.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• 5+ years designing database architectures, including recursive and hierarchical data structures
• 4+ years with SQL and data modeling across relational, dimensional, and graph-oriented models
• 4+ years with PySpark and ETL/ELT pipeline tooling (extract, transform, load and extract, load, transform)
• Ability to obtain and maintain the required clearance for this role
• Ability to travel 25%, on average
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship, now or in the future

Technologies you will work with

• SQL
• PySpark
• ETL (extract, transform, load)
• ELT (extract, load, transform)

How you will succeed

• Work independently while collaborating effectively as part of a team
• Use strong written and verbal communication
• Maintain meticulous attention to detail and quality of work product
• Build and sustain professional relationships
• Lead projects or workstreams, managing and prioritizing multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment
• Mentor others by providing clear guidance and support

Preferred experience

• 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

Compensation: USD 110,700 to 174,600 per year.