Lead Data Engineer - Generative AI in Sacramento, CA

Lead Data Engineer - Gen AI

Location: West Sacramento, CA Hybrid (2 3 days onsite per week)
Employment Type: Contract
Duration: 12 36 months

About the Role

We are seeking a Lead Developer Data, Business Intelligence & Generative AI to provide hands-on technical leadership across enterprise data, BI, AI/ML, and Generative AI initiatives.

The ideal candidate will bridge data engineering, business intelligence, cloud platforms, and Generative AI, leading technical teams from requirements and architecture through development, deployment, and ongoing production support. This role requires someone who can remain hands-on while working closely with both technical teams and business stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead developers and analysts delivering enterprise BI, data warehouse, GenBI, GenAI, and AI/ML solutions.
• Guide projects through requirements, architecture, design, development, testing, deployment, and continuous improvement.
• Design and support enterprise data warehouse and analytics solutions using AWS, Snowflake, and related cloud technologies.
• Develop production-grade dashboards, reports, APIs, dimensional data models, semantic layers, and analytics applications.
• Design and optimize ETL/ELT pipelines using tools such as Airflow, dbt, Matillion, and similar platforms.
• Work with cloud data platforms including Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, BigQuery, and Azure Synapse.
• Develop advanced SQL, including complex joins, window functions, optimization, troubleshooting, and performance tuning.
• Build dimensional and semantic data models using star and snowflake schemas.
• Develop BI solutions using Power BI, Tableau, Looker, or comparable platforms.
• Build Natural Language-to-SQL/Text-to-SQL capabilities for conversational business intelligence.
• Use OpenAI APIs and other LLM platforms to develop GenAI-enabled analytics solutions.
• Apply prompt engineering techniques to improve the quality, reliability, and usefulness of AI-generated business insights.
• Develop testing and validation approaches for GenAI and Text-to-SQL solutions, including controls for hallucinations and inaccurate outputs.
• Leverage technologies such as Snowflake Cortex and AWS Bedrock for GenAI and analytics use cases.
• Support AI/ML initiatives involving predictive analytics, statistical modeling, and machine learning.
• Contribute to agentic AI workflows, AI orchestration, and enterprise GenAI solutions.
• Develop intuitive analytics interfaces using technologies such as Streamlit, Chainlit, React, and modern UI/UX practices.
• Support Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, Terraform, and Ansible within data and AI environments.
• Monitor, troubleshoot, optimize, and support production data, BI, AI/ML, and GenAI solutions.
• Apply security, governance, compliance, cloud strategy, and FinOps principles to enterprise data and AI initiatives.
• Prepare architecture diagrams, technical documentation, presentations, recommendations, and other project artifacts.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders, developers, analysts, vendors, and technical support teams.
• Mentor team members and provide knowledge transfer and technical guidance.

Mandatory Skills & Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, BI engineering, and/or analytics.
• 5+ years leading teams of at least three members on enterprise BI or large-scale data warehouse initiatives.
• 5+ years of experience with AI/ML and/or Generative AI technologies.
• Demonstrated experience delivering production-grade BI or data products.
• 2+ years working with ETL/ELT, cloud data warehouses such as Snowflake/Amazon Redshift, and orchestration/transformation tools such as Airflow or dbt.
• 2+ years of experience with OpenAI APIs or comparable LLM platforms, including Natural Language-to-SQL/Text-to-SQL solutions.
• 2+ years of hands-on prompt engineering for analytics, BI, or business insight applications.
• 2+ years of advanced SQL experience, including joins, window functions, optimization, and performance tuning.
• 2+ years of experience with dimensional data modeling, star/snowflake schemas, and semantic layers.
• 2+ years of experience with a major BI platform such as Power BI, Tableau, or Looker.
• Strong experience leading technical teams and collaborating with business and technical stakeholders.

Preferred Skills

• Snowflake Cortex and/or AWS Bedrock.
• Agentic AI and AI orchestration.
• TensorFlow, PyTorch, or scikit-learn.
• BigQuery and Azure Synapse.
• Docker and Kubernetes.
• Terraform and Ansible.
• Streamlit, Chainlit, React, or similar technologies.
• AWS, Snowflake, Power BI, Tableau, or AI/ML certifications.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.

Work Location

This is a hybrid role in West Sacramento, California, requiring onsite work 2 3 business days per week. Candidates must be able to meet the onsite requirement.

Why Join Us

• Work with modern Data, BI, Cloud, AI/ML, and Generative AI technologies.
• Lead high-impact enterprise data and AI initiatives.
• Collaborate with technical and business teams across complex projects.
• Opportunity for long-term engagement and technical leadership.

About NetworkPedia

NetworkPedia is a certified women-owned technology and talent solutions company, providing IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, managed services, and specialized recruitment across North Americas and beyond. Our mission is to empower organizations with secure, scalable, and innovative technology while building inclusive teams that reflect the communities we serve. As a trusted partner, we deliver expertise across networking, cloud, IT service management, and security operations, along with staffing solutions for niche technology roles. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in all our hiring practices and ensure that our opportunities are open to all qualified applicants, without discrimination on the basis of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.

How to Apply

Apply directly via LinkedIn Easy Apply. All applications are routed to our central recruitment email: .