Senior Data Engineer

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Data Engineer to join the Enterprise Applications, Data, and AI Platforms group at K&L Gates. This role focuses on designing scalable Microsoft Fabric data platforms, establishing engineering standards, and leading the design, implementation, and optimization of Lakehouse, Warehouse, and Azure AI Foundry data pipelines. The position involves mentoring staff, collaborating with business and technology leaders, and delivering reliable governed products aligned with the firm’s AI strategy. Reporting to the Senior Manager, Data Engineering, this role emphasizes technical leadership without direct supervisory responsibilities.

Key Relationships

• Director, Enterprise Applications, Data, and AI Platforms
• Senior Manager, Data Engineering
• Senior Manager, Automation and Development
• Senior Manager, Enterprise Applications
• Senior Applications Architect
• Senior Data Architect
• Team Lead, Workflow and Automation
• Technical Program Manager
• Project Manager
• Cloud Platform Engineer
• Security Engineer
• Business Data Experts and Business Data Sponsors

Responsibilities

• Design scalable and resilient data platforms with Microsoft Fabric, including Lakehouse and Warehouse solutions on OneLake, while making independent technology decisions.
• Establish and maintain data engineering standards, patterns, and best practices across the data engineering group and the wider Enterprise Applications organization.
• Design, develop, and oversee complex data pipelines using Fabric Data Factory, Dataflow Gen2, and Fabric Notebooks for ingestion, transformation, and advanced automation.
• Lead schema design, dimensional modeling, Medallion Architecture implementation, and semantic model development to enable analytics, reporting, and AI-related workloads.
• Optimize data performance, reliability, and cost by proactively tuning, monitoring, and validating data quality through established processes.
• Ensure data governance, quality, and security standards are integrated into solutions, collaborating with governance leads to apply classification, lineage, and access controls.
• Design and maintain data pipelines supporting Azure AI Foundry workloads, including grounding datasets, vector indexing preparation, and feature data for retrieval-augmented generation.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to junior data engineers through code reviews, design sessions, and technical coaching.
• Partner with business stakeholders to convert complex requirements into scalable data architectures while collaborating within an Agile DevOps model.
• Support CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, and maintain architecture documentation.
• Serve as a model for the Enterprise Applications team philosophy, advocating enterprise processes, procedures, security, standards, and knowledge-first support.
• Define and oversee testing strategies for assigned data solutions, including quality standards, user acceptance frameworks, and validation of data accuracy.
• Leverage AI tools like Microsoft Copilot and Claude to aid development and contribute to AI solutions on the Microsoft platform stack.
• Adhere to governance standards, ensuring responsible use, data classification, and implementing model deployment controls.
• Maintain a secure workspace and travel up to 10% for offices, vendor sites, conferences, or seminars.
• Participate in scheduled release windows and production support events, including evenings or weekends, with advance notice and flexible scheduling.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field; equivalent experience accepted.
• Ability to obtain Microsoft certifications including DP-600, DP-203, and AI-900.
• Understanding of Data Mesh and Microsoft Purview, including domain ownership, federated governance, metadata management, cataloging, and sensitivity labeling.
• 5+ years designing enterprise data platforms using Microsoft Fabric, including pipelines, schema design, dimensional modeling, Medallion Architecture, and semantic layer development.
• Expertise in SQL and Python for data transformation and automation, utilizing Spark and CI/CD pipelines through Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.
• Experience with Azure AI Foundry pipelines and real-time, event-driven architecture using Microsoft Fabric Real-Time Intelligence.
• Exceptional experience applying enterprise data governance practices or contributing to data governance or architecture councils.

Skills

• Translate complex business requirements into scalable architectures and communicate designs visually using diagramming, whiteboarding, and collaborative tools.
• Collaborate effectively with technical and executive stakeholders while mentoring engineers and leading technical decisions to elevate engineering quality.
• Adapt to new technologies and utilize AI-powered tools in enterprise settings to enhance productivity and achieve improved results.

Pay

Salary range: $128,000 - $249,000 per year. Compensation will be determined during the interview process based on prior experience, relevant expertise, current business needs, and market factors.

About the Firm

K&L Gates is a fully integrated global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 offices. We have experienced dramatic growth in the past decade and now rank among the largest U.S.-based law firms in the world. We take pride in constantly striving for innovation, imagination, and an entrepreneurial spirit. We come up with big ideas and then roll up our sleeves to get the job done, guiding our clients through their most complex issues in a variety of industry sectors and across multiple regions of the world. The industry recognition the firm has garnered emanates from the foundation of a global community aligned on behalf of our clients. The people at K&L Gates are committed to working together to create a legacy for each other, the firm, our clients, and the communities in which we serve. We thrive in an inclusive and socially conscious environment that embraces diversity and takes a holistic approach to the career evolution of all our professionals.

Benefits

• Medical/Prescription Drug Coverage (including a Health Savings Account feature)
• Back-up Child/Elder Care and access to a caregiving concierge
• Dental Insurance
• Wellness Program
• Vision Insurance
• Pre-tax Commuting Benefits
• 401(k) Retirement Plan and Profit Sharing
• Business Travel Accident Insurance
• Short- and Long-term Disability Protection
• Pet Insurance
• Life Insurance (including Basic, Supplemental, Spouse, Child, and Accidental Death and Dismemberment)
• Health Advocacy Services
• Paid Time Off (25-30 days per year)
• Identity Protection/Restoration and Fraud Insurance
• Parental Leave (18 weeks, of which 6 are paid; short-term disability may provide additional paid time off)
• Student loan refinancing options and access to a student loan concierge service
• Paid Holidays (12)
• Family Building Benefits
• Breast Milk Delivery and Lactation Support Services
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Employee Assistance Program
• Professional Development and CLE Credit Opportunities
• 529 Deductions
• Relocation Accident Insurance
• Employee Referral Program
• Critical Illness Insurance
• Hybrid/Remote Work Opportunities
• Hospital Indemnity Insurance
• Perks including: Technology, Entertainment, and Travel Discount Programs
• Bereavement Leave
• All other benefits (such as leaves of absence) required by law