onsite
Information Technology Specialist - Data Management - Smithsonian Institution
Software Engineer
Lead data strategy and operations for a leading research institution, designing and maintaining robust data pipelines, governance frameworks, and metadata standards to unlock insights across collections and audiences.
About the role
Key Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and maintain scalable ETL pipelines to ingest, transform, and load data from diverse museum and research sources into enterprise data warehouses.
- Implement and enforce data governance policies, including data quality standards, lineage tracking, and access controls to ensure compliance with institutional and regulatory requirements.
- Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to define metadata schemas, develop data dictionaries, and support data catalog initiatives that enhance discoverability and reuse.
- Utilize SQL and Python to perform data profiling, cleansing, and advanced analytics, providing actionable insights to stakeholders.
- Document data architecture, processes, and best practices, and deliver training sessions to promote data literacy across the organization.
Requirements
- 5+ years of experience in data engineering or data management within a large, complex organization.
- Proficiency in SQL, Python, and ETL tools (e.g., Airflow, dbt, Talend).
- Strong understanding of data governance frameworks, metadata standards, and data quality practices.
- Excellent communication skills and ability to translate technical concepts for non‑technical audiences.
- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) is a plus.