Senior Data Engineer

About this job

WPP is a trusted growth partner for the world's leading brands, uniting media intelligence, data solutions, creativity, and transformative enterprise solutions. As part of a global initiative to unify data landscapes into a standardized, AI-ready platform, WPP is hiring a Senior Data Engineer based in Chennai. In this role, you will act as a foundational member of the central platform team, building governed, high-quality, and reusable data assets. A normal day in this position involves developing and optimizing data transformation pipelines, designing scalable dimensional models, automating data quality and governance via Databricks Unity Catalog and dbt, ingesting data from diverse sources using Python, and collaborating with global and DevOps teams to establish robust CI/CD workflows using GitHub Actions. You will also help build data products that support cutting-edge Generative AI and Agentic AI applications while mentoring junior engineers.

Responsibilities

• Develop, test, and deploy optimized data transformation pipelines using dbt and SQL on Databricks.
• Design and maintain scalable dimensional models with advanced partitioning.
• Automate data governance, security, and quality checks using Databricks Unity Catalog and dbt.
• Manage multi-source data ingestion using Python and frameworks like dlt.
• Build enterprise data products that support Generative AI and Agentic AI applications.
• Partner with DevOps teams to configure CI/CD workflows through GitHub Actions.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers through technical guidance and code reviews.

Requirements

• 5+ years of hands-on data engineering experience in production environments.
• Expert-level proficiency in dbt Core, including project structure, macros, and testing.
• Strong practical experience with Databricks Lakehouse Platform, Databricks SQL, and Unity Catalog.
• Proficiency in Python for data ingestion, automation, and data loading libraries.
• Deep understanding of advanced SQL, query optimization, and dimensional modeling.
• Proven ability to handle diverse ingestion patterns from APIs, SFTP, and SQL databases.
• Solid cloud fundamentals including object storage and secret management.
• Experience configuring CI/CD workflows within frameworks like GitHub Actions.

Good to have

• Understanding of Generative AI, Large Language Models, RAG, and vector databases.
• Experience preparing enterprise data specifically for GenAI use cases.

Who should apply

This role suits an execution-focused, senior data engineering professional with over five years of dedicated hands-on experience in building production-grade data solutions. Candidates should have deep technical expertise in dbt, Databricks, and Python, along with a passion for enabling next-generation AI applications. It is ideal for collaborative engineers who thrive in global, distributed team environments and possess strong communication skills to mentor others. Freshers are not eligible for this senior position.

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