Data Engineer - IBM DataStage (W2 Contract Only)

Role: Data Engineer Location: Ohio (Remote) Duration: 8 Months Job Summary: We are seeking a Lead Data Engineer to oversee and guide complex, enterprise scale Salesforce data migration initiatives. This role provides technical leadership, solution direction, quality oversight, and execution leadership across all phases of data migration — from mapping and extraction through transformation, validation, mock runs, cutover, and reconciliation. You will work closely with Salesforce architects, business SMEs, DataStage developers, enterprise data teams, and project leadership to ensure the migration is accurate, compliant, repeatable, scalable, and fully documented. This is a hands-on leadership role, not an architecture-only position — you will design, review, troubleshoot, and build at key points, while guiding other engineers in execution. Key Responsibilities (Lead-Level) Technical Leadership & Ownership • Own the end-to-end technical design of Salesforce migration pipelines, including load strategy, dependency sequencing, staging architecture, and data quality controls. • Serve as the primary technical decision-maker for mapping logic, transformation patterns, validation strategies, and DataStage/Python ETL design. • Provide guidance, reviews, and sign off on mapping documents, data cleansing rules, and ETL workflows developed by senior and mid-level engineers. Execution Leadership • Oversee and coordinate all migration phases: profiling, mapping, extraction, transformation, cleansing, mock runs, remediation, final load, and post load reconciliation. • Lead the creation of repeatable migration templates (mapping patterns, validation scripts, transformation libraries, reconciliation frameworks). • Troubleshoot the most complex DataStage ETL issues, load failures, and Salesforce API constraints. Cross-Team Coordination • Partner closely with Salesforce architects to determine object load order, relationship handling, and platform constraints. • Work with business SMEs to validate mapping logic, resolve data issues, and approve reconciliation reports. • Coordinate across Salesforce, infrastructure, release management, and governance teams to align dependencies and cutover planning. Quality, Governance & Controls • Define and enforce data validation rules, DQ acceptance thresholds, rejection criteria, and reconciliation metrics. • Ensure compliance with metadata, lineage, audit, and regulatory standards. • Drive defect management workflows for mock runs and ensure timely root-cause resolution. Documentation & Repeatability • Oversee and approve the migration runbook, including workflows, controls, schedules, rollback strategies, and support procedures. • Ensure all engineers document mappings, transformation rules, cleansing logic, and validation designs to project standards. Mentorship & Team Leadership • Mentor DataStage developers, senior engineers, and analysts on transformation logic, debugging, and best practices in migration engineering. • Lead technical reviews and provide ongoing coaching to uplift the team’s maturity and consistency. Critical Deliverables (Lead-Level) • Approved end to end migration solution design (mapping strategy, transformation patterns, load sequence). • Final sign off on: • Source-to-target mappings • Transformation logic • Cleansing & validation rules • Data extraction frameworks • ETL designs (DataStage/Python) • Oversight and acceptance of 3 mock migration runs. • Decision authority on defect triage and remediation approach. • Final production load execution leadership + verification sign-off. • Post-migration reconciliation and executive ready reporting. • Complete, approved migration runbook ready for audit or reuse. Required Skills: Core Technical Expertise • Expert-level experience designing and overseeing ETL workflows using IBM DataStage. • Advanced SQL, including performance tuning, complex joins, windowing, and large-volume optimization. • Strong Python skills for automation, validation scripting, data corrections, and transformation logic. • Deep experience performing mapping, cleansing, deduplication, validation, and reconciliation for large datasets. • Strong command of data governance (DQ rules, lineage, controls, audit requirements). Salesforce Migration Expertise • Strong understanding of Salesforce data model (objects, relationships, lookups, constraints, metadata). • Experience leading migrations using Data Loader, Bulk API, or other Salesforce ingestion tooling. • Experience designing load ordering strategies and resolving hierarchical or relational dependencies. Leadership & Delivery • Proven experience leading data migration workstreams or teams. • Ability to drive technical decisions and mentor engineers. • Strong communication and stakeholder alignment skills. Nice to Have • nCindo Experience • Experience with cloud data platforms (Snowflake/Azure/AWS) for staging/pre-processing. • Familiarity with CI/CD for scheduling DataStage/ETL pipelines. • Experience in banking, regulatory, or compliance-driven data migrations.