Senior Data Engineer

One of the country's leading electric vehicle manufacturing companies is searching for a Senior Data Engineer to join their Core Data and Operational Insights team in Palo Alto, CA. In this role, you will design and maintain scalable data ingestion pipelines, build and model datasets in Databricks using Fivetran and ELT patterns, and develop dbt models that power operational and quality metrics. You will also own data quality monitoring across critical pipelines and collaborate with analytics and product teams to deliver reliable, high-value data products that directly inform business decisions. This exciting opportunity to build and scale a critical core data platform begins as an initial W2 contract based onsite in Palo Alto, CA offering competitive benefits and the strong potential of extension or conversion. Responsibilities • Design, build, and operate scalable data ingestion pipelines from operational, quality, test, and service systems into Databricks using Fivetran, AWS, and standardized ELT patterns • Develop and maintain dbt models supporting operational, quality, and ramp metrics following established analytics standards • Implement and manage data quality checks, audits, and monitoring to ensure freshness, completeness, and pipeline contract compliance • Optimize Databricks jobs, Fivetran connectors, and dbt runs for performance, cost-efficiency, and reliability — including orchestration, alerting, and runbook maintenance • Partner with analytics engineers and product teams to transform data models into high-value data products that drive analytics applications • Contribute to the semantic layer and data catalog to enable GenAI agents and self-service tools to reliably discover and query operational data • Identify and drive upstream improvements to source systems and schemas to reduce data quality issues at their origin Skills & Experience • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field. Equivalent practical experience is accepted. • 6+ years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering, or Software Engineering with production data systems • Strong proficiency in SQL and Python for building scalable pipelines and data transformations • Hands-on experience building ELT pipelines on modern cloud data platforms, with Databricks strongly preferred • Deep expertise with dbt, including model development, testing, documentation, and CI/CD integration • Experience with managed ingestion tools such as Fivetran, Airbyte, or similar platforms • Proven ability to design, operate, and monitor production-grade data pipelines with strong observability practices • Strong collaboration and communication skills with the ability to work cross-functionally with engineering, analytics, and operational stakeholders Preferred: • Experience with manufacturing, MES, quality, or operational data environments • Familiarity with data contracts, schema governance, or semantic layer development • Exposure to analytics tools such as Hex, Tableau, or Power BI • Experience enabling AI or advanced analytics use cases on operational data, or working with streaming/near-real-time pipeline You will receive the following benefits: • Medical Insurance - Four medical plans to choose from for you and your family • Dental & Orthodontia Benefits • Vision Benefits • Health Savings Account (HSA) • Health and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts • Voluntary Life Insurance, Long-Term & Short-Term Disability Insurance • Hospital Indemnity Insurance • Paid Sick Time Leave • Legal and Identity Protection Plans • Pre-tax Commuter Benefit • 529 College Saver Plan Motion Recruitment Partners is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/vets. All applicants must be currently authorized to work on a full-time basis in the country for which they are applying, and no sponsorship is currently available. Employment is subject to the successful completion of a pre-employment screening. Accommodation will be provided in all parts of the hiring process as required under Motion Recruitment Employment Accommodation policy. Applicants need to make their needs known in advance.