Lead Data Engineer (Remote)

Who We Are At 8th Light, we bring life to the best ideas. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Chicago, we are a technology solutions consultancy that partners with organizations from early-stage startups to the world's largest companies. We take on hard software challenges and turn them into durable results. We build agentic products, the platforms they run on, and the engineering and design at every layer. Our commitment to quality means we deliver solutions we’re truly proud of, while our curiosity sparks innovation and breakthrough thinking. 8th Lights thrive in an environment that champions continuous education, fueling our growth through mentorship and hands-on work. We foster an open, collaborative culture grounded in honesty that builds trust, and believe true success is measured by the outcomes we create for our clients. If this kind of work and our kind of people energizes you, you’ve found the right place. Who You Are You've built a track record of data engineering work others rely on, typically over the course of 6 or more years. You own the data layer of an engagement, from raw and messy sources to analytics-ready data, and you like being handed problems you haven't solved before. More than any single tool, you bring the drive to pick up unfamiliar technology and make it work. In your previous experience, you have: Designed and built scalable data pipelines that ingest, transform, and move data from sources like EHRs, claims, APIs, and CRMs Worked hands-on with at least one cloud data platform (Snowflake, Databricks, Azure Data Factory, AWS Redshift, or Google BigQuery) Written and tuned production SQL, including query optimization and debugging Used Python or another language like Scala or Java to automate data workflows Applied ETL/ELT principles, data warehousing, and data modeling to real client problems Delivered projects on AWS, Azure, or GCP Picked up new and unfamiliar tools quickly, treating unknown challenges as part of the work rather than a