Principal, Data Engineering (AI) (Chicago)

Be a part of our success story

Launch offers talented and motivated people the opportunity to do the best work of their lives in a dynamic and growing company. Through competitive salaries, outstanding benefits, internal advancement opportunities, and recognized community involvement, you will have the chance to create a career you can be proud of. Your new trajectory starts here at Launch!

The Role

Launch is actively seeking a visionary Principal of Data Engineering to architect and deliver enterprise data platforms while driving transformational outcomes for clients. This role combines deep technical expertise in modern data platforms with strategic consulting capabilities. You will lead implementations using Azure Fabric, Snowflake, and Databricks, leveraging AI-native development tools to accelerate delivery and maintain engineering rigor.

Responsibilities Include

• Lead enterprise data platform transformations, architecting scalable solutions on Azure Fabric, Snowflake, and Databricks.
• Design modern data architectures supporting real-time analytics, ML workloads, and AI agent integration.
• Drive technical pre-sales including solution architecture, proposal development, and executive presentations.
• Implement AI-native development workflows using Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and MCP servers.
• Establish engineering practices leveraging AI tools for pipeline development, testing automation, and intelligent data quality monitoring.
• Architect solutions using Azure Fabric, Snowflake, and Databricks with governance and compliance frameworks.
• Recruit and develop high-performing data engineers and architects.
• Mentor teams on effective use of AI development tools while reinforcing engineering fundamentals.
• Contribute to business development through active participation in sales cycles and strategic partnership development.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• 12+ years in enterprise data platform engineering, with 5+ years in consulting or client-facing delivery roles.
• Proven track record leading platform transformations with project budgets exceeding $10M.
• Strong executive presence and ability to influence C-suite stakeholders.
• Expert-level proficiency in Azure Fabric, Snowflake, and Databricks.
• Hands-on experience with AI-native development tools (Claude Code, MCP servers, GitHub Copilot).
• Proficiency in modern data stack: dbt Labs, Airflow, Kafka, vector databases, and real-time streaming.
• Strong programming skills in Python, SQL, and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Bicep).

Nice-to-Have

• Certifications: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305), SnowPro Advanced, Databricks Data Engineer Professional.
• Industry-specific certifications in financial services, healthcare, retail, or manufacturing.

Compensation & Benefits

As an employee at Launch, you will grow your skills and experience through a variety of exciting project work (across industries and technologies) with some of the top companies in the world! Our employees receive full benefits—medical, dental, vision, short-term disability, long-term disability, life insurance, and matched 401k. We also have an uncapped, take-what-you-need PTO policy. The anticipated base wage range for this role is $220,000 - $245,000. Education and experience will be highly considered, and we are happy to discuss your wage expectations in more detail throughout our internal interview process.