Data Engineer: Lakehouse & Real-Time Analytics (Hybrid)

Contract Data Engineer

Cork, Ireland | Hybrid (2 Days On-Site) | €450-€550 Per Day

Overview

A leading multinational organisation is seeking an experienced Contract Data Engineer to join a major cloud data platform transformation programme. Working within a growing platform engineering team, you will help design and build a modern lakehouse architecture that powers real-time analytics, machine learning, and AI-driven products across the business.

This is a hands-on engineering role where you'll be contributing from day one, working alongside analytics engineers, data architects, and ML teams to deliver scalable, production-grade data solutions.

Contract Details

• Location: Cork City Centre (Hybrid - 2 days on-site)
• Contract Length: 6 months initially
• Rate: €450-€550 per day (DOE)
• Start Date: ASAP
• Extension Potential: Strong likelihood of extension

Key Responsibilities

As a Contract Data Engineer, you will:

• Design and develop scalable batch and streaming data pipelines within a cloud-based lakehouse environment
• Build and optimise ELT processes using modern data engineering practices
• Develop transformation layers and data models using dbt and Apache Spark
• Implement real-time data ingestion solutions using Kafka and event-driven architectures
• Deliver robust data quality, observability, monitoring, and alerting capabilities
• Support AI and Machine Learning teams by building feature pipelines and AI-ready data infrastructure
• Contribute to CI/CD processes and Infrastructure-as-Code deployments
• Optimise cloud performance, reliability, and cost efficiency
• Help establish data governance, lineage, and cataloguing standards within a GDPR-compliant environment

Essential Skills & Experience

• 4+ years' commercial experience in Data Engineering
• Expert-level SQL skills
• Strong Python development experience
• Hands-on production experience with Databricks and/or Snowflake
• Experience building large-scale solutions using Apache Spark
• Pipeline orchestration experience using Airflow, Dagster, or similar tools
• Strong experience with dbt for data transformation and modelling
• Cloud platform expertise across AWS or Azure
• Experience with cloud data services such as:
  • S3
  • ADLS
  • Glue
  • Synapse
  • Lambda
  • Azure Functions
• CI/CD and Git-based development workflows
• Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code experience

Desirable Skills

Experience with any of the following would be advantageous:

• Kafka, Kinesis, or Event Hubs
• Data observability tools such as Monte Carlo, Soda, or Great Expectations
• GenAI, LLM workflows, vector databases, or RAG pipelines
• Data governance and cataloguing tools including Unity Catalog, Purview, or Collibra
• FinOps and cloud cost optimisation initiatives

What's on Offer

• Opportunity to work on a large-scale greenfield data platform transformation
• Exposure to cutting-edge cloud, AI, and analytics technologies
• Competitive daily rate contract
• Modern city-centre office with hybrid working flexibility

GCS is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.