[Remote] Data Engineer

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Southwest Airlines is an airline company seeking a Data Engineer for its AIDT Delivery & Operations Team. The role designs, builds, and manages scalable data pipelines, streaming integrations, and analytical solutions using AWS and SQL, while supporting reliable data products and actionable business insights. The engineer also partners with cross-functional stakeholders to improve infrastructure, resolve technical issues, and support operational and enterprise outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Assemble large, complex sets of data that meet non-functional and functional business requirements
• Identify, design and implement internal process improvements including re-designing infrastructure for greater scalability, optimizing data delivery, and automating manual processes
• Build required infrastructure for optimal extraction, transformation and loading of data from various data sources using AWS and SQL technologies
• Build analytical tools to utilize the data pipeline, providing actionable insight into key business performance metrics including operational efficiency and customer acquisition
• Work with stakeholders including data, design, product and executive teams and assisting them with data-related technical issues
• Work with stakeholders including the Executive, Product, Data and Design teams to support their data infrastructure needs while assisting with data-related technical issues
• Generate or adapt equipment and technology to serve user needs
• May perform other job duties as directed by Employee's Leaders

Skills

• Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology, including applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services
• Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models
• Ability to use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems
• Ability to understand new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making
• Skilled in identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions
• Ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem
• Ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events)
• Ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources)
• Ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations)
• Ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material
• Required: High School Diploma or GED
• Required: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information systems or similar fields of study or equivalent advanced level experience
• Required: Intermediate level experience, fully functioning broad knowledge in:
• Cloud infrastructure, DataLake
• ETL experience ensuring source to target data integrity
• Various filetypes (Delimited Text, Fixed Width, XML, JSON, Parque)
• ServiceBus, setting up ingress and egress within a subscription, or relevant AWS Cloud services administrative experience
• Unit Testing, Code Quality tools, CI/CD Technologies, Security and Container Technologies
• Agile development experience and Agile ceremonies and practices
• Ability to perform work duties from [limited space work station/desk/office area] for extended periods of time
• Ability to communicate and interact with others in the English language to meet the demands of the job
• Ability to use a computer and other office productivity tools with sufficient speed and accuracy to meet the demands of the job
• Must be a U.S. citizen or have authorization to work in the United States as defined by the Immigration Reform Act of 1986
• Must be at least 18 years of age
• Must be able to travel and /or attend Company and non-Company facilities and remote locations such as remote-based offices as necessary
• Preferred: Proficiency in Python (including PySpark) and SQL
• Preferred: Experience using cloud computing tools, particularly AWS Lambda, AWS Glue, and EMR (or equivalent cloud data‑processing services)
• Preferred: Experience ingesting real‑time streaming data using tools such as Confluent Kafka
• Preferred: Experience orchestrating ETL workflows using AWS Step Functions or EventBridge
• Preferred: Familiarity with Data Warehousing methodologies and Relational Databases
• Preferred: Experience developing robust data pipelines with error handling, monitoring, and quality checks
• Preferred: Strong knowledge of modern data formats such as Parquet
• Preferred: Ability to perform Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) to assess data quality, identify patterns, and generate actionable insights

Benefits

• For eligible Leadership and individual contributor roles, additional bonus opportunities are available and awarded at the discretion of the company.
• Fly for free, as a privilege, on any open seat on all Southwest flights (your eligible dependents too).
• Southwest will help fund your 401(k) retirement savings with Company contributions up to 9.3% of your eligible earnings.
• Potential for annual ProfitSharing contribution in the Southwest Retirement Savings Plan—when Southwest profits, you profit.
• Competitive health insurance for you and your eligible dependents (including pets).
• Southwest offers health plan coverage options that start from the very first day of employment. You will have 30 days to select and enroll in your health plan with coverage retroactively available to your first day of employment.
• This role is offered as a remote workplace position.

Company Overview