Job Description

Your success is a train ride away!

As we move America’s workforce toward the future, Amtrak connects businesses and communities across the country. We employ more than 20,000 diverse, energetic professionals in a variety of career fields throughout the United States. The safety of our passengers, our employees, the public and our operating environment is our priority, and the success of our railroad is due to our employees.

 

Are you ready to join our team?

Our values of ‘Do the Right Thing, Excel Together and Put Customers First’ are at the heart of what matters most to us, and our Core Capabilities, ‘Building Trust, Accountability, Effective Communication, Customer Focus, and Proactive Safety & Security’ are what every employee needs to know and do to be most impactful at Amtrak. By living the Amtrak values, focusing on our capabilities, and actively embracing and fostering diverse ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives, together we will honor our past and make Amtrak a company of the future.

 

Job Summary

Work Environment: Work will be onsite in Washington DC, Philadelphia PA, or Wilmington DE. Requests for remote work will be reviewed, not guaranteed.

 

The Principal Data Engineer will lead the design, development, and optimization of our large-scale data infrastructure and data pipelines. They will serve as a technical leader, highly proficient in modern cloud data platforms, data governance tools, and business intelligence (BI) solutions. This role requires deep expertise in data architecture, data modeling, and performance tuning to ensure reliable, scalable, and high-quality data assets that drive business-critical decisions.

Essential Functions

• Architect and Design: Define and implement the architectural strategy for our enterprise data platform, focusing on scalability, security, and performance. Design and build robust, high-volume, and performant  data pipelines using cloud-native services like  AWS Data Pipelines (Glue, EMR, S3, Redshift, etc.)or  Azure Data Factory/Synapse Analytics .
• Technical Leadership: Act as a subject matter expert and mentor for junior and mid-level data engineers, setting best practices for code quality, testing, and deployment.
• Data Governance & Management: Utilize tools like  IDMC (Informatica Data Management Cloud)for data integration, quality, governance, and cataloging across the enterprise.
• Data Processing and Analysis: Develop, optimize, and manage large-scale data processing jobs using  Databricks (Spark/Delta Lake) for ETL/ELT workflows and advanced analytics.
• Coding and Scripting: Write high-quality, efficient, and well-documented code primarily in  Python for data manipulation, automation, and pipeline orchestration.
• Deployment and Automation: Implement and maintain robust  CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code (e.g., Terraform/CloudFormation) for automated deployment and management of data solutions.
• Business Intelligence: Ensure data readiness for reporting and analytics and possess working knowledge/experience with BI tools like  Tableau and  PowerBI to facilitate data consumption.
• Performance and Optimization: Monitor, troubleshoot, and tune existing data infrastructure and pipelines to ensure optimal performance and cost efficiency.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of education, training and/or relevant experience. 
• Plus 7 years of relevant work experience.
• Proficiency and hands on experience designing and implementingend-to-end data solutions in AWS (e.g., S3, EMR, Glue, Redshift, Kenesis) and/or Azure (e.g. Azure Data FActory, Synaps Analytics, Azure Data Lakre Storage)
• Experience with some of the following technologies, Databricks, Python, Apche Sparks, IDMC, Talend, CI/CD pipelines, Jenkins, Gitlab, Power BI, SQL and NoSQL

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters degree in computer science, data engineering, or related quantitative field. 
• 9+ years of relevant work experience.
• Cloud certifications (AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty, Azure Data Engineer Associate)
• Experience with real-time data streaming technologies, (Kafka, Kinesis)
• Experience with IDMC tooling

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills; collaborative team player; self-motivated
• Advanced knowledge of relevant technologies, systems, and methodologies; stays updated on emerging trends
• Skilled in analyzing complex technical issues, making sound decisions, and implementing effective problem resolution strategies

The salary/hourly range is $113,200.00 – $146,664.00. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, etc. Depending on an employee’s assigned worksite or location, Amtrak may consider a geo-pay differential to be applied to the employee’s base salary. Amtrak may offer additional incentive and pay programs to recognize and reward our employees, including a short-term incentive bonus based upon factors such as individual and company performance that is commensurate with the level of the position and/or long-term incentive plan compensation. In addition to your salary, Amtrak offers a comprehensive benefit package that includes health, dental, and vision plans; health savings accounts; wellness programs; flexible spending accounts; 401K retirement plan with employer match; life insurance; short and long term disability insurance; paid time off; back-up care; adoption assistance; surrogacy assistance; reimbursement of education expenses; Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility; Railroad Retirement sickness and retirement benefits; and rail pass privileges. Learn more about our benefits offerings here.

 

Requisition ID: 165481

Work Arrangement: 02-Remote Optional Click here for more information about work arrangements at Amtrak.
Relocation Offered: No
Travel Requirements: Up to 25%

You power our progress through your performance.

We want your work at Amtrak to be more than a job. We want your career at Amtrak to be a fulfilling experience where you find challenging work, rewarding opportunities, respect among colleagues, and attractive compensation. Amtrak maintains a culture that values high performance and recognizes individual employee contributions.

Amtrak is committed to a safe workplace free of drugs and alcohol. All Amtrak positions requires a pre-employment background check that includes prior employment verification, a criminal history check and a pre-employment drug screen.

Candidates who test positive for marijuana will be disqualified, regardless of any state or local statute, ordinance, regulation, or other law that legalizes or decriminalizes the use or possession of marijuana, whether for medical, recreational, or other use. Amtrak's pre-employment drug testing program is administered in accordance with DOT regulations and applicable law.

In accordance with DOT regulations (49 CFR § 40.25), Amtrak is required to obtain prior drug and alcohol testing records for applicants/employees intending to perform safety-sensitive duties for covered Department of Transportation positions. If an applicant/employee refuses to provide written consent for Amtrak to obtain these records, the individual will not be permitted to perform safety-sensitive functions.

 

In accordance with federal law governing security checks of covered individuals for providers of public transportation (Title 6 U.S.C. §1143), Amtrak is required to screen applicants for any permanent or interim disqualifying criminal offenses.

Note that any education requirement listed above may be deemed satisfied if you have an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

Amtrak is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race/color, to include traits historically associated with race, including but not limited to, hair texture and hairstyles such as braids, locks and twists, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions, such as lactation), national origin/ethnicity, disability (intellectual, mental and physical), veteran status, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, genetic information, citizenship or any other personal characteristics protected by law.

Job Tags

Hourly pay, Permanent employment, Temporary work, Work experience placement, Interim role, Local area, Remote work, Relocation, Flexible hours,

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