Independently designing and optimizing cloud-based data pipelines, the contract Data Engineer - California Licensed will focus on analytics and reporting initiatives using Microsoft Fabric, Databricks, and Azure Data Factory while working 100% remotely. Key responsibilities Design, build, and optimize data pipelines to support analytics and reporting Implement governable Lakehouse and Medallion data layers and manage pipelines through code and version control Develop advanced transformation modules using Python and PySpark while mentoring junior team members Required qualifications Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent experience 8+ years of experience in data engineering, software engineering, or big data development Strong proficiency in Python, PySpark, and SQL Experience with Microsoft Fabric, Databricks, Azure Data Factory, and Azure Data Lake Storage Experience independently architecting and building end-to-end data pipelines in a cloud environment