Principal Data and AI Engineer

Salary: $150,000 - 180,000 per year

Requirements:

• At least 8 years of experience in data engineering, software development, enterprise integration, or a related discipline; senior data engineering experience is preferred.
• Proven experience designing or modernizing enterprise-scale data environments.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Azure, particularly cloud data and analytics services; 5 years of experience is preferred.
• Practical experience building, integrating, or maintaining Snowflake solutions; 6 years is preferred.
• Experience with MuleSoft, API management, or comparable enterprise integration frameworks; 6 years with MuleSoft or API management is preferred.
• Advanced proficiency in SQL and Python, with 8 years preferred.
• Strong understanding of data architecture, ETL/ELT patterns, data modeling, orchestration, and integration design; 8 years in data architecture and ETL/ELT is preferred.
• Familiarity with enterprise data governance, security, metadata, and quality management.
• Exposure to data platforms supporting business intelligence, advanced analytics, machine learning, or AI; 5 years in machine learning, AI, or RAG is preferred.
• Ability to architect solutions independently while remaining involved in engineering and implementation.
• Bachelors degree in a relevant technical field or equivalent professional experience.
• Additional valued experience includes Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure AI services, Azure OpenAI, generative AI, RAG, vector search, large language models, AI agent frameworks, data cataloging, master data management, information governance, and enterprise technology transformation. Two years with AI agent frameworks or Microsoft Fabric and related services is preferred.
• Ottawa, ON location is required; the role is hybrid remote.

Responsibilities:

• Design and develop scalable enterprise data solutions using Microsoft Azure, Snowflake, and modern cloud technologies.
• Lead architecture decisions for data lakes, cloud warehouses, integration layers, and analytical data models.
• Create reusable engineering frameworks and standards that improve data accessibility, reliability, security, performance, and sustainable platform growth.
• Develop and optimize data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration workflows across enterprise applications.
• Design API-led integrations using MuleSoft and other technologies, enabling information exchange across operational systems, engineering applications, and cloud platforms.
• Explore and implement event-driven architectures and real-time data processing where needed.
• Build data foundations for machine learning, generative AI, and enterprise automation, including support for RAG, vector databases, and enterprise knowledge retrieval.
• Integrate structured and unstructured information for AI-enabled applications and decision-making, collaborating with technical stakeholders to turn AI opportunities into scalable solutions.
• Promote data integrity, traceability, security, and operational resilience through engineering practices, monitoring, observability, metadata management, data quality controls, and governance-aware designs.
• Keep enterprise data services maintainable, performant, and scalable.
• Serve as a senior technical authority, helping set platform priorities, roadmaps, and long-term engineering direction.
• Collaborate with solution architects, application development teams, business leaders, and external technology partners.
• Own complex technical initiatives from architecture and proof of concept through implementation and optimization, balancing strategic direction with hands-on delivery.

Technologies:

• AI
• API
• Architect
• Azure
• Business Intelligence
• Cloud
• ETL
• Fabric
• Support
• Machine Learning
• MuleSoft
• Python
• RAG
• SQL
• Security
• Snowflake

More:

Our client is seeking a Principal Data & AI Engineer for a senior, hands-on technical leadership opportunity shaping its enterprise data and AI capabilities. The role brings together enterprise architecture, platform engineering, systems integration, and emerging AI technologies, with an opportunity to establish foundational capabilities and influence the organizations future data and AI ecosystem. We at iSource Professionals specialize in connecting organizations with experienced Cybersecurity, Data, AI, and Digital Technology professionals, using targeted technical sourcing and practitioner-led assessments. The position is based in Ottawa, ON, with hybrid remote work, and offers $150,000–$180,000 per year, dental care, and extended health care.

last updated 43 week of 2026