Data Engineer (Intermediate) - Contract (6 Months) 📍 Markham, ON | Hybrid (4 Days In Office) We're seeking an experienced Data Engineer to join our client's team on an initial 6-month contract. Based in Markham, ON, you'll play a key role in designing, building, and optimizing modern data solutions within a Microsoft Azure cloud environment. Working alongside data architects, analysts, and business stakeholders, you'll help deliver scalable, high-performance data platforms that support reporting, analytics, and business intelligence initiatives. Strong performance may lead to a contract extension or permanent opportunity. What You'll Do Design, develop, and maintain scalable data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes using Azure technologies including Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, and Azure Synapse Analytics Build and support data ingestion frameworks for structured and unstructured data across Azure Data Lake and cloud-based storage platforms Develop, optimize, and troubleshoot complex SQL queries, stored procedures, and data transformation logic Collaborate with business stakeholders, data analysts, and solution architects to gather requirements and deliver robust data solutions Monitor, maintain, and optimize data pipeline performance, ensuring data quality, reliability, and scalability Implement and support data governance best practices, including documentation, data lineage, and metadata management Participate in code reviews and contribute to development standards, automation initiatives, and cloud engineering best practices Support CI/CD deployment processes and ongoing enhancements to the enterprise data platform What We're Looking For 3+ years of experience in Data Engineering, Business Intelligence, or a related data-focused role Hands-on experience developing data pipelines and data integration solutions in Microsoft Azure Strong working knowledge of Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure Data Lake Advanced SQL skills with experience designing and optimizing complex queries and data models Proficiency in Python for data processing, automation, and transformation workflows Experience working with large datasets in data warehouse and lakehouse environments Strong understanding of data engineering principles, ETL/ELT methodologies, and data architecture best practices Excellent communication skills with the ability to partner effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders Ability to work in a hybrid environment and commute to Markham, ON Nice to Have Experience with Apache Spark / PySpark for large-scale data processing Exposure to Azure DevOps, Git, and CI/CD deployment practices Knowledge of data modeling methodologies including dimensional modeling, star schema, and Data Vault Experience supporting reporting and analytics solutions using Power BI Familiarity with Infrastructure-as-Code and cloud automation tools Microsoft Azure certifications such as Azure Data Engineer Associate (DP-203)