Data Engineering Lead

We are tech transformation specialists, uniting human expertise with AI to create scalable tech solutions. With over 8,000 CI&Ters around the world, we've built partnerships with more than 1,000 clients during our 30 years of history. Artificial Intelligence is our reality.
Location: Brazil - Hybrid Client Industry: Consumer Goods / Food & Beverage
What You'll Do Lead data engineering teams in a complex multinational environment where success depends on your ability to navigate organizational complexity, champion data governance, and connect the dots across global stakeholders. This is a leadership-first role (60-65% soft skills, 35-40% technical) where your energy, curiosity, and diplomatic assertiveness matter as much as your Databricks expertise.
Real Impact: Your work will transform how the client operates with data globally - establishing governance maturity, breaking down organizational silos, and enabling teams to deliver end-to-end solutions faster. You'll shape not just the technical platform, but the culture around data excellence.

Your Day-to-Day:
Leading & Unblocking: - Lead multiple data engineering teams across Brazil and global locations, mentoring team members on both technical excellence and business context - Act as the "glue" that connects all moving pieces - ensuring nothing falls through the cracks in cross-functional projects - Remove obstacles for your teams, facilitating productivity and keeping projects moving forward - Evaluate not just what your teams deliver, but how they deliver it - coaching toward scalable, maintainable solutions - Navigate multinational bureaucracy effectively, knowing when to push back diplomatically and when to align
Stakeholder Engagement & Business Connection: - Engage proactively with business stakeholders (both in Brazil and globally) to understand priorities, constraints, and context - Facilitate communication between technical teams and business leaders, translating between technical and business language - Ask insightful questions that demonstrate genuine curiosity about Client's business (not just accepting requirements at face value) - Balance global directives with local execution, providing constructive feedback when needed - Drive adoption of self-service analytics tools across the organization
Data Governance Architecture (Critical Focus Area): - Structure and evolve a centralized data catalog, data dictionary, and end-to-end data lineage - Define and enforce corporate data standards: business rules, naming conventions, and data models - Implement and monitor data quality frameworks: KPIs, automated alerts, SLA tracking with data providers - Ensure governed data architecture following medallion patterns (landing/bronze/silver/gold layers) - Apply Master Data Management (MDM) best practices to eliminate data silos - Establish clear data ownership across teams and align everyone around a single source of truth
Technical Leadership (Supporting Role): - Leverage Databricks to design, validate, and optimize data solutions for performance and scalability - Conduct code reviews and provide constructive feedback aligned with engineering best practices - Define coding standards, documentation requirements, and architectural guidelines across all data teams - Stay current with data engineering trends and recommend appropriate technologies for our context
What You Need to Succeed
Core Leadership & Soft Skills Foundation: - Dynamic, proactive, energetic personality (this is non-negotiable) - Inquisitive and genuinely curious about business context - you naturally ask "why" and seek to understand organizational dynamics - Advanced/Fluent English - daily communication with US and global teams (MANDATORY) - Multinational company experience - you've successfully navigated complex, matrixed global organizations (7+ years in corporate environments) - Diplomatic assertiveness - you can express opinions constructively, push back when needed, and build consensus - Exceptional communication skills - equally effective with technical engineers and C-level business stakeholders - Emotional intelligence - you read the room, build relationships at all levels, and adapt your approach to different audiences
Important Technical & Experience Requirements: - Deep data governance expertise (beyond basic level) - you can articulate governance frameworks, implementation strategies, and lessons learned from real-world deployments - Databricks production experience - advanced knowledge for designing data solutions (MANDATORY) - End-to-end project leadership - proven track record leading cross-functional data initiatives from conception to production - Team mentorship experience - you've developed junior/mid-level engineers and can demonstrate their growth - Apache Spark proficiency and cloud data platforms (Azure/AWS/GCP) - Strong programming skills - Python, Scala, or Java for data engineering - Data modeling & architecture - ETL/ELT processes, data warehousing patterns, modern data stack understanding
We'd Love If You Also Have: - Power BI or similar BI platforms (for driving self-service analytics adoption) - Spanish language skills (desirable but not required) - Data quality frameworks (Great Expectations, Soda, etc.) - Experience with data cataloging tools (DataHub, Collibra, Alation) - Modern table formats (Delta Lake, Iceberg) - FinOps or cost optimization experience in cloud environments

Quick Apply Checklist
You're likely a great fit if you can say: "I'm energetic, proactive, and people describe me as dynamic" "I've successfully navigated complex multinational organizations and understand corporate politics" "I can articulate specific data governance implementations I've led with measurable outcomes" "I've led teams end-to-end through complex projects, unblocking obstacles along the way" "I'm genuinely curious about business - I research companies before interviews and ask insightful questions" "I have production experience with Databricks and can discuss architecture decisions I've made" "I communicate fluently in English and can hold technical + business conversations" "I know when to diplomatically push back and when to align with leadership direction"
This role probably isn't for you if: You prefer pure technical work over people leadership and stakeholder management You're more comfortable with code than with communication You've never worked in a large multinational corporate environment You can't articulate depth in data governance beyond surface-level concepts You're looking for a role where you can just execute tasks without questioning context Your English isn't strong enough for daily global team interactions

Don't have everything? That's okay If you have strong governance experience, proven leadership in multinational environments, and genuine energy for the business side of data - we encourage you to apply even if your technical skills are slightly below what's listed. We can coach technical skills; we can't coach curiosity, energy, and emotional intelligence.
Our benefits:
-Health and dental insurance -Meal and food allowance -Childcare assistance -Extended paternity leave -Partnership with gyms and health and wellness professionals via Wellhub (Gympass) TotalPass; -Profit Sharing and Results Participation (PLR); -Life insurance -Continuous learning platform (CI&T University); -Discount club -Free online platform dedicated to physical, mental, and overall well-being -Pregnancy and responsible parenting course -Partnerships with online learning platforms -Language learning platform And many more
More details about our benefits here:
At CI&T, inclusion starts at the first contact. If you are a person with a disability, it is important to present your assessment during the selection process. See which data needs to be included in the report by clicking here.This way, we can ensure the support and accommodations that you deserve. If you do not yet have the assessment, don't worry: we can support you in obtaining it.
We have a dedicated Health and Well-being team, inclusion specialists, and affinity groups who will be with you at every stage. Count on us to make this journey side by side.

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