Cruz Street - Data Engineer (AWS & Azure) Contract to Hire

Data Engineer is needed in Vero Beach, United States.

Client: Cruz Street

Location: Vero Beach, FL

Contract: Part-time, Contract

Job Description

Cruz Street is seeking a hands-on Data Engineer for a contract-to-hire role supporting client data solutions and the development of DashProphet 2.0, its AI-enabled SaaS analytics product. The role begins at approximately 20 hours per week, with a potential path to full-time employment as the company grows.

The successful candidate will build production-grade data pipelines across AWS and Azure, develop analytics-ready data models, support embedded and multi-tenant analytics, and prepare data foundations for AI and data science applications.

Key responsibilities include:

• Building integrations with REST APIs, SFTP, databases, and files, including authentication, pagination, rate limiting, and incremental loading.
• Developing S3-based lake and lakehouse architectures using raw, staged, and curated data zones, Parquet or Iceberg, and the Glue Data Catalog.
• Creating ETL and ELT pipelines in Python and PySpark using AWS Glue and Azure Data Factory.
• Developing dimensional data models, stored procedures, and optimized queries in Amazon Redshift and Azure Synapse, with ad hoc access through Athena.
• Building QuickSight datasets and dashboards, including SPICE and row-level security for multi-tenant environments.
• Orchestrating workflows with Step Functions, EventBridge, Lambda, and related monitoring, alerting, and data quality controls.
• Preparing data pipelines and features for AI applications using services such as Amazon Bedrock, SageMaker, embeddings, and vector stores.
• Contributing to infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD using tools such as CDK, CloudFormation, Terraform, GitHub Actions, and CodePipeline.
• Troubleshooting production issues and conducting root cause analysis.
• Participating in client requirements sessions, estimating work, and producing clear technical documentation.

The role will support client solutions across multiple industries, embedded analytics, the DashProphet 2.0 product, Cruz Street’s Context Warehouse and QuickSight Hub offerings, AI and data science initiatives, and reusable data engineering accelerators.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• At least five years of AWS data engineering experience.
• At least five years of Python data engineering experience.
• At least five years of experience designing and building advanced data solutions, including APIs, SFTP, AWS Glue, Azure Data Factory, data lakes, lakehouses, warehouses, and relational databases.
• Strong SQL skills, including analytical data modeling and query optimization.
• At least one year of experience planning, building, deploying, and maintaining agentic AI applications.
• Working knowledge of Git, CI/CD, and collaborative software development.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfort working directly with clients and participating in requirements discussions.
• Ability to work on a 1099 contract basis for approximately 20 hours per week.
• Ability to commute to Vero Beach, Florida for in-person collaboration.

Preferred Qualifications

• Five or more years of Azure data engineering experience.
• AWS or Azure certifications in solutions architecture, DevOps, data engineering, or AI and machine learning.
• Experience with Bedrock, SageMaker, OpenSearch vector search, Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search, RAG, embeddings, and vector databases.
• Experience building multi-tenant SaaS data platforms or embedded analytics solutions.
• Experience with Apache Iceberg, Lake Formation, open table formats, and data governance.
• Consulting or client-facing delivery experience.
• Experience working with regulated data, such as HIPAA-protected information, and applying data security best practices.

Additional Information

Compensation and Benefits

• Contract rate starting at $75 per hour, negotiable based on experience and fit.
• Approximately 20 expected hours per week at the start.
• Potential full-time conversion with a starting salary of $115,000 plus healthcare, paid time off, and a 401(k).
• Flexible schedule.
• Professional development assistance.
• Support for AWS certifications and training.

Work Arrangement

• Hybrid remote position based in Vero Beach, Florida 32960.
• In-person collaboration at Cruz Street’s headquarters, with the remainder of work performed remotely and on a deliverable basis.

Application Information

Applicants should submit a resume and a short description of an end-to-end data pipeline they have built, including the data sources, services used, and outcome. Applicants should also provide AWS or Azure certification IDs or Credly links.

Applicants may be asked whether they have built and deployed an agentic AI application in production and to briefly describe that application and an end-to-end data pipeline.

About Cruz Street

Cruz Street is a data engineering, analytics, business intelligence, AI, data science, and enterprise software company headquartered in Vero Beach, Florida. Founded in New York in 2018, the company is an AWS QuickSight Service Delivery Partner serving clients across industries including media and advertising, healthcare and life sciences, SaaS, financial services, retail, and professional organizations.

Cruz Street is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants of all backgrounds. The company does not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic.