Data Engineer

The Data Engineer will join Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.’s Plant Asset Management Technology team to help build a digital twin for a fleet of power plants. This role focuses on owning data design and modeling, integrating operational, financial, and work management information, and delivering a web application used by plant and executive audiences.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect lakehouse models and pipelines that combine telemetry from thousands of sensors and devices with work management and financial data.
• Build the data mart and semantic model that enable user-driven analytics.
• Design high-level models that connect asset-level predictive models with financial, work management, and operational data to produce a fleet-wide view of health, risk, and performance.
• Partner with business teams responsible for asset models to support seamless integration into the digital twin.
• Integrate financial perspectives into reliability and lifecycle modeling.
• Identify and incorporate additional operational, planning, and maintenance systems to enrich the digital twin over time.
• Advocate for the people who depend on the product, from plant floor staff through executives.
• Continuously improve how insights are captured, modeled, and delivered, ensuring information reaches users in formats that support faster decisions.
• Collaborate with Product, UX, software engineering, and expert stakeholders to translate data, models, and visuals into a web application.
• Support design, value, and quality practices to strengthen each release.
• Work within a small, empowered agile product team with a dedicated Product Manager (direct lead), UX designer, software engineers, and analysts to ship and learn quickly.
• Iterate with plant staff and executives to validate that the web-based product functions effectively in real-world operations.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field (or equivalent experience) with a strong foundation in data engineering, system design, and enterprise integration patterns.
• Proficiency with ETL/ELT frameworks, SQL/NoSQL, and cloud-based data platforms, especially Microsoft Azure (Storage Accounts, SQL Databases, Synapse Analytics, Data Factory, Data Lake, Delta Lake).
• Deep understanding of data architectures that support analytics and data science operations, including data modeling, star schemas, semantic layers, and decoupled system integration patterns that scale across the enterprise and support ML/AI workloads.
• Experience building and evolving Databricks models that support a digital twin by combining financial, operational, and reliability data.
• Ability to integrate business teams’ asset-level models into fleet-wide views while ensuring seamless connectivity to the broader platform.
• Capability to design clear and information-dense visualizations, including dashboards, charts, and tools for advanced users performing deep analytics.
• Comfort with scripting or programming (Python or similar) to automate pipelines and integrate with downstream systems.
• Strong communication skills to navigate technical and business discussions, align diverse teams, and lead initiatives without formal authority.
• Ability to understand business processes, identify underlying “why,” and shape solutions that connect technical decisions to business value.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with best practices, such as Stephen Few’s work.
• Ability to speak the language of software engineers and guide how data integrates into the UI.

Technical Environment

• Azure
• Databricks
• Delta Lake
• Azure SQL
• Cosmos DB
• Azure Web Apps
• Python, C#
• ETL, ELT, SQL, NoSQL
• Azure Storage Accounts
• Synapse Analytics
• Azure Data Factory
• Azure Data Lake
• Star schemas
• Semantic layers
• ML/AI

Location and Education

• Location: Springfield, MO (onsite)
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field (or equivalent experience)

Benefits

• Total compensation package reflecting experience and contributions.
• Robust 401(k) program with a generous employer match.
• PTO and paid holidays.
• Premier healthcare plan with medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family.

How the Team Builds

• Join a small, empowered agile product team led by a dedicated Product Manager, supported by a UX designer, software engineers, and analysts.
• Collaborate daily to deliver a web-based product that plant and executive users can rely on, iterating with stakeholders to confirm real-world fit.
• Build on a cloud-first Microsoft stack using Azure, Databricks (Delta Lake), Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, Azure Web Apps, and Python/C#.
• Receive leadership support and a mandate to deliver work that makes a lasting difference.

What Associated Provides

• Commitment to rewarding talent with top pay.
• Financial future support through a robust 401(k) with a generous employer match.
• Work-life integration through PTO and paid holidays.
• Healthcare coverage starting on your first day of employment, including medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family.