Senior Data Engineer | ThoughtLabs | Arendonk, Belgium

Position Summary

ThoughtLabs is actively seeking an experienced, high-caliber, and technical Senior Data Engineer with extensive professional experience in cloud data warehousing, data transformation pipelines, and dimensional modeling to join our European Institution project on a long-term contract basis with hybrid on-site working in Arendonk, Belgium (Wednesday and Thursday on-site). In this critical data engineering role, you will be responsible for designing, building, scaling, and maintaining robust Snowflake data architectures, dbt transformation workflows, and advanced analytical pipelines. You will leverage your deep specialist expertise in Snowflake, dbt, advanced SQL, Kimball dimensional data modeling, Git-based CI/CD workflows, and emerging AI tools (Copilot, Snowflake Cortex) to deliver uncompromised data integrity, high-performance querying, and operational excellence. This opportunity offers competitive compensation, executive technical visibility, and exceptional career growth prospects within a premier global technology consulting and European framework recruitment enterprise.

Detailed Job Description

As a Senior Data Engineer supporting ThoughtLabs on a long-term contract project for a European Institution in Arendonk, Belgium, you will take full operational, tactical, and technical ownership of cloud data warehouse architecture, pipeline development, dbt modeling, and code quality governance. Your day-to-day responsibilities include designing and implementing scalable data ingestion and transformation pipelines using Snowflake and dbt, writing complex advanced SQL queries, establishing Kimball dimensional data modeling schemas, conducting thorough Git-based code reviews, maintaining CI/CD deployment pipelines, exploring and integrating AI capabilities (GitHub Copilot, Snowflake Cortex), troubleshooting data integration bottlenecks, and collaborating closely with cross-functional data analysts, software engineers, and European project stakeholders. You will utilize your proactive troubleshooting and analytical problem-solving skills to resolve complex data architecture bottlenecks under strict enterprise service level agreements.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and deploy scalable cloud data warehouses, data models, and analytics pipelines using Snowflake.
• Build, maintain, and optimize robust data transformation workflows and modular data models utilizing dbt (data build tool).
• Write highly optimized advanced SQL queries, stored procedures, and data processing scripts for high-performance reporting.
• Implement enterprise data modeling standards using Kimball dimensional data modeling methodologies (star schemas, fact/dimension tables).
• Manage source control via Git, conduct rigorous peer code reviews, and maintain automated CI/CD deployment pipelines.
• Explore, integrate, and leverage cutting-edge AI technologies including GitHub Copilot and Snowflake Cortex to accelerate data engineering.
• Monitor data pipeline execution telemetry, investigate data discrepancies, and resolve performance bottlenecks.
• Collaborate seamlessly with multidisciplinary data science, business intelligence, and project management squads.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Analytics, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Minimum of 5+ years of progressive professional experience in software engineering, data warehousing, and big data pipeline development.
• Strong, demonstrable hands‑on expertise in Snowflake cloud data warehousing architecture and administration.
• Deep practical proficiency in dbt (data build tool) for modular data transformation and testing.
• Proven operational mastery of advanced SQL programming and complex query tuning.
• Solid practical experience in Kimball dimensional data modeling methodologies and enterprise data warehouse design.
• Comprehensive experience with Git version control, code review best practices, and CI/CD deployment automation.
• Exceptional analytical, troubleshooting, debugging, and problem‑solving capabilities under active enterprise environments.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills with strong cross‑functional collaboration abilities.
• Mandatory legal work eligibility and physical availability for hybrid on‑site operations in Arendonk, Belgium (Wednesdays and Thursdays).

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Practical coding proficiency in Python for data processing automation and custom integration scripting.
• Prior professional working experience or exposure to SAP S/4HANA data integration, Microsoft Fabric, or Power BI.
• Familiarity with Apache Iceberg open table formats and lakehouse storage architectures.