Junior Data Platform Administrator

About the Role

The Junior Data Platform Administrator is responsible for supporting the ingestion, processing, and ongoing maintenance of data pipelines within the MERS/Goodwill Databricks environment. This position works under the direction of the Data Lake team lead and partners with IT, finance, retail operations, and business intelligence stakeholders to deliver reliable, well-documented data assets that support organizational reporting and analytics. This is an entry-level engineering role intended to develop into broader data platform responsibilities over time. 

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, Analytics, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 0–2 years of professional or internship experience in data engineering, analytics engineering, business intelligence, or database administration.
• Working knowledge of SQL, relational databases, data modeling, and ETL/ELT concepts.
• Experience with at least one programming language, preferably Python.
• Familiarity with cloud data platforms, including Databricks, Apache Spark, or PySpark preferred.
• Understanding of structured and unstructured data formats such as CSV, JSON, and Parquet.
• Ability to troubleshoot, validate data, and interpret existing code and pipelines.
• Familiarity with Git and exposure to Microsoft Azure or Entra ID is a plus.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Detail-oriented with a commitment to continuous learning and data security best practices.

Primary Duties/Responsibilities

• Build, monitor, and maintain data ingestion pipelines into the Databricks from various source systems including API endpoints and POS systems.  
• Develop and maintain notebooks, jobs, and workflows in Databricks using PySpark and SQL.  
• Perform routine maintenance of the Databricks environment, including cluster configuration assistance, job scheduling, pipeline reruns, and data quality validation.  
• Investigate and resolve pipeline failures, data freshness issues, and schema drift; document root cause and remediation steps.  
• Apply medallion architecture practices (bronze, silver, gold) under the direction of senior team members to organize raw, refined, and curated data.  
• Collaborate with the Data Lake team and business stakeholders to translate reporting and analytics requirements into data engineering tasks.  
• Maintain accurate documentation of data sources, pipelines, table schemas, and operational runbooks.  
• Support data governance practices including access control, sensitivity classification, and audit logging in accordance with organizational requirements.  
• Participate in code reviews, version control workflows, and CI/CD processes for data engineering assets.  
• Respond to ad hoc data requests and assist with data extraction and validation tasks as assigned.  
• Participate in team meetings, status reporting, and ongoing skill development activities.  
• Perform other duties as assigned. 

Benefits

• Individual and family medical benefits for full-time employees working 30 or more hours per week the first day of the month after date of hire.
• Individual and family dental and vision benefits on the first of the month following the hire date for employees working 20 or more hours week.
• Voluntary Life and AD&D Insurance on the first of the month following the hire date for employees working 20 or more hours per week.
• 403(B) Retirement on date of hire for employees working 20 or more hours per week.
• 403(B) Retirement + Employer Match after one year of employment for employees working 20 or more hours per week.
• 401(A) Retirement on date of hire for employees working 20 or more hours per week.
• PTO Accrual up to 15 days based on hours worked.
• Employee store discount
• Paid holidays
• Flexible Schedules
• Career Growth Opportunities