Data Engineer

Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity for a Data Engineer at UL Research Institutes, based in our Skokie, Illinois, office.

The Data Engineer will be responsible for designing, developing, maintaining and scaling the data infrastructure for the Materials Discovery Research Institute (MDRI), ensuring the availability, reliability, and efficiency of data pipelines. The Data Engineer assists in shaping the organization’s data strategy and empowering data-driven decision-making to maximize impact.

UL Research Institutes:

At UL Research Institutes (ULRI), we expand the boundaries of safety science to create a more secure and sustainable world. For more than a century, we have studied the unintended consequences of innovation, designed solutions to mitigate risk and shared our findings with academia, scientists, manufacturers, and policymakers across industries. We identify critical safety and sustainability issues, asking the tough questions because we believe a safer world begins with knowledge.

Build a safer, more secure, and sustainable future with us. Join us and work with our Materials Discovery Research Institute, teams who conduct the research required to produce that knowledge and put into practice.

Materials Discovery Research Institute:

The Materials Discovery Research Institute (MDRI) works to develop and deploy new materials with the potential to address current global safety challenges. Pursuing materials that will help produce transformational safety breakthroughs, MDRI harnesses the power of advanced computing and high-throughput experimental methods to create innovative materials that will produce resilience for a sustainable future and protect individual and societal health.

We focus on today’s critical challenges, working to create new and better materials that will support renewable energy and environmental sustainability. Among our top priorities is research into materials capable of carbon capture and energy storage, with an eye toward reducing the adverse impacts of humanity’s reliance upon fossil fuel resources and enabling a transition to renewable energy sources.

Above all, our research builds on our commitment to a safer, more sustainable future.

What you’ll learn and achieve:

As the Data Engineer, you will play a key role in the rapid growth of UL as you:

• Design, build, maintain and scale robust data architecture to collect, process, and store data from various sources (e.g., databases, APIs, external data providers).
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand data requirements and translate them into efficient ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes.
• Develop, monitor and optimize data pipelines to ensure data accuracy, completeness, and timeliness.
• Develop and manage data warehousing solutions to enable seamless data access and analysis. Implement data modeling and schema design best practices to support analytics and reporting needs.
• Ensure data security and compliance with relevant regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA).
• Integrate disparate data sources to create a unified and comprehensive view of the organization's data. Implement data quality checks and data cleansing processes to maintain data integrity.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation of data pipelines, data sources, and data transformations. Create and update data dictionaries and metadata repositories to facilitate data discovery and understanding.
• Identify and address performance bottlenecks in data processing and storage systems. Implement caching and indexing strategies for efficient data retrieval. Collaborate with data analysts, data scientists, and business stakeholders to understand their data needs and provide support in accessing and utilizing data.
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting for data-related issues.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What you’ll experience working at UL Research Institutes:

We have pursued our mission of working for a safer, more secure, and sustainable world for nearly 130 years, embedding conscientious stewardship into everything we do.

• People: Our people make us special. You’ll work with a diverse team of experts respected for their independence and transparency and build a network, because our approach is collaborative. We collaborate across disciplines, organizations, and geographies to build the global scientific response that today’s global challenges require.
• Interesting work: Every day is different for us here. We see what’s on the horizon and use our expertise to build the foundations of a safer future. You’ll have the opportunity to push the boundaries of human understanding as part of a team working to advance the public good.
• Grow and achieve: We learn, work, and grow together through targeted development, reward, and recognition programs.
• Values. Four core values guide our work: collaboration, respect, integrity, and beneficence. By living our values, we inspire the trust essential to fulfilling our mission and foster the partnerships that enable us to pursue a beneficent future in which we all can thrive.
• Total Rewards: All employees at UL Research Institutes are eligible for bonus compensation. We offer comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans and a generous 401k matching structure of up to 5% of eligible pay. Moreover, we invest an additional 4% into your retirement saving fund after your first year of continuous employment. Depending on your role, you may be able to discuss flexible working arrangements with your manager. We also provide employees with paid time off, including vacation, holiday, sick, and volunteer days.

What makes you a great fit:

While no one candidate will embody every quality, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional competencies and personal attributes:

• Proven history or developing, maintaining, and scaling a data architecture.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as SQL, Python, R, Java and C#.
• Experience with non-relational databases such as MongoDB and Cassandra
• Knowledge of data integration and orchestration tools and ETL frameworks (e.g., Apache Spark, Azure Databricks, Azure Data Factory).
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
• Well-versed in operating systems such as UNIX, Linux and Windows
• Understanding of data governance, security, and compliance best practices.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Strong communication skills to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Professional education and experience requirements for the role include:

• Bachelor's or degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field.
• Minimum 4 years of experience as a Data Engineer, with expertise in data pipeline and data architecture development and data warehousing.
• Experience in extracting, cleaning, preparing, and modeling data.
• Experience integrating data from third party sources (ex. external databases, data generated by equipment etc.)

About UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement

UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement are nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing safety science research through the discovery and application of scientific knowledge. We conduct rigorous independent research and analyze safety data, convene experts worldwide to address risks, share knowledge through safety education and public outreach initiatives, and develop standards to guide safe commercialization of evolving technologies. We foster communities of safety, from grassroots initiatives for neighborhoods to summits of world leaders. Our organization employs collaborative and scientific approaches with partners and stakeholders to drive innovation and progress toward improving safety, security, and sustainability, ultimately enhancing societal well-being.

Our affiliate, UL Solutions, stands alongside us in working for a safer and more sustainable world.  UL Solutions conducts testing, verification and certification, and provides training and advisory services, along with data-driven reporting and decision-making tools, for customers around the world.

To learn more, visit our websites UL.org and ULSE.org.

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