Senior Snowflake Data Engineer

About the Role
We are seeking a highly experienced Snowflake Engineer with deep expertise in Snowflake system optimization, enterprise data architecture, and scalable pipeline development.
This role will be responsible for governing the Snowflake data architecture, fine-tuning system performance, and building scalable data pipelines that power analytics and business intelligence across the Marketing and Sales Organizations.
The ideal candidate combines hands-on engineering expertise with architectural vision and performance optimization experience in Snowflake environments.
Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid policy- 4 days onsite)
What Success Looks Like

• A scalable, well-governed Snowflake architecture
• Optimized compute cost and improved query performance
• Reliable, observable data pipelines
• Clean, standardized, and business-aligned data models
• Strong cross-functional collaboration
• Creation of detailed & practical documentation for data-consumers

Responsibilities

• Design and implement enterprise-grade Snowflake architecture
• Define data modeling standards and Snowflake best practices
• Design scalable ingestion frameworks for structured and semi-structured data
• Architect solutions for performance, scalability, cost optimization, and governance
• Establish data lifecycle management, retention, and archival strategies
• Partner with analytics, BI, and data science teams to translate business requirements into scalable data solutions
• Maintain clear documentation for data lineage and architecture
• Optimize warehouse sizing and workload management strategies
• Analyze query plans and improve performance using clustering, pruning, and micro-partition strategies
• Improve cost efficiency through compute optimization and storage management
• Implement monitoring frameworks for performance and usage tracking
• Tune ingestion processes
• Design, build, and maintain scalable ETL/ELT pipelines
• Develop orchestration workflows using Airflow, dbt, or similar tools
• Support batch and near real-time data ingestion
• Implement data quality checks, validation rules, and observability
• Troubleshoot and resolve performance bottlenecks across pipelines

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Data Architecture
• Proven experience designing Snowflake data architecture at scale
• Advanced SQL and query optimization expertise
• Strong knowledge of data warehousing concepts and modeling techniques
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Experience building enterprise-grade ETL/ELT pipelines

Preferred Qualifications

• Snowflake certification(s)
• Experience ingesting and cleaning Marketing, Salesforce, & Eloqua datasets
• Experience designing data governance frameworks and compliance standards
• Experience implementing multi-environment (dev/test/prod) Snowflake setups
• Experience with data streaming technologies (Kafka, Kinesis, etc.)
• Experience with cost optimization for large-scale cloud data platforms

We're not considering candidates who require sponsorship now or in the future.
Compensation and Benefits
At Morningstar we believe people are at their best when they are at their healthiest. That's why we champion your wellness through a wide range of programs that support all stages of your personal and professional life. Here are some examples of the offerings we provide:

• Financial Health
  
  • 100% 401k match up to 6% of salary
  • Stock Ownership Potential
  • Company provided life insurance - 1x salary + commission
• Physical Health
  
  • Comprehensive health benefits (medical/dental/vision) including potential premium discounts and company-provided HSA contributions (up to $500-$2,000 annually) for specific plans and coverages
  • Additional medical Wellness Incentives - up to $300-$600 annual
  • Company-provided long- and short-term disability insurance
• Emotional Health
  
  • Trust-Based Time Off
  • 6-week Paid Sabbatical Program
  • 6-Week Paid Family Caregiving Leave
  • Competitive 8-24 Week Paid Parental Leave
  • Adoption Assistance
  • Leadership Coaching & Formal Mentorship Opportunities
  • Annual Flex Stipend - $1000 annually to cover personal education & well-being expenses
  • Tuition Reimbursement
• Social Health
  
  • Charitable Matching Gifts program
  • Dollars for Doers volunteer program
  • Paid volunteering days
  • 15+ Employee Resource & Affinity Groups

Total Cash Compensation Range
$114,100.00-167,350.00
Inclusive of annual base salary and target incentive
Morningstar's hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to collaborate in-person each week as we've found that we're at our best when we're purposely together on a regular basis. In most of our locations, our hybrid work model is four days in-office each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you'll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues.
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