Director Data Engineering Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

About JSSI
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Chicago, Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI) is the largest independent provider of hourly cost maintenance programs for business aviation. JSSI delivers comprehensive coverage for engines, airframes, and auxiliary power units (APUs) across more than 300 different aircraft makes and models, helping owners and operators stabilize maintenance budgets, maximize aircraft availability, and protect asset value throughout the lifecycle of ownership. JSSI has built a portfolio of complementary business lines designed to simplify the economic and technical complexity of business aviation; these include Maintenance teams, Traxxall maintenance tracking software, Parts & Engines, Conklin aircraft cost and performance data, and Aviation Capital asset-based financing solutions. Together, these offerings support owners, operators, and maintenance providers with integrated tools spanning ownership and maintenance planning, execution, and financial management. With more than 6,500 aircraft supported through programs and software platforms, JSSI leverages its unique independence, unmatched scale, and data-driven insight to deliver customized solutions and support models aligned to the interests of each client - regardless of aircraft platform. JSSI is backed by leading institutional investors GTCR, Genstar Capital, and Blackstone. Learn more at jetsupport.com.
The Opportunity
We have built a data platform on Microsoft Fabric and Azure. Our analytics team is consuming data, and our AI roadmap depends on clean, structured, trustworthy data to deliver. What we are missing is the technical owner who makes the data actually work.
This is not a hands-off leadership role. The Director of Data Engineering will be a player-coach: leading and growing a team of 2-5 engineers while remaining a hands-on contributor who can architect solutions, write pipelines, and set the technical bar. You will own the Fabric platform end-to-end, connect our source systems into a reliable data foundation, and serve as the linchpin between raw data and every downstream initiative that depends on it.
Why This Role Matters
Every AI project on our roadmap requires clean, well-structured, trustworthy data. The Fabric platform is in place. This role makes it useful. Without strong data engineering leadership, our analytics team is constrained by data quality issues they cannot fix - and our AI initiatives stall before they start.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Own the Microsoft Fabric Platform

• Serve as the technical owner of JSSI's Microsoft Fabric environment - architecture, governance, performance, and access control

• Drive the roadmap for the platform including CI/CD enablement, Git integration, and centralized ingestion workspace design

• Manage Fabric capacity, right-sizing, backup, and disaster recovery

Build and Maintain Data Pipelines

• Design, build, and operate reliable data pipelines that connect source systems into clean, usable data

• Establish monitoring, alerting, and SLA standards for pipeline reliability

Define the Data Foundation

• Establish a single source of truth across all systems and acquisitions, ensuring every team is working from the same numbers

• Build and maintain enterprise semantic models that serve analytics, reporting, and AI use cases

• Partner with the data governance function to implement Microsoft Purview for cataloging, classification, and data privacy standards

Enable Analytics and AI

• Make the analytics team faster by solving data quality and availability issues at the source

• Build the data foundation that AI initiatives depend on, enabling the organization to move from insight to action

• Develop and support AI data agents to expand analytics delivery across the organization

• Responsible for supporting ML initiatives (not just AI agents)

Lead and Grow the Team

• Manage and mentor a team of 2-5 data engineers, setting technical standards and fostering a high-performance culture

• Partner cross-functionally with analytics, product, and business stakeholders to prioritize and deliver

• Represent the data engineering function in leadership discussions and help shape JSSI's broader data strategy

Desired Credentials:
Experience

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, with a track record of building and scaling data platforms in production environments

• 3+ years in a leadership role managing engineers, with demonstrated ability to develop talent and build team culture

• Experience as a player-coach - comfortable rolling up your sleeves while also setting direction for the team

Technical Skills

• Deep expertise with Microsoft Fabric, including Lakehouse and Warehouse architecture, pipelines, and OneLake

• Strong hands-on experience with Azure cloud infrastructure and Azure Data services

• Proficiency in SQL and Python for data engineering and pipeline development

• Experience designing and implementing ETL pipelines across complex, multi-source environments

• Familiarity with CI/CD practices and Git-based deployment workflows for data platforms

• Experience with data governance platforms (Microsoft Purview preferred) and semantic layer design

• Working knowledge of Power BI and enterprise reporting architectures

• Familiarity with AI/ML data patterns and building data products that support machine learning use cases

Leadership and Collaboration

• Strong communicator who can translate technical complexity into clear language for business stakeholders

• Collaborative partner who works well across analytics, product, and business teams

• High ownership mindset - you treat data as a product and hold yourself accountable for its quality and reliability

At JSSI, we are committed to rewarding our team members with competitive and comprehensive compensation packages that reflect their contributions and talent.
For this role, the annual base pay generally ranges from $180,000 to $220,000, with the final offer determined by variable factors including but not limited to market location, job-specific knowledge, skills, education, and experience. In addition, your total rewards package may include an annual discretionary bonus plan, incentive or sales bonus plan, or other form of additional compensation, based on your role.
Additionally, for full-time employees based in the USA, Canada, or the Philippines, we are proud to offer a robust suite of benefits. This ranges from insurance offerings such as medical, dental, vision, retirement savings programs, among others, starting day one of employment. For a full overview of our offerings, visit the JSSI Benefits Page on our company website.
JSSI is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other characteristic protected by law.
JSSI does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third-party recruiting agencies in response to job postings. No fee will be paid to third parties who submit unsolicited candidates directly to our hiring managers or Recruiting Team.