Data Engineer

Organizational Profile:  

Are you a technically gifted Data Engineer who wants to use your technical expertise to help transform the lives of children and families? The Global Orphan Project (GO Project) is looking for an experienced and mission-aligned Data Engineer to join our team in Kansas City, MO. We’re a Christian nonprofit ministry dedicated to breaking the orphan cycle through community, commerce, and the love of Jesus Christ. In this pivotal role, you will be the architect behind the systems that power our data strategy—building the pipelines, infrastructure, and governance needed to drive responsible innovation and real-time decision-making in support of children and families in crisis. 

Candidate Profile / How Colleagues Describe You:  

• Technically Proficient & Detail-Oriented: You thrive on solving complex data challenges and building reliable infrastructure that supports organizational growth. 

• Mission-Driven: You’re motivated both by technical excellence and purpose, believing in using data to serve a higher calling. 

• Collaborative & Curious: You work well with others, thrive in cross-functional teams, and are always eager to learn from all corners of the organization. 

• Governance-Minded: You bring a strong ethical approach to data use, prioritizing security, compliance, and long-term sustainability. 

• Adaptable & Inquisitive: You’re quick to learn new technologies and eager to explore innovative tools such as GenAI, LLMs, and data orchestration platforms.  

What You’ll Do:  

As GO Project’s Data Engineer, you’ll be the architect and maintainer of the systems that power our analytics, AI tools, and impact dashboards. Your work will enable better decision-making, faster innovation, and deeper insights across the organization. 

Data pipeline ownership:   

• Development, maintenance, testing and optimization of data pipelines across a variety of organizational data-sources (e.g. CRM, product, marketing, donors, etc). 

• Coordination with data owners across organization to understand, clean, validate and transform data ready for use in production BI/ML/GenAI applications 

• Ensure data pipeline test automation in place catching issues before production 

• Partner closely with BI dashboard developers and Data Scientists to ensure clear understanding of data needs 

Data Governance & Quality 

• Implement and enforce data governance policies to maintain data quality, consistency, and compliance with applicable regulations. 

• Establish and monitor data standards, processes, and best practices to support data quality needs. 

• Partner with data owners to continuously improve data quality 

• Manage data role-based access systems 

• Ensure clear data lineage, data catalogs, data definitions and minimize data duplication across applications 

Data Intelligence Platform, Cloud & LLM Mesh Administration 

• Own the architecture and configuration of data intelligence platforms (e.g. Dataiku, DataBricks, etc) 

• Establish proper best practices and naming conventions 

• Manage data-related cloud technology configurations 

• Administer LLM model provider access, APIKeys and licensing 

ML/GenAI Application Deployment & Monitoring 

• Understand and utilize MLOps and other monitoring tools to ensure performance standards are met, model drift minimized, etc 

• Manage production deployment of ML models, LLMs, and other AI tooling 

Required Knowledge, Skills & Abilities You Bring to the Organization:  

Education & Experience  

Required:  

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field. 

• 3+ years of experience as a Data Engineer or in a comparable technical role. 

• Proficient in SQL, Python, and other data programming approaches. 

• Fluent with various types of databases (e.g. mySQL, Dynamo, etc), warehouses (e.g. BigQuery, DeltaLake, etc), and analytical systems (e.g. Dataiku, DataBricks, etc). 

• Hands-on experience with APIs, ETL/ELT processes, and data integration from diverse systems. 

Preferred: 

• Familiarity with data orchestration platforms (e.g., Airflow, dbt, spark, or similar). 

• Exposure to GenAI infrastructure (e.g., RAG, vector databases, LLM model types) and production level AI applications 

• Cross organization collaboration and “data culture” building 

• Close partnerships with data owners and strong business intuition 

Physical Requirements:  

This role is primarily sedentary, with occasional requirements to lift materials up to 15 pounds, such as tech equipment or supplies.  

Why Join Us? 

At The Global Orphan Project, your expertise will fuel a global mission. You’ll work alongside passionate teammates who care deeply about vulnerable children and families. You’ll help build systems that inform strategy, automate processes, and expand our capacity to serve, while growing personally and professionally. 

We offer a competitive benefits package for full-time roles (30+ hours/week), including health, dental, vision, employer-paid life insurance, 401(k), and generous PTO. You’ll work alongside a talented, value-driven team committed to excellence, innovation, and faith. 

Ready to Build Something that Matters?  

If you’re excited about using your engineering skills to power a mission-driven organization, we invite you to apply. Submit your resume and a cover letter sharing why you’re a fit for this role and how your faith and expertise align with the GO Project mission. Let’s build a data-driven future that honors families, uplifts communities, and reflects the heart of Christ.