About this role.
Mactores is seeking an associate-level AWS Data Engineer to modernize customer data platforms and deliver production-ready pipelines, models, and data products. The role requires hands-on PySpark, Apache Spark, Amazon Glue, SQL, Athena, and Redshift experience, with 1–3 years of relevant Spark and Glue experience and at least two years building ETL jobs. Engineers work in a forward-deployed consulting model, partnering directly with customer business and engineering teams from discovery through production cutover. Preferred qualifications include AWS EMR, Apache Airflow, DataOps knowledge, and relevant AWS or big-data certifications. The position emphasizes data quality, delivery ownership, rapid learning, and clear customer communication.
Role DNA
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Job Complexity
4/5Pace & Pressure
5/5Autonomy Level
4/5Communication Load
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Core skills
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Cover letter sample
Dear Hiring Team,
I am excited to apply for the AWS Data Engineer (Associate) role at Mactores. My experience building ETL workflows with PySpark, SQL, and AWS data services aligns well with your focus on delivering reliable, production-ready data products.
I am particularly drawn to Mactores' forward-deployed model, where engineers partner closely with customers, take ownership of outcomes, and apply technical judgment throughout discovery, implementation, and cutover. I would welcome the opportunity to contribute strong data-quality practices, collaborative communication, and a continuous-learning mindset to your modernization team.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sample interview questions
I would begin by profiling the source data and documenting expected schemas, null behavior, keys, and quality rules. I would implement schema validation, standardized transformations, reject or quarantine handling for invalid records, and audit metrics for row counts and quality outcomes. I would also make the pipeline idempotent, partition outputs appropriately, and add automated tests and monitoring before production release.
I would inspect the Spark UI and execution plan to identify skew, expensive shuffles, excessive scans, or inefficient joins. Typical improvements include filtering and selecting columns early, using suitable partitioning, broadcasting small lookup tables, avoiding unnecessary UDFs, and choosing efficient file formats such as Parquet. I would validate each change with representative workload measurements rather than optimizing based on assumptions.
I would use Glue for managed Spark-based ingestion, transformation, cataloging, and scheduled ETL workloads. Athena is useful for serverless ad hoc analysis directly against data in S3, while Redshift is appropriate for performant, governed warehouse analytics and recurring BI queries. I would connect them through a well-managed data lake, consistent metadata, and clear data-quality and access-control standards.
I would engage business leads and analysts early to define metric logic, grain, source-of-truth systems, and acceptance criteria. I would reconcile the new model against known reports, document definitions and lineage, and expose quality checks such as freshness, completeness, and reconciliation results. After launch, I would collect feedback and maintain the model as business rules evolve.
I would raise the risk early with a concise explanation of its impact, evidence, affected milestone, and recommended options. For example, I might explain that a source-system change is delaying validation and propose a scoped workaround, an adjusted sequencing plan, or a decision required from the customer. I would document the agreed action, owners, and timeline, then provide regular updates until the risk is resolved.
Mactores is the agent-native AWS modernization firm. Most modernization work doesn’t ship, it stalls in pilots, slips a year, or lands at three times the budget. We exist to ship it: production systems running, legacy retired, outcomes measured. Our delivery is built on Aedeon, the agent platform built by Mactores’ founders’ sister company, which absorbs the repetitive 60–70% of engagement work, discovery, dependency mapping, validation, test generation, that traditional consulting bills human hours against. Forward-deployed engineers own the rest: architecture, judgment, and cutover, on dates we commit to in the contract.
This role sits in our Data Platform Modernization pillar: consolidating and migrating customer data infrastructure on AWS in weeks, not quarters. Customers come to us with pipelines nobody trusts, metrics nobody agrees on, and warehouses that stall every new business question. You’ll build the data products that fix that — working with business leads, analysts, and data scientists to understand the domain, then shipping pipelines and models that hold up in production.
Because Aedeon handles the repetitive layer source discovery, schema mapping, validation harnesses — you won’t spend your early career grinding through spreadsheet audits. You’ll spend it writing code that reaches production and learning judgment from engineers who own cutovers. Data quality isn’t a checkbox here; it’s the product.
What you will do?
- Write efficient PySpark and Amazon Glue code that ships to production.
- Write SQL in Amazon Athena and Amazon Redshift.
- Pick up new technologies and techniques and put them to work on real business problems.
- Work across engineering and business teams to build data products and services people actually use.
- Deliver projects with the team and land customer updates on time.
What are we looking for?
- 1 to 3 years of experience in Apache Spark, PySpark, and Amazon Glue.
- 2+ years of experience writing ETL jobs using PySpark and SparkSQL.
- 2+ years of experience with SQL queries and stored procedures.
- Deep understanding of the Dataframe API and the transformation functions supported by Spark 2.7+.
You will be preferred if you have
- Prior experience in working on AWS EMR, Apache Airflow
- Certifications AWS Certified Big Data – Specialty OR Cloudera Certified Big Data Engineer OR Hortonworks Certified Big Data Engineer
- Understanding of DataOps Engineering
How we work?
We run a forward-deployed model. Engineers embed with the customer’s team, own outcomes from discovery through production, and carry the delivery commitment personally. Aedeon absorbs scale; engineers absorb judgment; the contract absorbs risk. As an associate, you’ll work inside that model from day one shipping alongside senior engineers rather than watching from a bench. The culture is casual and steers clear of rigid corporate habits. We care about what ships, and we let you be yourself while you ship it.
Compensation
Additional Information
Life at Mactores
We care about creating a culture that makes a real difference in the lives of every Mactorian. Our 10 Core Leadership Principles that honor Decision-making, Leadership, Collaboration, and Curiosity drive how we work.
1. Be one step ahead
2. Deliver the best
3. Be bold
4. Pay attention to the detail
5. Enjoy the challenge
6. Be curious and take action
7. Take leadership
8. Own it
9. Deliver value
10. Be collaborative
We would like you to read more details about the work culture on https://mactores.com/careers
The Path to Joining the Mactores Team
At Mactores, our recruitment process is structured around three distinct stages:
Pre-Employment Assessment:
A series of evaluations of your technical proficiency and suitability for the role.
Managerial Interview: The hiring manager engages with you in multiple discussions, 30 minutes to an hour each, covering technical skills, hands-on experience, leadership potential, and communication.
HR Discussion: During this 30-minute session, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss the offer and next steps with a member of the HR team.
Mactores provides equal opportunities in all employment practices. We don’t discriminate based on race, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military status, genetic information, or any other category protected by federal, state, and local laws. This applies to every part of the employment relationship, recruitment, compensation, promotions, transfers, disciplinary action, layoff, training, and social and recreational programs.
Note: Please answer as many questions as possible with this application to accelerate the hiring process.
Annual salary information is not provided for this position. Explore salary ranges for similar roles in our Salary Directory ›
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