Senior Data Engineer (Python/PySpark/Kafka) - Full Remote Portugal

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY Join a digital healthcare company revolutionizing physical therapy through AI and wearable technology. As a Senior Data Engineer, you'll architect the lakehouse infrastructure that powers virtual physical therapy platforms helping patients recover from musculoskeletal conditions through personalized, remotely-guided exercise programs. This full remote position from Portugal offers the chance to build mission-critical data systems that directly improve patient outcomes, reduce pain, and lower healthcare costs. You'll spearhead the migration to Apache Iceberg format, establish robust data pipelines, and create AI-ready data infrastructure that powers machine learning models across the platform — all while working with cutting-edge technologies in a healthcare environment where data quality and governance are paramount. PROJECT & CONTEXT You'll lead the migration of existing workloads to the Iceberg format, establishing and maturing the foundational lakehouse architecture that will serve as the backbone for data-driven decision making. Your responsibilities include architecting and building robust batch and streaming data pipelines using Spark and Flink, collaborating closely with Backend Engineering teams on API integrations and formal data contract establishment, and contributing to a unified lineage and governance framework using DataHub. You'll provide comprehensive support to the Core Team in adopting new data platform capabilities, ensuring solutions are platform-oriented and designed for broad organizational use. Building AI-ready data infrastructure is central — you'll ensure clean, governed, and accessible data pipelines that power machine learning models and AI-driven products across the platform, while leveraging AI coding assistants and LLMs to accelerate development and improve code quality. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR (Required) Demonstrated proficiency with Python and PySpark for data processing at scale Hands-on experience with data lake formats: Iceberg, Delta Lake, or Hudi Solid understanding of Kafka and event-driven architectures Proven experience building and orchestrating data pipelines at scale Strong SQL proficiency with comprehensive data modeling knowledge Familiarity with workflow orchestration tools: Airflow, Dagster, or similar Platform-oriented mindset: developing solutions for broad organizational use, not individual purposes Ownership mentality: committed to seeing problems through to resolution Clear communication skills: ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders Highly collaborative: excels working alongside backend engineers, data engineers, and analysts Pragmatic approach: balancing ideal solutions with practical delivery timelines Experience building and maintaining AI-ready data infrastructure Ability to leverage AI coding assistants and LLMs to accelerate development English proficiency at B2 Upper Intermediate level minimum NICE TO HAVE (Preferred) Demonstrated expertise with Flink or comparable streaming frameworks Proficiency in DBT and familiarity with the modern data stack Experience with modern data platforms: BigQuery, Trino, Snowflake, or Databricks Proven background developing self-service data platforms Experience working in regulated healthcare or compliance-sensitive environments Knowledge of data governance frameworks and metadata management Understanding of healthcare data standards (HL7, FHIR) Familiarity with DataHub or similar data catalog/lineage tools Experience with infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD for data pipelines Languages Required: English (B2 Upper Intermediate minimum) Work Model: Full Remote — must be based in Portugal Experience Level: Senior