Forward Deployed Data Engineer

We help the world run better

At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

Location: this is a hybrid position based from our New York City office located in the Hudson Yards.

What you'll build

As a Forward Deployed Data Engineer, you will design and implement modern enterprise data platforms that enable AI applications, analytics, and business processes. Working directly with customers, you will build scalable data pipelines, data models, semantic layers, and integrations across SAP and non-SAP systems. This role is intended for engineers with 3–7 years of experience who enjoy solving complex data challenges in customer-facing environments.

In This Role, You Will

• Design and implement scalable batch and real-time data pipelines.
• Build data ingestion frameworks integrating SAP and non-SAP enterprise systems.
• Develop logical and physical data models, semantic layers, and business schemas for AI applications.
• Build ELT/ETL pipelines using SQL, Python, Spark, and modern data engineering frameworks.
• Implement data quality, lineage, governance, metadata management, and validation processes.
• Develop APIs and data services that expose enterprise data to AI agents and applications.
• Optimize data storage, query performance, and distributed processing workloads.
• Deploy and operate data platforms on SAP BTP, Kubernetes, hyperscalers, and cloud-native environments.
• Collaborate with AI engineers, solution architects, and customer stakeholders to translate business requirements into robust data solutions.
• Create reusable accelerators, reference data models, and engineering best practices.

What you bring

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 3–7 years of professional experience in data engineering or platform engineering.
• Strong SQL and Python programming skills.
• Hands-on experience with Apache Spark, Databricks, Kafka, Airflow, or similar modern data platforms.
• Experience designing enterprise data models, data lakes, lakehouses, and data warehouses.
• Experience with PostgreSQL, SAP HANA, Snowflake, BigQuery, or equivalent databases.
• Knowledge of data governance, lineage, metadata management, and data quality practices.
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, Git, CI/CD, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Exposure to SAP Datasphere, SAP HANA Cloud, SAP Integration Suite, SAP BTP, or SAP AI Core is highly desirable.
• Strong analytical thinking, customer engagement, and communication skills.

Nice to have

• Experience supporting AI/ML workloads through feature stores, vector databases, or embedding pipelines.
• Knowledge of Knowledge Graphs, GraphRAG, or semantic technologies.
• Experience with dbt, Iceberg, Delta Lake, or Apache Flink.
• Open-source contributions or experience with AI-assisted engineering tools such as GitHub Copilot or Cursor.

Bring out your best

SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion

SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: [email protected].

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability.

Compensation Range Transparency: SAP believes the value of pay transparency contributes towards an honest and supportive culture and is a significant step toward demonstrating SAP’s commitment to pay equity. SAP provides the annualized compensation range inclusive of base salary and variable incentive target for the career level applicable to the posted role. The targeted annual combined range for this position is 90000-198500USD. The actual amount to be offered to the successful candidate will be within that range, dependent upon the key aspects of each case which may include education, skills, experience, scope of the role, location, etc. as determined through the selection process. Any SAP variable incentive includes a targeted dollar amount and any actual payout amount is dependent on company and personal performance. Please reference this link for a summary of SAP benefits and eligibility requirements: SAP North America Benefits.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 457466 | Work Area: Software-Design and Development | Expected Travel: 0 - 70% | Career Status: Professional | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | Additional Locations: