Data Quality Engineer IV

Job Type Full-time Description Who are we? Western National Insurance Group is a private mutual insurance company with over 120 years of experience serving customers' property-and-casualty insurance needs in the Midwestern, Northwestern, and Southwestern United States.

Known as "The Relationship Company®," we define success as a measure of the relationships we've built over time. In everything that we do, we know that delivering a friendly and helpful interaction makes for a better experience for everyone involved. That's the power of "nice". At Western National, nice is something we work to bring to every person and organization with whom we partner and serve.

Does this opportunity interest you? Western National is seeking a Data Quality Engineer IV to join our team The individual in this role will have the opportunity to oversee the development and execution of data validation strategies across the organization to ensure data integrity, accuracy, and alignment with company standards. This individual will guide team members in applying best practices for test design and planning and estimating high-impact data workflow modifications, while identifying opportunities for automating data quality checks.

What are the responsibilities and opportunities of this role? Collects, analyzes, and validates data before it is stored for organizational use, ensuring accuracy across changes to views, stored procedures, batch processes, and diverse data sources. Collaborates with product and data teams to test and deploy data workflow modifications based on collaboratively defined data transformation and integration requirements.

Participates in work refinement and estimation processes with data and product teams. Prepares and executes testing on all new and modified code, ensuring compliance with organizational data quality standards. Works with data, product, and change control teams to ensure quality data deliverables that provide customer value.

Creates and maintains documentation related to data flows, integration processes, support processes, and system changes, as defined by team and company standards. Ensures timely delivery of data testing tasks and projects and communicates delays or roadblocks with team leadership as needed. Collaborates with product and data teams to design, develop, test, and deploy high-impact data workflow modifications, including ETL / ELT processes that align with business data requirements.

Reviews test creation, planning, and execution results for all stages of testing, with a focus on validation where necessary. Provides coaching, mentorship, and guidance for testing automation within the DevOps lifecycle, ensuring team deliverables are met. Develops and implements data testing methodologies, standards, and best practices, including those related to data processes.

Applies standard statistical analysis and / or financial models to verify data acceptability and accuracy. Identifies opportunities for process improvement, specifically in data collection processes, and collaborates with the team to correct deficiencies in systems. Identifies and resolves data anomalies, ensuring that missing data is gathered and entered to maintain data accuracy.

Provides insights for defect-prone areas in the architecture based on metrics, root cause analysis, and organizational impacts. Leads the resolution process for defects in data workflows, including processes, designing and implementing metrics, dashboards, and reporting capabilities. Troubleshoots, resolves, and communicates production issues related to data processing and data workflows.

Guides the automation of data validation processes and finds opportunities to extend automation beyond current workflows. Mentors and shares knowledge with junior team members to enhance skills in testing, automation, and data validation. Identifies and implements improvements in process efficiencies, with a focus on data quality and user experience.

Guides the evolution of team-level best practices for data processes and quality assurance while considering their broader organizational impact. Leads efforts to identify, review, refine, and resolve complex efficiency / effectiveness related issues, mobilizing the team to find solutions and improve processes with an emphasis on quality and positive user experience. Utilizes specialized knowledge, experience, and creativity to develop multiple potential solutions, drawing on input from team members.

Guides the team in evaluating and communicating the pros and cons of all potential solutions, considering impacts on data quality and business processes. Implements quality assurance practices to ensure data integrity throughout data workflow processes and proactively resolves any anomalies. Understands and effectively communicates the relationships and dependencies between application components.

Collaboratively guides evolution of team-level development best practices, standards, and policies, taking into consideration team, product, architecture, and business priorities. Consistently acts according to our customer experience standards, including responding quickly, maintaining a positive attitude, building rapport, demonstrating empathy, managing the customer's expectations, using the proper communication channel for the situation, and taking ownership to ensure the customer's issue is resolved. Collaborates with direct teammates, product team leadership, managers, vendors, and business partners to ensure quality data integration processes.

Flexes to non-core responsibilities, including analysis, testing, deployment, and facilitation to ensure timely work delivery to stakeholders. Requirements What are the must-have qualifications for a candidate? Strong mathematical, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

Ability to work independently and manage tasks to completion. High attention to detail and quality in all data validation testing processes. Understanding of data workflows test metrics and the ability to provide data validation metrics.

Strong communication skills and capability to convey information to technical and non-technical audiences. Advanced knowledge of databases, data workflows tools, and data flows. Experience in SQL query writing and debugging.

Experience in gathering and entering missing data to maintain data integrity. Demonstrated advanced organizational and prioritization skills, managing multiple data validation testing projects of high impact and risk. Ability to collaborate effectively with data, product, and development teams.

Advanced knowledge of data validation testing methodologies, tools, and data validation best practices. Clear and effective communication skills across all levels of the organization, including technical and business stakeholders. Proficiency in identifying areas of improvement in data collection processes or systems and recommending solutions.

Advanced knowledge of data modeling, testing dimensional tables, and leading the validation of type one and type two transformations and data integrity checks. Strong proficiency in SQL and querying databases, leading data warehouse and data lake testing strategies. Experience with automation of data validation testing processes and overseeing stored procedure development.

Familiarity with data warehousing concepts and data modeling. Ability to apply statistical and financial models to data validation processes. Expertise in designing and leading enterprise-level data streaming architectures using Kafka, ESB, etc.

Bachelor's degree in computer science, data science, or related field; experience in lieu of degree is acceptable. What will our ideal candidate have? Extensive experience with SQL tools for complex queries, testing, and automation.

Strong knowledge of ETL / ELT processes and advanced data quality assurance methodologies. Proven experience with integrations involving APIs, service layers, and microservices. Hands-on experience with testing frameworks for data science and machine learning workflows.

Proficiency in version control tools (e.g., Git) for managing test scripts, workflows, and collaboration. Expertise in project management software, such as Jira or Azure DevOps, with a focus on leading Agile teams.

Advanced knowledge of data pipelines and workflows, including data warehousing and real-time streaming systems.

Property-and-casualty insurance experience is highly preferred. Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor a team by providing technical guidance and driving process improvements. Strong communication skills for collaborating with cross-functional teams and presenting complex findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Experience with data governance and compliance frameworks to ensure high-quality, reliable data. Compensation overview The full hiring range for this role is $114,930 - $140,470 annually. However, the base pay offered may vary depending on the job-related knowledge, skills, credentials, and experience of each candidate as well as other factors such as the scope and location of the role.

Candidates looking for compensation outside of the posted range are encouraged to apply and will be considered based on their individual qualifications and/or may be considered for other positions. Culture and Total Rewards Western National has long been known as "The Relationship Company®" and caring for our employees is part of that relationship commitment. We value connectiveness, empowerment, and accountability, and we believe that our employees are our biggest asset.

Currently ranked as the 41st largest private company by revenue in Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal), Western National has earned accolades year-over-year as an employer of choice and garnered multiple awards for wellness in the workplace. Western National has also been named a Top Workplace by the Star Tribune for the past four consecutive years.

In addition, the Group is consistently recognized as a Ward's 50 property-and-casualty insurance company for its outstanding financial results. Western National offers full-time employees a significant Total Rewards Package, including: Medical insurance plan options and other standard employee benefits, including dental insurance, vision benefits, life insurance, disability insurance, and more Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) 401(k) Plan (participants are eligible for 100% matching on the first 6% of their contributions) Wellbeing Program, including onsite fitness studio Paid Time Off - including holiday, vacation, and volunteer 100% company-paid tuition reimbursement for approved job-relevant coursework and access to The Institutes (Risk and insurance education) Paid parental leave Bonus opportunities Western National believes in supporting balance between work and life by providing a flexible work environment, which includes a variety of hybrid and remote work arrangements designed to balance individual, job, department, and company needs.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time. Western National provides employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. LI-Hybrid Salary Description $114,930 - $140,470