Data Engineer

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health is dedicated to promoting and protecting the health of individuals and communities in Wellington County, Dufferin County and the City of Guelph. With a vision of health and well-being for all, we strive to address the diverse health needs of our population through innovative programs and initiatives, upstream interventions and collaborative partnerships. From immunization campaigns to disease surveillance and community health promotion, our team of dedicated professionals works to ensure the well-being of everyone in our communities.

As a workplace, WDG Public Health offers a dynamic environment where passion for public health meets professional excellence. Employees have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the health outcomes of our communities while enjoying a supportive and inclusive work culture. With ongoing opportunities for professional development, a commitment to work-life balance, competitive compensation and benefits and a strong sense of community within our organization, WDG Public Health is not only a great place to work but also a rewarding place to grow and thrive in your career.

Read our 2024-2028 Strategic Plan on our Careers homepage for more about our vision, mission, values, goals and priorities.

If you are looking for a rewarding opportunity to use your knowledge and skills to make a difference in the health of our communities, we invite you to apply.

We offer a competitive compensation package including:

• Employer paid benefits, including extended health and dental;

• Defined benefit OMERS Pension Plan with 100% employer matching;

• Paid sick time, Short-Term Disability Plan, and Long-Term Disability Plan;

• EAP wellness program for individuals and family;

• Employer paid parking;

• 35-hour work week;

• Many opportunities for growth and development, including employer paid courses to obtain

certifications;

• We value work-life balance, as such we pride ourselves on our generous vacation allowance and employee time off.

Two Data Engineer positions are available with areas of focus in either:

- Data Integration and Governance

- AI Integration and Governance

Please indicate in your cover letter which specialization(s) you are applying for. Applicants may apply to one or both specializations.

Overview

Reporting to the Manager, Data & Analytics, the Data Engineer designs, implements, and maintains secure, well-governed data and AI solutions that strengthen public health information systems with technical direction from the Principal Data Scientist. These roles guide digital modernization, ensure high‑quality engineering practices, and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams in delivering secure, well‑governed, production‑grade data and AI solutions that support agency priorities and public health outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

Program Contribution & Technical Planning

• Provide expertise in planning, implementing, and evaluating data and AI solutions aligned with the Ontario Public Health Standards, organizational priorities, and emerging best practices.

• Translate complex operational needs into actionable technical strategies, ensuring solutions are secure, maintainable, and scalable.

• Contribute to digital public health innovation by modernizing workflows, improving automation, and enabling staff to focus on higher‑value analysis, planning, and community engagement.

Technical Oversight & Engineering Excellence

• Guide the design and implementation of end‑to‑end workflows, including pipelines, integrations, automation, and AI‑enabled services.

• Follow modern development practices (Python packaging, testing, linting, documentation).

• Maintain high‑quality GitHub repositories with strong review processes, clear history, and long‑term maintainability.

• Implement observability (logging, metrics, alerting) into workflows to support reliable operations and rapid troubleshooting.

• Promote reusable components, internal templates, and standards that improve consistency across projects.

Governance, Security & Compliance

• Ensure all workflows embed privacy‑by‑design, auditability, and compliance with MFIPPA, PHIPA, and agency policies.

• Oversee secure cloud‑native development, including secrets management, least‑privilege access, and container/image hardening.

• Monitor cloud usage, optimize costs, and ensure responsible stewardship of digital resources.

• Participate in privacy impact assessments and governance reviews for new or significantly modified technologies.

Program Planning, Evaluation & Reporting

• Support the development of annual operational plans, performance measures, and outcome indicators in collaboration with the Data & Analytics leadership team.

• Support business cases for data and AI initiatives, including cost estimates, ROI analysis, and cloud‑spend evaluation.

• Document program impact, quality, and activity results to inform scale‑up decisions and continuous improvement.

Partnerships, Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

• Liaise with internal teams, external partners, and community stakeholders to support adoption of modern data and AI practices.

• Represent the agency in collaborative innovation initiatives and external working groups.

• Produce high‑quality written materials (technical documentation, plain‑language summaries, implementation guidance).

• Deliver presentations tailored to program staff, technical peers, leadership, and governance bodies.

Specialization Areas

1. Data Integration & Governance

• Design and maintain data pipelines and orchestration workflows using modern frameworks (e.g., Argo, Kubeflow, Pipelines, serverless functions).

• Implement data quality frameworks, including automated checks, anomaly detection, reconciliation, and reporting.

• Advance data governance standards related to metadata, lineage, traceability, and documentation.

• Support policy and guidance development for enterprise data governance.

2. AI Integration & Governance

• Design and deploy AI‑enabled components integrated into operational workflows with appropriate governance considerations (accuracy, reliability, privacy, cost).

• Design human‑in‑the‑loop workflows with clear escalation, review, and audit mechanisms.

• Contribute to AI governance deliverables, including risk assessments, model inventories, monitoring frameworks, and policy development.

Hours of Work:

Monday to Friday

8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Position Effective:

April 6, 2026

Requirements:

Education and Experience:

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Public Health Informatics, or a related field.

• Minimum 5 years of experience in data engineering, AI engineering, or related technical fields.

• Demonstrated expertise in Python and modern development practices.

• Experience with Git‑based collaborative development (branches, pull requests, issues, documentation).

• Experience adapting to rapidly evolving tools, workflows, and development practices.

• Strong written communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.

Skills & Competencies:

• Strong analytical and problem‑solving abilities.

• Ability to integrate diverse data, ideas, and perspectives into decision‑making.

• Knowledge of privacy legislation (MFIPPA, PHIPA) and digital governance principles.

• Project management, change management, and consensus‑building skills.

• Ability to collaborate across a multidisciplinary teams and foster a collaborative, inclusive environment.

Data Integration & Governance specialization:

• Professional experience with modern pipeline/orchestration frameworks.

• Experience contributing to data governance practices (metadata, lineage, data quality, documentation standards).

AI Integration & Governance specialization:

• Experience integrating AI/LLM solutions via APIs in production environments (asset).

• Familiarity with AI governance and risk‑management frameworks (NIST AI RMF is an asset).

Closing Statement:

We thank all applicants, however, only individuals selected for an interview will be contacted.

WDG Public Health is committed to providing accommodation during the recruitment process for people in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code. If you require accommodation(s), please advise Human Resources in advance and we will work with you to meet your needs. The organization will maintain the confidentiality of information related to an accommodation request and will only disclose this information with the consent of the employee or applicant.

WDG Public Health is an equal opportunity Agency. Personal information is collected under the authority of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and will be used to determine eligibility.

• If successful in the hiring process, it is important to understand that you would be an employee of a health care organization that strongly believes in the importance of immunizations as a necessary public health measure to control the spread of infectious diseases. Subject to any duty to accommodate under the Human Rights Code of Ontario, successful applicants will be required to comply with the Agency’s Immunization Policy. This policy is available upon request. Applicants who are unable to be immunized due to a valid medical contraindication must have a Statement of Medical Exemption Form completed by their primary care provider.