Zhi Cheng. Connect ↗

Professional Experience.

A deep dive into the systems, pipelines, and architecture I've built, backed by professional Databricks certifications.

Flagship Architecture

Energy Sector

Medallion Architecture & Unity Catalog

Replaced legacy mount points with a secure, identity-based access model using Unity Catalog External Volumes and LakeFlow Pipelines. Fully automated CDC and SCD Type 2 logic.

DatabricksLakeFlowUnity CatalogGitHub Actions
100% Deployment Automation
Finance

Data Mesh

Designed a modular data mesh with proactive failure detection and AWS Glue optimizations. Architected Parent-Child DAGs for cross-domain workflows.

AirflowAWS GlueLambda
70% Cost Reduction
Social Welfare

Event-Driven ETL & AI Chatbots

Built MuleSoft flows for efficient data ETL processes and RAML-based APIs. Deployed AI-powered chatbots to significantly enhance user engagement and platform accessibility.

SnowflakeSQSMuleSoft
Finance

Kafka-to-GCP Streaming ETL

Implemented robust streaming ETL pipelines utilizing Confluent Kafka and Google Cloud Platform. Automated daily data reconciliation across products using Airflow with optimized batching.

Confluent KafkaBigQueryTerraform
1.3M Records/Day Processed

Detailed Career Timeline

Senior Data Engineer @ Slalom Build

Jan 2026 — Present | Energy Client

Architecting next-generation data platforms with Medallion Architecture using Unity Catalog External Volumes & LakeFlow Pipelines.

  • Replaced legacy mount points with a highly secure, identity-based access model leveraging Unity Catalog.
  • Automated Change Data Capture (CDC) and Slowly Changing Dimensions (SCD) Type 2 logic via the LakeFlow API.
  • Engineered a fully automated CI/CD deployment infrastructure utilizing GitHub Actions to ensure reproducible data environments across development and production.

Senior Data Engineer @ Slalom Build

Sep 2024 — Dec 2025 | Finance Client

Designed scalable data mesh architecture with proactive failure detection and cross-domain orchestration.

  • Reduced AWS Glue computing costs by 70% while maintaining strict SLA performance across all domains.
  • Architected a Parent-Child DAG pattern within Apache Airflow to streamline complex, cross-domain workflows.
  • Integrated AWS Glue Data Quality checks for continuous schema compliance and real-time anomaly detection.
  • Implemented secure, event-driven Lambda-SQS workflows to automate downstream processes efficiently.

Data Engineer @ Slalom Build

May 2024 — Sep 2024 | Social Welfare Client

Built comprehensive MuleSoft flows for efficient data ETL processes, real-time ingestion, and AI integrations.

  • Designed standardized API contracts (RAML-based) to dramatically improve modularity and platform reusability.
  • Enabled real-time data ingestion with minimal latency utilizing Snowflake Snowpipes.
  • Ensured 100% data integrity through rigorous Python and SQL pipeline validations.
  • Successfully deployed AI-powered chatbots to significantly enhance user engagement and welfare platform accessibility.

Data Engineer @ Slalom Build

Oct 2022 — Dec 2023 | Finance Client

Implemented high-throughput streaming ETL pipelines utilizing Confluent Kafka and Google Cloud Platform (BigQuery).

  • Processed 1.3 million records per day, achieving a 4x processing speed improvement (reduced pipeline time from 2 hours to 30 minutes).
  • Achieved 100% data integrity through the creation of comprehensive, automated reconciliation pipelines.
  • Automated daily data reconciliation across Google products using Apache Airflow with heavily optimized batching.
  • Implemented robust Slack-based alerting workflows utilizing Terraform and Google Cloud Functions.

Education & Academic Leadership

Northeastern University

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

Graduated April 2022. Built a strong foundational knowledge in algorithmic optimization, distributed systems, and scalable software architecture.

Academic Support

Teaching Assistant & Note Taker

Provided dedicated academic support to over 200 students. Ensured equal access to education by creating comprehensive study materials for students with disabilities.