Deep Cloud Expertise: Expert-level understanding and hands-on experience with at least one major modern cloud platform (Azure preferred, and/or GCP), including deep knowledge of their data services (e.g., Azure Synapse, Databricks, Data Factory, Event Hubs, Data Lake Storage; or GCP BigQuery, Dataflow, Pub/Sub, Cloud Storage). API & Integration Expertise: Proven ability to architect and implement complex data integrations with a wide array of systems, including advanced API integrations, message queues (e.g., Kafka, Azure Event Hubs), and enterprise-grade data transfer protocols.