Dan Siegel
Data Engineering Consultant
Available for consulting: I deliver measurable results while keeping projects on time and within budget. I combine technical excellence with business acumen - writing cleaner, faster code while ensuring it solves real business problems.
Services Offered
Cloud Data Platform Modernization
Migrate legacy systems to modern cloud data platforms, optimize for cost and performance, and implement cloud-native architectures that scale with your business.
- Data warehouse migration & optimization
- Cost reduction strategies
- Performance tuning & monitoring
ETL/ELT Pipeline Development
Build robust, automated data pipelines using Airflow, DBT, and Python. Ensure data quality, reliability, and consistency across your organization.
- Custom pipeline architecture
- Data quality & validation
- Automated monitoring & alerting
Data Strategy & Architecture Review
Audit your current data stack and provide a comprehensive roadmap for scalability, best practices, and future growth.
- Data architecture assessment
- Technology stack evaluation
- Scalability roadmap development
BI & Analytics Enablement
Structure data warehouses to empower your analytics teams with clean, reliable data for tools like PowerBI and Tableau.
- Data modeling for analytics
- Self-service BI enablement
- Dashboard & reporting optimization
Project Management & Business Process Optimization
Technical excellence meets business fluency - I evaluate and optimize business processes, manage projects using Agile methodologies, and ensure delivery of cleaner, faster solutions on time and within budget.
- Agile project management (PMP, CSM, CSPO certified)
- Business process evaluation & optimization
- Cross-functional team leadership
- Technical excellence with business fluency
Data Governance & Quality Assurance
Establish data governance frameworks, implement quality controls, and ensure compliance with data standards across your organization.
- Data quality monitoring & validation
- Governance framework development
- Compliance & security standards
- Data lineage & documentation
Available for Consulting Projects
I combine technical excellence with business fluency. Let's discuss how I can help solve your specific data challenges, optimize your business processes, and deliver cleaner, faster solutions that drive measurable outcomes on time and within budget.
Schedule a ConsultationProjects & Articles
Here are some random articles and musings about data which I post as I create them.
SnowDucks - DuckDB Extension for Snowflake
The Inspiration:
At Data Council, I saw DuckDB's instant SQL demo and thought "I want that for Snowflake." Not because it solved a business problem, but because I was curious about the technical challenge and wanted to explore DuckDB's extension API.
What I Built:
A DuckDB extension that caches Snowflake queries for instant SQL execution. Built in C++ with Python integration, using DuckLake for columnar storage. Features intelligent caching with SHA256 query hashing, automatic row limits, and PostgreSQL metadata management. Started as a Python prototype, then learned C++ to build a proper extension.
The Learning:
Sometimes the best projects come from "because I felt like it." This taught me DuckDB's extension API, C++ memory management, and that not every project needs to solve a market gap. The workflow I built - idempotent bind phase, quick execution phase - works flawlessly for local Snowflake development.
Salesforce Reverse ETL with Airflow & DBT
The Problem:
Major reverse ETL companies offer polished solutions, but they come with high costs and vendor lock-in that many organizations can't justify or work with.
The Solution:
I built an open-source methodology that enables organizations to scale reverse ETL operations without breaking the bank. By extending Airflow's existing operators and leveraging DBT for transformations, companies can build robust, scalable reverse ETL pipelines using tools they already have.
The Value:
This approach gives organizations complete control over their data flows while avoiding expensive licensing fees. While not as polished as commercial solutions, it provides everything needed for effective reverse ETL at a fraction of the cost.
Professional Experience
Senior Data Engineer
- Architected and optimized data models that reduced data processing costs by 40% and increased query performance, enabling business intelligence teams to deliver insights 30% faster through seamless Redshift to Snowflake migration.
- Led modernization of data infrastructure using cloud-native technologies (Terraform, Kubernetes), reducing deployment time from days to hours and improving time-to-market for data-driven solutions by 50%.
- Designed and implemented robust data pipelines that automated 95% of manual data processes, ensuring 99.9% data quality and reliability while reducing operational overhead by 60%.
- Partnered with cross-functional teams to identify data-driven opportunities, implementing reverse ETL processes that synchronized operational and analytical systems, enabling real-time decision-making and contributing to 25% improvement in customer acquisition insights.
Senior Data Engineer / Lead Data Engineer
- Served as functional team manager of 3 Data Engineers, delivering 100% of roadmap commitments on time while improving team productivity by 35% through process optimization and mentorship.
- Identified and implemented internal process improvements that automated 80% of manual processes, optimized data delivery by 45%, and redesigned infrastructure for 3x greater scalability, resulting in $200K annual cost savings.
- Built comprehensive data infrastructure using SQL, AWS Athena, Glue, Talend, Python, Databricks, Spark, and DBT, enabling extraction from 15+ data sources and reducing data processing time by 60%.
- Developed analytics tools that provided actionable insights into customer acquisition and operational efficiency, contributing to 20% improvement in key business performance metrics and enabling data-driven decision making across 5 departments.
- Collaborated with Traffic, Product, Data and Engineering teams to resolve data-related technical issues, reducing support tickets by 50% and improving stakeholder satisfaction scores by 40%.
Data Engineer
- Built and supported data infrastructure enabling optimal ETL/ELT from 8+ data sources (MSSQLServer, Netezza, flat files, APIs, Oracle, Snowflake), reducing data integration time by 50% and improving data accuracy to 99.5%.
- Participated in design of internal business processes, automating 70% of manual processes and optimizing data delivery workflows, resulting in 40% reduction in processing time and $150K annual operational savings.
- Collaborated with Business Intelligence teams and data consumers to identify requirements and modeling needs, enabling 25% faster report generation and improving data accessibility for 200+ end users.
Project Manager / Product Owner
- Provided pre-sales support for bundled and custom Laserfiche Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and Business Process Automation solutions.
- Created Statement of Work (SOW), and facilitated Business Requirements Document (BRD) gathering.
- Heavy use of SQL within implemented solutions, including implementation of ETL, Data Warehousing, and automated Business Intelligence (BI) reporting.
- Provided Subject Matter Expertise (SME) before during and after delivery, including implementation design, documentation, and change requests.
- Served as Product Owner/Agile Coach to development team including adoption and implementation of agile methodologies.
- Assisted team with Scrum ceremonies including creation of User Stories and Product Backlog, facilitation of Backlog Grooming, Sprint Demo, and Sprint Retrospectives.
Implementation Consultant
- Provided oversight and support of the implementation of SaaS HCM software for new clients or existing client upsells.
- Controlled project requirements, scope, and change management to ensure on-time achievement of project milestones and deliverables.
- Ranked #1 against over 500 peers within market segmentation at 177% to Plan YTD at time of departure.
Project Specialist
- Created and managed contingent workforce process including submission processes, onboarding / offboarding, vendor management policies, and played a key role in MSP implementation.
- Leveraged Agile and Kanban methodologies and developed business analytics for risk evaluation, resource forecasting, and measurement of recruiting team effectiveness.
- Full life cycle recruitment: sourcing, screening, interview scheduling, and offer negotiation.
- Supported senior management and directors by maintaining document control and tracking projects within project timelines, which included implementing the internal collaboration tools Confluence and Sharepoint.