Contract
A vetted engineer embedded in your team for a defined term.
Hire data engineers
Conntal places senior data engineers for platform work, not dashboard work: Cloudera CDP estates, Databricks and Snowflake builds, and streaming pipelines on Kafka. Candidates are screened by a Duczer East or AceMQ practitioner on a real migration or lineage problem before you see a CV.
The screen · Data engineerConntal Vetting Standard
Scenario put to the candidate
A bank is on CDP Private Cloud Base 7.1.7 and wants to move to 7.1.9. Their OS reaches end of life inside the currently supported CDP version. What do you check, and in what order?
The full rubric, including what separates a senior answer from a mid one, is directly below.
Screened by practitioners
Ace8 and AceMQ engineers, not recruiters
130+
enterprises served across 26+ countries
Contract, C2H or direct
onshore, nearshore or offshore
The screen
What we actually ask.
This is the rubric a practitioner uses when they assess a data engineer. We publish it so you can judge our bar before you engage us — and so candidates know exactly what they are walking into.
The screen · Data engineerConntal Vetting Standard
Scenario put to the candidate
A bank is on CDP Private Cloud Base 7.1.7 and wants to move to 7.1.9. Their OS reaches end of life inside the currently supported CDP version. What do you check, and in what order?
A senior answer contains
- Goes to the support matrix first and reads it against the actual cluster, not the target release.
- Spots that an OS going end of life inside a supported CDP version is the trap, and sequences the OS upgrade accordingly.
- Names the things that break in practice: Ranger policies, Hive metastore, Spark 3 pairings, Kerberos principals.
- Asks who signs off the lineage evidence, because in a bank that gates the change.
Where a mid answer stops
- Starts from the CDP release notes and treats the OS as an afterthought.
- Plans the upgrade as one window rather than a sequence with rollback points.
- Has not had to produce lineage evidence for an examiner and does not ask who will.
Titles this covers
One brief, several job titles.
These titles overlap heavily and are used inconsistently between companies. Tell us the outcome you need and we will tell you which title actually fits it.
- Data engineer
- Big data engineer
- Platform data engineer
- Streaming engineer
- Analytics engineer
- Data platform lead
What we screen on
Technologies, by category.
Candidates are screened against the stack you actually run, not a generic checklist. Messaging appears on every role because it is where our deepest bench sits.
Platforms
Cloudera CDPDatabricksSnowflakeGreenplumGemFire
Streaming
Apache KafkaConfluentApache PulsarFlinkCDC
Processing
SparkHiveIcebergDelta LakedbtAirflow
Governance
Apache AtlasCloudera SDXUnity Catalogcolumn-level lineage
Regulated context
model risk evidencedata residencyKYC and AML pipelinesaudit trails
Engagement
Contract, contract-to-hire or direct.
Platform work usually starts with a defined piece of change and becomes ongoing ownership, which is why most data engineers engagements begin on contract.
Contract-to-hire
Work together first, convert when it is obviously working.
Direct placement
A permanent hire, screened to the same standard.
Location
Global bench, nearshore first.
We staff globally. Nearshore is our default recommendation because it preserves same-working-day overlap while aligning cost with budget.
OnshoreHighest rate
NearshoreOur default recommendation
OffshoreLowest rate
Rate bands and procurement detail on the delivery models page.
How it works
Three steps, and the first one is not a recruiter.
- 01
A practitioner scopes the role
An engineer who runs this technology reads your brief and tells you what is missing from it. Most briefs we receive ask for the wrong seniority or the wrong title.
- 02
We screen, then shortlist
Sourcing is ours; the technical decision belongs to the vetting practitioner. You see candidates who have already passed the scenario published on this page.
- 03
Start, convert or replace
Contract, contract-to-hire or direct. If the fit is wrong we say so first and replace rather than defend the placement.
Who vets data engineers
A named engineer owns this screen.
Data platform lead
Cloudera CDP upgrades and private-AI builds inside banks; owns the support-matrix and lifecycle practice.
Name and headshot pending — see /how-we-vet
The full rubric, the funnel and every vetting practitioner are on the Conntal Vetting Standard page.
FAQ
Data engineers: what buyers ask
Do you staff Cloudera engineers specifically?
Yes. Cloudera is a core Duczer East practice covering CDP support, upgrades, the support matrix and private AI on Cloudera, and Cloudera candidates are screened by that team rather than by a generalist recruiter.
Can you find Databricks and Snowflake engineers?
Yes, and we screen them on platform work rather than notebooks: cost model, governance, lineage and migration path. We are explicit with clients about where our own bench is deepest, which today is Cloudera and streaming.
What is the difference between a data engineer and an analytics engineer?
A data engineer owns the pipeline and the platform underneath it: ingestion, storage, orchestration, governance. An analytics engineer works above the warehouse, modelling data for consumption. Confusing the two is the single most common cause of a failed data hire.
Do your data engineers have regulated-industry experience?
Many do. The parent practices deliver into financial services and healthcare, which means candidates are routinely screened on data residency, lineage as audit evidence, and the governance obligations that come with model risk management.
Can you staff a Kafka or streaming specialist?
Yes. Streaming is AceMQ's core practice, so Kafka, Confluent and Pulsar candidates are screened by engineers who run those platforms in production rather than by keyword match.
Contract or direct placement for data platform roles?
Both, and contract-to-hire in between. Migration and upgrade work is usually contract; ongoing platform ownership is usually direct. We will tell you which one your scope actually is.
Need data engineers? Start with the brief.
Send the requirement and an engineer who runs this technology will tell you what is missing before we source anyone.