ALEJANDRO PIEDRA
Data Engineering Lead (Data Architect)
Alajuela
Summary
Data Engineering Lead and Data Architect with 11+ years of experience designing and scaling enterprise data platforms and cloud architectures across retail and financial industries. Expert in distributed data systems (batch and streaming), managing large-scale environments (200+ TB), and building cloud-native data platforms on Google Cloud Platform. Strong experience enabling Machine Learning and AI solutions by building reliable data pipelines, supporting machine learning workflows, and ensuring high-quality, well-governed data for analytics and AI use cases. Proven track record leading teams, implementing data governance frameworks, and delivering scalable, business-driven data solutions aligned with enterprise architecture standards.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
2
2
Certifications
Work History
Data Engineering Lead (Data Architect)
Walmart de México y Centroamérica
San José, Provincia de San Jose
01.2022 - Current
- Led end-to-end design and delivery of enterprise data platforms and data architecture supporting analytics, reporting, and business intelligence initiatives.
- Designed and built scalable ETL/ELT pipelines (batch and streaming) using BigQuery, Dataflow, Spark, and Kafka.
- Architected reusable data platform frameworks covering ingestion, transformation, data quality, and optimization layers.
- Led migration from on-premise Hadoop environments to cloud architecture (GCP), enabling modern, scalable data platforms.
- Developed APIs and integration layers to enable seamless data consumption across enterprise systems.
- Designed advanced data models supporting complex analytical and reporting requirements.
- Implemented data governance frameworks, including data quality, metadata management, lifecycle, and classification, reducing data incidents by 25%.
- Defined and promoted data ownership models (Data Owners and Data Custodians), improving accountability and data stewardship.
- Applied data security and access control practices aligned with enterprise policies.
- Automated data pipelines and reporting processes, reducing manual effort by over 800 hours per month.
- Acted as primary coordination point between business stakeholders and engineering teams, ensuring delivery alignment and execution.
- Mentored and led a team of 15 engineers, improving delivery performance and technical capabilities.
Data Engineer
UST Global
San José, Provincia de San Jose
01.2020 - 01.2022
- Developed and maintained ETL pipelines using Hadoop ecosystem technologies (Hive, Spark, HDFS) and cloud platforms.
- Built data integration solutions supporting data ingestion, transformation, and analytics workloads.
- Participated in migration to Google Cloud Platform, improving scalability and performance.
- Designed ingestion patterns using partitioned data (Parquet) for optimized analytics processing.
- Supported large-scale data processing systems ensuring reliability and performance.
Software Developer – Backend & Microservices
Banco Promérica
Heredia, Provincia de Heredia
01.2019 - 01.2020
- Developed REST APIs and microservices using Java (Spring), .NET, and Node.js.
- Built integrations for high-volume transactional financial systems.
- Optimized database performance using SQL Server and Oracle.
- Ensured secure and reliable data processing across systems.
Applications Developer – Full Stack
Grupo Mutual
Alajuela, Provincia de Alajuela
01.2015 - 01.2019
- Developed full-stack solutions for core banking and transactional systems.
- Designed PL/SQL stored procedures and business logic.
- Integrated backend services using Oracle SOA.
- Supported high-availability systems ensuring performance and reliability.
Education
Master’s - Project Management & Agile Methodologies
01-2025
Bachelor’s - Computer Science
01-2014
Skills
Data Engineering & Architecture: Data Platforms, Data Architecture, ETL, ELT, Data Pipelines, Data Modeling, Data Warehousing
Cloud & Platforms: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Cloud Architecture, Azure
Big Data & Streaming: Apache Spark, Kafka, Hadoop, Distributed Systems
Programming: Python, SQL, Java, Scala
Databases: Oracle, SQL Server, BigQuery, MongoDB
Data Governance: Data Governance Frameworks, Data Ownership, Data Quality, Metadata Management, Data Classification
Certification
Google Cloud Digital Leader
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Big Data Management – Tecnológico de Costa Rica
- Machine Learning Fundamentals – Texas Tech University
- Programming & Analysis for Data Science – Universidad Nacional
- Continuous Process Improvement – Universidad Fidélitas
Timeline
Data Engineering Lead (Data Architect) - Walmart de México y Centroamérica
01.2022 - Current
Data Engineer - UST Global
01.2020 - 01.2022
Software Developer – Backend & Microservices - Banco Promérica
01.2019 - 01.2020
Applications Developer – Full Stack - Grupo Mutual
01.2015 - 01.2019
Universidad Latina - Master’s, Project Management & Agile Methodologies
Universidad Nacional - Bachelor’s, Computer Science