Data Specialist

Career Area: Technology, Digital and Data Job Description: Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc. When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it. Caterpillar's SPPD Digital team is seeking a Data Specialist to support Procurement and Supply Chain decision-making through modern cloud-based data engineering and analytics solutions. This role sits within the Data Engineering team and supports the foundational data platforms that power digital products, reporting, analytics, and decision-making across SPPD. In this role, you will design, build, maintain, and troubleshoot analytical data products and data pipelines using Snowflake, SQL, Python, and modern development tools while helping improve data quality, consistency, and governance across multiple platforms. This position combines hands-on data engineering, data investigation, production support, and stakeholder engagement, requiring an individual who can solve complex problems and communicate technical concepts effectively to both technical and business audiences. What Makes This Role Exciting This is more than a traditional data specialist role. You'll work at the foundation of SPPD Digital's data ecosystem, helping create trusted, standardized data that supports critical Procurement and Supply Chain decisions across the enterprise. No two days are exactly alike. One day you may be building and modernizing data pipelines in Snowflake, and the next you may be investigating a complex data issue, partnering with business stakeholders to identify the root cause, and helping improve data quality and consistency across multiple systems. You'll have the opportunity to support cloud modernization initiatives, work with emerging technologies and AI-enabled tools, and learn from experienced data engineers and platform specialists while making a visible impact across the broader organization.

Data Engineering & Delivery Design, build, maintain, and support data pipelines, data transformations, and analytical data products using Snowflake, SQL, and modern development tools. Support the modernization of legacy SAS-based processes into scalable Snowflake-based data solutions, including rebuilding, validating, and retiring legacy processes where appropriate. Develop reliable, repeatable, and well-documented data products that support Procurement and Supply Chain decision-making. Follow established coding standards, version control practices, and development workflows utilizing tools such as GitHub, VS Code, and GitHub Copilot. Contribute to cloud-based data architecture initiatives that improve data accessibility, maintainability, and performance. Data Investigation & Problem Solving Investigate data discrepancies, reporting inconsistencies, and production issues by tracing data through source systems, transformation logic, and downstream applications. Identify root causes related to data quality, mapping, lineage, source-system changes, and analytical reporting. Resolve production support issues across analytical applications and backend data products, escalating issues appropriately when resolution requires upstream teams or platform owners. Analyze large datasets to identify accuracy concerns, recommend corrective actions, and improve overall data reliability. Balance project-based work with changing priorities, urgent business requests, troubleshooting activities, and production support needs. Data Quality & Governance Support efforts to establish trusted, standardized data definitions across Procurement and Supply Chain systems and platforms. Help improve and maintain