Semantic Specialist
Replicon
Job Summary
Deltek’s Enterprise Data & Intelligence organization is seeking a forward-thinking Semantic Developer to define and scale the enterprise semantic layer that powers trusted analytics, AI enablement, and operational decision-making across the company. This role operates at the intersection of business strategy, data architecture, and analytics engineering, designing and operationalizing enterprise-grade semantic models in Snowflake and Power BI. The Semantic Developer acts as both architect and translator, partnering with business leaders, analysts, data engineers, and AI teams to ensure the enterprise data cloud reflects a common language and supports scalable analytics and AI innovation
Responsibilities
- Build and maintain semantic views in Snowflake as the foundation for Power BI semantic models
- Design and develop enterprise-grade semantic models in Power BI aligned with business requirements and analytics needs
- Collaborate with Data Engineering teams to ensure optimal data pipeline architecture and integration with semantic layers.
- Establish and enforce best practices for semantic model design, including naming conventions, relationships, and calculation logic.
- Serve as the primary liaison between business users, data strategists, technical teams, and decentralized development teams.
- Partner closely with business stakeholders to understand reporting and analytics requirements.
- Facilitate productive dialogue between technical and non-technical teams, ensuring all voices are heard and understood.
- Translate business needs into technical specifications and vice versa.
- Identify opportunities where semantic model improvements can drive business value and competitive advantage.
- Design and deliver workshops to educate business users on leveraging the semantic layer for self-service analytics.
- Create comprehensive documentation and training materials for semantic model usage.
- Provide ongoing support and guidance to users adopting self-service reporting practices.
- Develop governance frameworks that empower users while maintaining data integrity and security.
- Integrate the Snowflake semantic layer with downstream BI tools, including Power BI.
- Support Snowflake Cortex Analyst capabilities, enabling natural language querying on governed semantic models.
- Implement DAX calculations, measures, and KPIs to support business intelligence needs.
- Optimize model performance and ensure scalability as data volumes grow.
- Maintain version control and documentation for all semantic model components.
Required Qualifications
- 4-6 years of hands-on experience with Power BI development, with significant focus on semantic model design.
- Proven experience working with Snowflake, including creating and optimizing semantic views.
- Strong understanding of data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes.
- Proficiency in DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) and M Query language.
- Experience with data modeling concepts including star schema, snowflake schema, and dimensional modeling.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with business stakeholders and translate requirements into technical solutions.
- Experience conducting user training sessions and workshops.
- Strong documentation and communication skills.
- Ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
- Understanding of data governance and security best practices.
- Experience with version control systems and development lifecycle management.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and work independently in a fast-paced environment.
- Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, including active listening and synthesizing diverse perspectives.
- Experience facilitating meetings, workshops, and training sessions with groups ranging from 5-50+ participants.
- Demonstrated business acumen with ability to understand industry trends, business metrics, and organizational objectives.
- Comfortable navigating ambiguity and mediating between competing priorities.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with Cloud data platforms.
- Experience with other BI tools or data visualization platforms.
- Knowledge of SQL and database design principles.
- Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies.
- Certification in Power BI or related Microsoft technologies.
- Experience with data governance frameworks and metadata management.