I'm Jose Acosta, Data Engineer
Time-Series & Real-Time Systems | ex-Quant Trader | ex-Construction Project Manager
Building high-availability data systems where reliability isn't optional
Open to Full-Time Data Engineering Opportunities
đ Based in Caracas, Venezuela | Available for remote work worldwide
"Data quality, latency, and reliability aren't 'tech details'âthey're business risk. When a pipeline fails and decisions can't wait, you learn to build for resilience."
Data Engineer with Real-World Context
I'm a Data Engineer who came up through quantitative trading. For four years I put real capital behind time-series modelsâwhere a bad join or silent failure cost money before you could roll it back. That experience taught me that every delay, quality issue, or bad assumption in data has a real business cost. Now I build the high-availability, real-time data systems I wished I'd had.
Before that, I spent four years in construction project management, learning to deliver under pressure, manage constraints, and communicate with clarity across technical and non-technical teams. That background shaped how I approach systems today: with structure, accountability, and respect for the human side of engineering.
Philosophy: Data quality, latency, and reliability aren't "tech details"âthey're business risk. When a pipeline fails and decisions can't wait, you learn to build for resilience, instrument everything, and ship only what you can monitor.
How I Build
- Product-minded: Pipelines aligned to decisions & KPIs, not just storage
- Quality & reliability first: Unit tests + dbt data tests, SLAs/SLIs, lineage tracking
- Cost-aware by design: Partitioning, pruning, caching, orchestration, right-sizing
- Data contracts: Work backward from outcomes to schemas, ownership, and alertsâso when something breaks at 2 AM, the right person gets paged, not the entire team
Recent Work:
- Real-time ingestion system: Built WebSocket â cloud warehouse pipeline with alerting and on-call playbooks that reduced data staleness from hours to seconds, enabling same-day decisions
- Document parsing & normalization: Shipped services that transform semi-structured data into clean schemas, reducing manual data cleanup by 80%
- Streaming/ETL pipelines: Designed systems that cut research cycles by 40% and made backtesting 5x faster through reliable data infrastructure
- Anomaly detection services: Delivered monitoring that surfaces data quality issues before they impact downstream users or business decisions
Core Tech:
Data & Processing:
Platforms & Tools:
Orchestration & Infra:
Quality & Monitoring:
Specialties: Time-Series | Streaming | Real-Time Systems | Data Modeling | ML in Production
Earlier Career
Earlier Career Context
Before tech, I managed civil-engineering projectsâvaluations, resource flows, construction metrics. Different domain, same lesson: decisions are only as good as the systems and data that support them.
This foundation taught me to deliver under constraints, manage stakeholder expectations, and communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences. It's why I approach data engineering with structure, accountability, and an understanding that reliability isn't just about uptimeâit's about enabling people to do their jobs with confidence.
What I'm Looking For
Currently: I'm seeking full-time Data Engineering opportunities with teams building mission-critical data systems. I also take on select consulting projects for startups and small businesses that need hands-on help establishing reliable data infrastructure.
Full-Time Data Engineering Roles
Positions with teams building mission-critical data systems in data-intensive productsâwhere milliseconds matter and "close enough" breaks the business model.
Domains that interest me: Fintech (real-time pricing, risk models, trading infrastructure), E-commerce (inventory optimization, recommendation engines), Logistics (supply-chain analytics), SaaS (product analytics, usage-based billing)
- ⢠High-stakes systems where downtime has immediate business impact
- ⢠Real-time requirements (streaming, event-driven architectures)
- ⢠Cost-sensitive projects where optimization affects margins
- ⢠Culture that treats data infrastructure as a product, not a cost center
- ⢠Reliability-first mindset shaped by years in high-stakes environments
- ⢠Business impact focusâI translate between engineering and business language
- ⢠Production-ready systems built for observability and long-term maintenance
- ⢠Proven ability to deliver under pressure with cross-functional teams
Consulting & Project Work
I also partner with select startups and growing businesses that need production-grade data infrastructure but aren't ready for a full-time hire. For consulting services and project-based work,view my services page â
Happy to share repos, architectural diagrams, or walk through design decisions and trade-offs. I believe in building systems and cultures defined by clarity, empathy, and accountability.
Production Metrics in Detail
Professional Certifications
Continuous learning and professional development through industry-recognized certifications
IBM Data Engineering Professional Certificate
IBM
Issued May 2025
Duration: 11 months
Comprehensive professional certificate covering data engineering fundamentals, ETL processes, and cloud-based data solutions.
Skills Acquired:
Inferential Statistical Analysis with Python
University of Michigan
Issued Nov 2024
ID: R7LPZ5VW13NJ
Statistical analysis techniques using Python for data-driven decision making.
Skills Acquired:
Understanding and Visualizing Data with Python
University of Michigan
Issued Nov 2024
ID: OHX0446VDLS8
Comprehensive course on data analysis and visualization techniques using Python libraries.
Skills Acquired:
Data Science Orientation
Coursera
Issued May 2025
Introduction to data science career paths and industry overview.
Skills Acquired:
Python Profesional
CĂłdigo Facilito
Issued Jun 2023
Curso profesional de Python para el uso en la ciencia de datos
Skills Acquired:
What is Data Science?
IBM
ID: 8O4B21RURLGO
Introduction to data science methodologies and applications across industries.
Skills Acquired:
Consultor Internacional Certificado
EspabĂlate Consulting Group
Certification in international consulting practices and methodologies.
Skills Acquired:
InglĂŠs Avanzado
Kaplan UK
English proficiency certification for professional environments.
Skills Acquired:
Continuous Learning Journey
Always expanding knowledge and staying current with industry trends and technologies
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