Alation Platform Support Engineer

Role Overview We’re looking for an Alation Platform Support Engineer to help run and support our enterprise data catalog and governance platform. In this role, you’ll be responsible for keeping the Alation platform stable, ensuring metadata flows correctly from various data sources, and helping users get the most value out of the platform.

You’ll work closely with data engineers, data stewards, and business teams to troubleshoot issues, improve data discoverability, and maintain overall platform health.

What You’ll Be Doing Platform Support & Operations

• Provide day-to-day support for the Alation platform (primarily L2/L3 issues)
• Monitor platform health, ingestion jobs, and system performance
• Troubleshoot issues related to UI, search, and metadata visibility
• Support platform upgrades, patches, and general maintenance

Metadata Ingestion & Data Source Support

• Configure and manage connections between Alation and enterprise data sources
• Troubleshoot issues with metadata extraction, sampling, and query log ingestion (QLI)
• Ensure data catalog content is accurate, up to date, and complete
• Work with data teams to onboard new data sources

Integrations & Connectivity

• Support integrations with databases, BI tools (like Tableau/Power BI), and file storage systems
• Troubleshoot connectivity issues between Alation Agent and cloud (network, firewall, HTTPS)
• Work with APIs and connectors to ensure smooth data flow

Authentication & Access Management

• Support SSO integrations using LDAP/SAML
• Manage user roles, permissions, and access controls
• Work with security teams to ensure compliance and secure access

Data Governance & Catalog Support

• Help maintain business glossary, data ownership, and metadata enrichment
• Support governance workflows and data stewardship activities
• Troubleshoot issues related to lineage, policies, and classifications

Search & Metadata Services

• Ensure Alation’s search functionality is working effectively
• Investigate and resolve issues with indexing or missing metadata
• Support users in finding and understanding data assets

Incident Handling & Troubleshooting

• Respond to platform incidents and outages
• Perform root cause analysis and document findings
• Work with internal teams and Alation support when needed

Monitoring & Logs

• Analyze application and agent logs to identify issues
• Monitor ingestion jobs, API calls, and system metrics
• Use monitoring tools (Splunk, ELK, etc.) where applicable

Must-Have Skills

• Hands-on experience with Alation Data Catalog (or similar tools)
• Strong understanding of metadata management and data lineage concepts
• Good SQL skills (for validation and troubleshooting)
• Experience with REST APIs and JSON
• Familiarity with JDBC/ODBC connections
• Understanding of SSO (LDAP/SAML)

Nice to Have

• Experience with other data governance tools (Collibra, Informatica, etc.)
• Basic scripting (Python or Shell)
• Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS/Azure)
• Familiarity with BI tools like Tableau or Power BI