diff --git a/bigquery_etl/cli/query.py b/bigquery_etl/cli/query.py
index ef1dd855b2..2da8f37c99 100644
--- a/bigquery_etl/cli/query.py
+++ b/bigquery_etl/cli/query.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ from functools import partial
 from glob import glob
 from multiprocessing.pool import Pool, ThreadPool
 from pathlib import Path
-from tempfile import NamedTemporaryFile
 from traceback import print_exc
 from typing import Optional
 
@@ -2127,10 +2126,7 @@ def deploy(
                     )
                     sys.exit(1)
 
-            with NamedTemporaryFile(suffix=".json") as tmp_schema_file:
-                existing_schema.to_json_file(Path(tmp_schema_file.name))
-                bigquery_schema = client.schema_from_json(tmp_schema_file.name)
-
+            bigquery_schema = existing_schema.to_bigquery_schema()
             try:
                 table = client.get_table(full_table_id)
             except NotFound:
@@ -2249,10 +2245,7 @@ def _deploy_external_data(
             except NotFound:
                 table = bigquery.Table(full_table_id)
 
-            with NamedTemporaryFile(suffix=".json") as tmp_schema_file:
-                existing_schema.to_json_file(Path(tmp_schema_file.name))
-                bigquery_schema = client.schema_from_json(tmp_schema_file.name)
-
+            bigquery_schema = existing_schema.to_bigquery_schema()
             table.schema = bigquery_schema
             _attach_metadata(metadata_file_path, table)
 
diff --git a/bigquery_etl/schema/__init__.py b/bigquery_etl/schema/__init__.py
index 7c90f07d8e..6b00d7b468 100644
--- a/bigquery_etl/schema/__init__.py
+++ b/bigquery_etl/schema/__init__.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import attr
 import yaml
 from google.api_core.exceptions import NotFound
 from google.cloud import bigquery
+from google.cloud.bigquery import SchemaField
 
 from .. import dryrun
 
@@ -282,3 +283,12 @@ class Schema:
     def to_json(self):
         """Return the schema data as JSON."""
         return json.dumps(self.schema)
+
+    def to_bigquery_schema(self) -> List[SchemaField]:
+        """Get the BigQuery representation of the schema."""
+        return [SchemaField.from_api_repr(field) for field in self.schema["fields"]]
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_bigquery_schema(cls, fields: List[SchemaField]) -> "Schema":
+        """Construct a Schema from the BigQuery representation."""
+        return cls({"fields": [field.to_api_repr() for field in fields]})
diff --git a/tests/schema/test_schema.py b/tests/schema/test_schema.py
index 0bdd466218..156f41b7b3 100644
--- a/tests/schema/test_schema.py
+++ b/tests/schema/test_schema.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from textwrap import dedent
 
 import yaml
+from google.cloud.bigquery import SchemaField
 
 from bigquery_etl.schema import Schema
 
@@ -379,3 +380,76 @@ class TestQuerySchema:
         schema_1.merge(schema_2)
 
         assert schema_1.schema["fields"][0]["description"] == "Date of the submission"
+
+    def test_bigquery_conversion(self):
+        bq_schema = [
+            SchemaField(
+                "record_field",
+                "RECORD",
+                "REPEATED",
+                description="Record field",
+                fields=(
+                    SchemaField(
+                        "nested_field_1",
+                        "STRING",
+                        "NULLABLE",
+                        description="Nested Field 1",
+                    ),
+                    SchemaField(
+                        "nested_field_2",
+                        "INTEGER",
+                        "NULLABLE",
+                        description="Nested Field 2",
+                    ),
+                ),
+            ),
+            SchemaField("normal_field", "STRING"),
+        ]
+
+        schema = Schema.from_bigquery_schema(bq_schema)
+        assert schema.schema["fields"][0]["description"] == "Record field"
+        assert schema.schema["fields"][0]["name"] == "record_field"
+        assert (
+            schema.schema["fields"][0]["fields"][0]["description"] == "Nested Field 1"
+        )
+        assert schema.schema["fields"][0]["fields"][0]["type"] == "STRING"
+        assert schema.schema["fields"][1]["name"] == "normal_field"
+
+        schema_yaml = dedent(
+            """
+            fields:
+            - mode: NULLABLE
+              name: submission_date
+              type: DATE
+            - mode: NULLABLE
+              name: client_id
+              type: STRING
+            - fields:
+              - mode: NULLABLE
+                name: campaign
+                type: STRING
+                description: attribution campaign
+              mode: NULLABLE
+              name: attribution
+              type: RECORD
+            """
+        )
+
+        schema = Schema.from_json(yaml.safe_load(schema_yaml))
+        bq_schema = schema.to_bigquery_schema()
+        assert len(bq_schema) == 3
+        assert bq_schema[0] == SchemaField(
+            name="submission_date", field_type="DATE", mode="NULLABLE"
+        )
+        assert bq_schema[2] == SchemaField(
+            name="attribution",
+            field_type="RECORD",
+            mode="NULLABLE",
+            fields=(
+                SchemaField(
+                    name="campaign",
+                    field_type="STRING",
+                    description="attribution campaign",
+                ),
+            ),
+        )