Experiencing issue when trying to utilize a file variable within a pipeline

Hi All - I am experiencing an issue when trying to utilize a file variable within a pipeline - See below:

When developing the pipeline, I created a custom variable with a 'file' validation type:

I associated that custom variable to a data load rule stage within the pipeline:

When executing the pipeline, I receive an error upon import:

It is as if the data load rule / pipeline are reading the variable value as a 'text' value instead of a 'variable'. How I would it expect it to work is read it as a 'variable' and import the file that I associate with that variable when executing the pipeline.