Data Engineer

Vibrant Planet•Truckee, CA

13d•$100,000 - $200,000•Remote

About The Position

We are seeking a versatile, hands-on data engineer to help us design, build, and scale the data pipelines that power Vibrant Planet’s platform. In this role, you will own and evolve the pipelines and systems that transform diverse raw data sources into reliable, high-quality data products used by clients at the local, state, and federal level to make decisions about wildfire risk, forest health, and land management. You will work across the engineering organization, partnering with scientists, analysts, and product engineers to ensure data flows efficiently from ingestion through transformation to delivery. You’ll have opportunities to influence architecture decisions, introduce modern tooling, and help define best practices as we continue to grow. As a startup, we are building an engineering culture that is collaborative, innovative, and reflective of the individuals who compose it. We are looking for someone who thrives in a dynamic environment and is excited to work with the team to define best practices, solve complex challenges, and shape the future of our technology. This is a remote role, so working comfortably and effectively in a distributed team is crucial.

Requirements

5+ years of software engineering experience, with a focus on data engineering.
Proficient in Python. Ability to write clean, well-tested, production-quality code.
Experience using AI tools (e.g. Claude Code) to develop and review code.
Experience using Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), including services for storage, compute, and networking.
Experience using Orchestration frameworks (e.g., Airflow).
Familiarity with data modeling concepts and SQL proficiency across analytical and transactional databases.
Understanding of CI/CD pipelines and software engineering best practices (version control, testing, code review).

Nice To Haves

Experience with geospatial data formats and tools (e.g., PostGIS, GDAL, GeoPandas, Rasterio).
Docker, Kubernetes, and container orchestration.
Experience with data warehouses, data lakes, or lakehouses using tools such as Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Delta Lake, or similar.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform, Pulumi, or CloudFormation.
Education or experience in wildfire, forest management, environmental science, or other natural resources fields.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and maintain scalable, reliable data pipelines for ingesting, transforming, and serving large and diverse geospatial datasets.
Develop and drive data quality standards, including validation checks, monitoring, and alerting, to ensure high-quality data is delivered to downstream consumers and clients.
Design and optimize data models, storage formats, and query patterns for analytical and operational use cases.
Collaborate with engineers, data scientists, and other stakeholders to understand data requirements and deliver solutions that meet business needs.
Lead and participate in development lifecycle activities including design, coding, testing, and production releases.
Contribute to our evolving engineering culture, standards, tooling, and processes.
Mentor and support other engineers and provide thoughtful code reviews.
Comply with Vibrant Planet’s Information Security Policy and the full security responsibilities detailed in the Employee Handbook, including complete required security training, safeguard customer and company data, keep credentials secure, and report suspected security incidents or policy violations through established channels.
Follow secure development practices, adhere to established change management processes for production systems, protect the confidentiality and integrity of customer data, and promptly address security vulnerabilities in your area of responsibility.