Data Engineer (Contract to Perm)

LOCALITY•New York, NY

9d•$60 - $80•Onsite

About The Position

Locality is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to serve as the primary internal owner of its Audience Engine, spanning data ingestion, identity resolution, automation, and AI enablement. The role focuses on hands-on platform stewardship, transitioning knowledge from external partners, and building a scalable, internally managed data platform. It also offers a path toward supporting expansion of the HH Identity Graph and applied AI use cases. The engineer will own and optimize Databricks data pipelines and integrations, maintain reliable and cost-efficient data operations, and strengthen identity resolution across audience datasets. The role works cross-functionally to onboard data sources and activation endpoints, support AI/ML workflows, and provide data models and datasets for reporting, audience insights, and predictive modeling. It also involves maintaining governance, lineage, documentation, privacy, consent, and data-use compliance. The position is located at the Bryant Park Building in New York, NY. Compensation is $60–$80 per hour, depending on experience, education, and skills. The role includes a benefits package with health care benefits, retirement benefits, and paid days off.

Requirements

At least 4 years of experience as a Data Engineer or Data Platform Engineer; advertising experience is preferred.
Strong hands-on experience with Databricks, Spark, and modern cloud data platforms.
Experience designing and maintaining multi-layered Bronze/Silver/Gold data architectures.
Deep expertise in SQL and proficiency in Python or another scripting language.
Experience with identity graphs, audience data, and complex join logic across large datasets.
Hands-on experience building and managing automated data pipelines and third-party data integrations.
Familiarity with adtech, martech, or audience activation platforms, including exposure to identity providers such as Experian or similar vendors.
Practical experience supporting AI/ML workflows or AI-enabled analytics, with understanding of data quality, schema design, and performance optimization in cloud-scale environments.

Nice To Haves

Experience as a Data Engineer or Data Platform Engineer within advertising.
Familiarity with identity providers such as Experian or similar vendors.

Responsibilities

Establish and own technical management of the Audience Engine, transitioning knowledge from external partners and building a scalable, internally managed platform.
Reduce reliance on third-party vendors while maintaining platform reliability, uptime, and data integrity across pipelines and integrations.
Architect, own, and continuously optimize Databricks Bronze, Silver, and Gold pipelines for audience ingestion, enrichment, and activation workflows.
Optimize pipelines and resource management to ensure scalability and cost efficiency.
Monitor, troubleshoot, and resolve ingestion failures, schema drift, and data quality issues across batch and near-real-time pipelines.
Lead identity resolution across HHID, DSID, MAID, IP, and campaign-log datasets, improving matching logic for the Household Identity Graph.
Maintain downstream data delivery processes and SLAs across activation platforms and partners to ensure accurate and timely audience publication.
Own and maintain integrations with external data and activation partners, including Experian, FreeWheel, and DSPs.
Partner with Product, Analytics, and Ad Operations to onboard data sources and activation endpoints.
Support and operationalize applied AI/ML workflows in Databricks, including integration with tools such as Akkio, and turn business needs into production-ready data features and datasets.
Design and implement scalable data models and query-ready datasets for BI reporting, audience insights, and predictive modeling.
Enforce data governance, lineage, and documentation standards, and ensure compliance with privacy, consent, and data-use regulations.