Data Platform Engineering Manager

Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies•Sacramento, CA

3d•$151,770 - $194,560•Hybrid

About The Position

Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies (BHHC), Workers Compensation Division, is seeking a Data Platform Engineering Manager to lead the team responsible for the enterprise data platform. The manager is accountable for the platform’s performance, reliability, security, scalability, and cost efficiency, and oversees the selection, implementation, operation, and continuous improvement of technologies that store, process, and move organizational data. The role requires broad expertise across relational, NoSQL, and analytical data platforms, as well as responsibility for building team capability in those areas. The manager leads day-to-day platform operations, including 24x7 support and incident response, and ensures delivery through Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and GitOps practices aligned with the Autonomous Composable Development (ACD) model. The manager remains hands-on in platform design, implementation, administration, performance tuning, and complex incident escalation, while also managing people, cross-team coordination, standards, compliance, capacity, and investment proposals. The position participates in a scheduled on-call rotation, including responding to critical incidents, system alerts, and operational emergencies outside normal business hours. Active on-call participation is a mandatory condition of employment and is evaluated as part of performance reviews. The stated salary range is $151,770–$194,560 per year for a position filled in Sacramento, California; the employer notes that actual pay may vary based on qualifications, operational needs, and other considerations. A work-from-home program may be available for up to two days per week upon eligibility.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Data Engineering, or a related discipline.
10 or more years of experience in database administration, data engineering, or data platform operations.
5 or more years in a team lead, supervisory, or management role with direct people-management responsibility.
Hands-on experience with more than one database platform.
Expert-level knowledge of SQL Server 2016–2022, Azure SQL, and Managed Instance.
Working experience with at least one of Postgres, MySQL, Cosmos, or Mongo, and sufficient familiarity with relational and NoSQL platforms to evaluate and recommend stores for workloads.
Experience with database redundancy and high availability, such as Always On, geo-replication, or equivalent.
Cloud data platform experience with Azure SQL, Fabric, or Databricks, and ETL/ELT experience.
Experience with IaC and automation tools, including Terraform, Azure DevOps, and PowerShell; experience automating database provisioning and schema deployment.
Knowledge of ETL/ELT patterns and tools such as Azure Data Factory, SSIS, Fabric pipelines, HVR, or Databricks, and medallion and lakehouse patterns.
Knowledge of Terraform, Azure DevOps, Git-based workflows, PowerShell, and Python; repository and GitOps fluency sufficient to review and direct team IaC contributions.
Dynatrace monitoring knowledge.
Knowledge of NYDFS Part 500, SOC audit compliance, and PII handling.
Ability to communicate technology decisions and trade-offs to Director, VP, and Analytics leadership; write clear standards, runbooks, change records, performance feedback, and investment proposals; communicate status, risks, and team capacity proactively; and explain technical data concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Participation in a scheduled on-call rotation is mandatory, including response to critical incidents, system alerts, and operational emergencies outside normal business hours.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree.
Two or more strongly preferred certifications: Microsoft Fabric Analytics Engineer (DP-600), Azure Data Engineer Associate (DP-203), or Azure Database Administrator Associate (DP-300); equivalent certifications in non-Microsoft data platforms are also valued.
Working knowledge of Microsoft Fabric.
Experience using Claude or LLMs for data engineering.
A track record of designing and operating data systems in regulated industries.

Responsibilities

Supervise database engineers, including day-to-day direction, workload prioritization, performance management, one-on-ones, and reviews aligned with the individual-contributor level framework.
Develop the team’s depth across relational, NoSQL, and analytical platforms, and improve its automation, IaC, and GitOps proficiency.
Address gaps between defined standards and demonstrated team practice; schedule on-call rotations and escalation coverage.
Surface risks, gaps, and disagreements in writing when identified, resolve cross-team blockers with peer leaders, and escalate unresolved matters as needed.
Own the operational data store estate, including OLTP and NoSQL platforms such as MS SQL and Cosmos, and recommend appropriate stores for workloads.
Own data transformation and movement, including ADF, Airflow, and replacement of existing HVR and SSIS approaches.
Operate the analytical data platform, including OneLake and Bronze, Silver, and Gold tiers, to standards consistent with the relational estate.
Select technologies within platform categories and ensure their reliability, performance, and cost efficiency.
Manage data platform costs, licensing, and capacity according to organizational guidelines.
Define GitOps schema management, IaC provisioning, and lifecycle automation standards; author and review T-SQL, PowerShell, and IaC templates for database provisioning and schema deployment.
Move team work from manual execution to self-service, including database change management using Liquibase or equivalent tools and automating environment refreshes.
Coordinate the team’s participation in cross-team automation initiatives, providing post-configuration requirements, provisioning inputs, and integration constraints to partner engineering teams on time.
Promote Claude and LLM tools for schema documentation, data lineage, query optimization, and automation, and mentor engineers in advanced usage.
Remain hands-on in the design, implementation, and administration of Azure SQL, Managed Instance, SQL Server, and other adopted relational, NoSQL, and analytical platforms; serve as the final technical escalation point for complex incidents.
Own redundancy planning, high-availability design, and failover execution, including Always On availability groups, geo-replication, and tested procedures; validate HA/DR through regular testing and remediate single points of failure.
Define Dynatrace monitoring standards and oversee performance, availability, and capacity monitoring; lead complex performance tuning and bottleneck resolution.
Participate in the 24x7 on-call rotation, review post-incident reports, and drive remediation to closure.
Implement and enforce data classification, PII handling, retention, and audit compliance requirements; partner with Security on data security aligned with NYDFS Part 500 and SOC requirements.
Ensure adherence to documentation and change-management standards, and review and approve change records before implementation.
Lead tooling evaluations and vendor assessments; coordinate with the Director on capacity planning, budgeting, and staffing.
Represent the data platform in cross-functional work with DevOps, Application Engineering, Security, and Analytics, and resolve technical boundaries between teams.
Communicate technology trade-offs and platform risks to Director and VP levels, and author proposals for investments involving significant budget or operational risk.
Present technology decisions and trade-offs to Director, VP, and Analytics leadership; author standards, runbooks, change records, performance feedback, and investment proposals.
Proactively communicate status, risks, and team capacity to the Director in writing, and explain technical data concepts in terms of business outcomes for non-technical stakeholders.