Lead Data Engineer

UFS LLC • Remote, US,

7d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Lead Data Engineer owns the Navanta data backbone — public Call Report data in the early build, and secure ingestion from bank cores into lakehouses as each client’s on-premises environment is stood up. Working under the SVP of Technology and Commercial AI and in close partnership with the AI/ML, security, and platform teams, this role builds the architecturally clean, well-modeled, reconcilable data foundation that makes it possible for the Navanta AI platforms to give numbers a banker will act on.

Requirements

• 8–12+ years in data engineering with end-to-end ownership of ingestion through serving, and 2+ years in a lead or senior role
• Strong Python and expert SQL; rigorous data modeling for analytics
• Hands-on lakehouse experience (Iceberg/Delta/Hudi or equivalent) and modern transformation tooling
• Built reliable pipelines from messy operational and transactional source systems
• Comfort with CDC mechanics and the realities of pulling from databases you do not control
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, mathematics, information systems, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience

Nice To Haves

• Experience with financial or core-banking data, or FFIEC / Call Report data specifically
• Strong SQL Server familiarity
• Data contracts, lineage, and governance practices

Responsibilities

• Design the lakehouse: Apache Iceberg (or similar technology) on object storage, a catalog for table management and per-bank isolation, dbt models, and a query engine
• Build secure, least-privilege ingestion from bank systems — log-based CDC where permitted, with query-based and batch/SFTP fallbacks, plus an in-bank collector pattern
• Own data modeling for the semantic and metric layer (deposits, concentration, uninsured exposure, asset quality, and peer groups)
• Handle schema drift, data quality, and reconciliation; make ingestion observable and recoverable
• Partner with the AI/ML team on the structured-query path and with Security on PII classification at landing, in alignment with regulatory data-handling requirements
• Document data lineage, transformation logic, and access controls to support audit and exam readiness
• Define and enforce data contracts, quality thresholds, and alerting for pipeline failures

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree