Principal Data Engineer

Slate Auto

14d

About The Position

At Slate, we’re building safe, reliable vehicles that people can afford, personalize and love—and doing it here in the USA as part of our commitment to reindustrialization. The spirit of DIY and customization runs throughout every element of a Slate, because people should have control over how their trucks look, feel, and represent them. Slate is looking for a Principal Data Engineer to help build and scale our data ecosystem. This role is critical to shaping how we collect, organize, and leverage data across the enterprise. You will influence the data roadmap and establish the standards, practices, and technologies that power data-driven decision making at Slate. You must be able to thrive and succeed in a fast-paced startup environment where your contributions have a direct impact on the company’s direction and success, and should not be hindered by ambiguity or competing priorities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or equivalent experience.
10+ years of experience in data engineering or a related technical discipline.
5+ years delivering production-grade data pipelines, data warehousing, and platform architecture.
Strong proficiency in AWS data technologies including Redshift, DynamoDB, and AWS Glue.
Deep knowledge of ETL/ELT best practices, pipeline orchestration, and optimization at scale.
Experience with BI tools such as Tableau and Power BI.
Familiarity with AI/ML platforms and LLM APIs; ability to apply them responsibly and ethically.
Experience with data governance, privacy regulations, and establishing data usage policies.
Proven experience with data cataloging, source-to-target mapping, and data dictionary creation.
Proficiency with relational (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (e.g., DynamoDB, MongoDB) databases, including query optimization.
Strong ability to translate business requirements into scalable data solutions and communicate effectively with non-technical stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Automotive or OEM manufacturing experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

Influence and oversee the enterprise data roadmap, scaling our data ecosystem as our data universe grows.
Define and enforce ETL/ELT standards for data ingestion, transformation, and loading across the organization.
Architect and manage cloud data infrastructure on AWS, including Redshift, DynamoDB, and scalable pipeline patterns.
Establish data cataloging, source system mapping, and data dictionary practices to organize our data universe.
Automate and streamline onboarding of third-party data sources as external service integrations expand.
Partner with analytics teams to support reporting and visualization needs using variety of tools including Tableau.
Collaborate with business partners on requirements gathering and advocate for effective data solutions.
Drive responsible adoption of AI and ML technologies, including LLMs (e.g., Claude, OpenAI), ensuring ethical use and data integrity.
Define and standardize the company’s ML tooling to enable high-value insights at scale.
Lead data governance efforts, including privacy protections, usage policies, and compliance standards.
Optimize query performance across relational and NoSQL database systems.
Evaluate emerging technologies and assess fit for Slate’s business and technical needs.