Principal Data Engineer

EVERFI

9h•$160,000 - $170,000•Remote

About The Position

We are looking for a Principal Data Engineer to join our Data Engineering team as a senior individual contributor and technical leader. This is a high-impact role for an engineer who thrives on owning complex and consequential data engineering challenges — from architecture through production — while also elevating the craft and capabilities of the engineers around them.

Requirements

7–10+ years of data engineering experience, with a track record of building complex, production-grade pipelines and platforms at scale
Deep expertise in data architecture, pipeline design, and platform engineering — including batch/streaming systems, data warehouse and lakehouse architectures, and tools like Airflow, Spark, dbt, or Databricks
Strong proficiency in cloud data platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and services such as Snowflake, Redshift, or BigQuery.
Advanced skills in Python and SQL
A coaching mindset — you enjoy mentoring engineers and raising the bar for the team around you
Clear, confident communicator who can translate complex technical concepts for both technical and non-technical audiences
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field

Nice To Haves

Snowpark and Snowflake ML/AI experience is a plus
Proficiency in Scala or Java is a plus
Advanced degree preferred
dbt Certified Developer
SnowPro Certification or advanced Snowflake certifications (Architect, Data Engineer, MLOps Engineer)
Experience with or certification in Apache Airflow

Responsibilities

Own the design, architecture, and implementation of complex data engineering initiatives on the team — including advanced pipeline development, data platform architecture, and solutions with significant downstream product or business impact
Identify and address difficult technical problems within the data platform, including scalability constraints, data quality issues, architectural debt, and reliability gaps, and develop solutions that are durable and aligned with organizational priorities
Evaluate and recommend data engineering technologies, tools, and architectural patterns — including cloud platform services, orchestration frameworks, and transformation tooling — with sound analytical judgment and awareness of long-term implications
Serve as a technical mentor and senior resource for data engineers across the team, providing code review, architectural guidance, and hands-on coaching that accelerates the growth of engineers at earlier career stages
Contribute to the definition and documentation of data engineering standards, architectural patterns, and best practices that improve quality and consistency across the team's work
Participate in technical reviews — including architecture discussions, design reviews, and pull request feedback — contributing senior-level judgment that raises the quality of the team's collective output
Partner with product, analytics, and operations stakeholders on complex data initiatives that require deep technical expertise — translating requirements into sound engineering solutions and surfacing trade-offs clearly
Represent data engineering in cross-functional planning conversations where data infrastructure decisions have product, analytical, or operational implications
Communicate complex data engineering concepts and architectural trade-offs clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, enabling well-informed decisions across functions
Stay current with developments in data engineering, cloud platforms, and adjacent disciplines — evaluating emerging tools, frameworks, and architectural approaches for relevance to the team's direction
Conduct proof-of-concept work on promising approaches with clear evaluation criteria and well-framed recommendations
Share technical learning with the team in ways that are organized, actionable, and useful for planning and day-to-day engineering decisions