Senior Data Engineer

Robots and Pencils

6d•$119,514 - $164,899

About The Position

We’re looking for a Senior Data Engineer to design, build, and operate the data pipelines and platforms that power analytics, AI, and product work. This role is ideal for an engineer with several years of experience who can confidently own pipelines end-to-end and bring strong technical judgment to the problems they take on. In this role, you will work as a key contributor on a cross-functional team, designing scalable pipelines, building and managing data warehouses and data lakes, and integrating data from across systems. You’ll collaborate with experienced engineers to enhance existing systems, deliver new capabilities, and contribute to the technical decisions that shape how our data work scales over time. At Robots & Pencils, we design AI systems for a human world. Our name says it all. Robots and pencils means engineering paired with creativity, because every agent we ship has to work for real people in real workflows. That balance is baked into how we operate. Every role here contributes directly to that mission. Here, you shape how AI systems integrate into enterprise operations, how teams move at real velocity, and how products create measurable impact for clients and the people they serve. We ship production-ready AI in 30 to 45 days. That pace demands people who take ownership, lead with craft, and care deeply about what they put their name on.

Requirements

5–7 years of professional data engineering experience
Strong SQL and Python or Scala skills
Working knowledge of cloud data platforms and enterprise data warehousing
Hands-on experience with ETL/ELT frameworks and pipeline orchestration
Experience with streaming platforms and real-time data processing
Strong data modeling skills, including warehouse and lake schema design and data transformation
Working knowledge of distributed systems
Experience with data validation, quality, and observability
Experience with CI/CD for data systems and container orchestration
Experience building data pipelines for production AI/ML systems, including embeddings, vector stores, RAG data preparation, feature stores, and training/inference data flows
Demonstrable, day-to-day usage of AI-forward coding tools such as Claude and Cursor
Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to navigate ambiguous technical challenges with sound judgment

Nice To Haves

Exposure to data mesh, data fabric, MLOps, or BI tool integration is a plus

Responsibilities

Design and implement scalable data pipelines, taking ownership of features end-to-end
Build and manage data warehouses and data lakes
Optimize data processing workflows and integrate data from multiple systems
Implement data modeling and schema design that supports analytics and downstream use
Implement data validation and monitoring to ensure data quality, reliability, and availability
Design and build data pipelines for production AI/ML systems, including embeddings, vector stores, RAG data preparation, feature stores, and training/inference data flows
Bring an AI-forward coding mindset to your daily work, using tools like Claude, Cursor, and other modern AI assistants to ship higher-quality work at pace
Collaborate closely with analytics, AI, and product teams to align data work with broader product and business goals
Communicate technical tradeoffs and decisions clearly across functions, translating data architecture and constraints into terms others can act on
Participate actively in code reviews and design discussions, raising concerns and offering constructive feedback
Contribute to data architecture decisions, bringing thoughtful perspective on tradeoffs and long-term implications
Take ownership of meaningful pieces of work and follow through end-to-end, including the unglamorous parts of operating data systems
Support data governance and compliance efforts, helping raise the bar on practices across the team