Senior Engineering Manager - Data

Workiva•Ames, IA

18h•Remote

About The Position

We are seeking an experienced, strategic, and visionary Senior Engineering Manager - Data to lead the long-term evolution, governance, and operations of Workiva’s multi-tenant data platform sub-function. This platform serves as the foundational bedrock underpinning our enterprise and customer-facing applications, operating at a global scale under the highest standards of security, compliance, and reliability. In this role, you will navigate highly ambiguous environments to shape the future of Workiva’s data ecosystem. You will directly and indirectly lead a world-class, multi-team data engineering organization distributed across Europe and the US, including the direct management of engineering managers and senior individual contributors. You will own the strategic objectives and operational policies of this sub-function, ensuring our platform empowers application teams, supports enterprise integration, and delivers measurable value to global customers while informing decision-making at the Director and Senior Director levels.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of related engineering experience, OR Master’s degree with 6+ years, OR PhD with 4+ years of related experience
3+ years of direct people management experience, specifically including the supervisory experience of entry-level engineering managers and/or leading multiple concurrent engineering squads
Demonstrated experience owning an engineering sub-function or multi-team domain in a high-growth, production-grade environment

Nice To Haves

Proven track record of scaling distributed global engineering teams (US and EMEA), managing the complexities of varying time zones and cultural nuances
Deep technical expertise in modern data platform components: ingestion frameworks (e.g., DLT, Kafka), transformation tools (e.g., dbt), and enterprise serving layers (e.g., Snowflake)
Strong capability to navigate high ambiguity and make metrics-driven decisions when faced with intangible or conflicting business factors
Exceptional persuasive communication and stakeholder management skills, with a track record of successfully influencing Director-level business and technical leaders
Full lifecycle people management experience, including handling performance corrections, organizational design, and compensation planning

Responsibilities

Develop, communicate, and execute the long-term strategic objectives for Workiva’s multi-tenant data platform sub-function, ensuring alignment with enterprise-wide objectives
Partner closely with senior functional managers and establish exposure with Operational Leaders to align the platform with corporate compliance, security, and governance standards
Exercise independent judgment to establish sub-function policies and practices that drive long-term engineering success and reduce system friction
Formulate and deliver persuasive, data-backed recommendations to influence and inform decision-making at the Director and Senior Director levels
Maintain a deep awareness of global nuances across your distributed US and European teams, adapting your messaging and leadership style to drive consistent execution
Own the architectural direction, scaling, and continuous improvement of the platform’s ingestion, transformation, and serving layers across highly ambiguous technical landscapes
Tackle complex, high-impact problems where data analysis requires evaluating intangible factors and balancing short- and long-term business trade-offs
Accountable for sub-functional operational excellence, including cost transparency mechanisms, observability, and infrastructure optimizations that prevent critical operational delays
Anticipate future enterprise scaling vectors to drive platform capabilities supporting advanced analytics, AI/ML pipelines, and external-facing data products
Directly and indirectly manage a high-performing, distributed sub-function comprising multiple engineering squads, providing strong leadership examples for the broader organization
Assume full people management responsibility for your sub-function, including workforce planning, hiring, talent retention, annual performance evaluations, and compensation reviews
Focus on leadership development by actively mentoring, coaching, and supervising entry-level engineering managers and senior technical leaders
Foster an inclusive culture of accountability and high ownership where distributed engineering teams are empowered to solve systemic data problems
Translate high-level enterprise strategy into actionable multi-team roadmaps, ensuring your direct-report managers are aligned on milestone delivery
Ensure the continuous improvement of self-service capabilities that allow application teams to innovate rapidly and securely without bottlenecking on core data infrastructure
Set and track rigorous sub-functional KPIs around platform adoption, resilience, system availability, and customer outcomes