Senior Manager, Data Engineering

Upstart

82d • $186,100 - $257,500

About The Position

Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval rates and lower loss rates across races, ages, and genders, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. More than 80% of borrowers are approved instantly, with zero documentation to upload. Upstart is a digital-first company, which means that most Upstarters live and work anywhere in the United States. However, we also have offices in San Mateo, California; Columbus, Ohio; and Austin, Texas. Most Upstarters join us because they connect with our mission of enabling access to effortless credit based on true risk. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Upstart, we’d love to hear from you! The Data Curation team, part of Upstart’s Data Platform Engineering organization, builds and operates tools, frameworks, and scalable data infrastructure that ensure data is discoverable, trustworthy, and actionable across the company. This team’s mission is to empower Data Analysts, Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, and Software Engineers with high-quality data products and developer tools that make it easy to transform, govern, and operationalize data. We are seeking a Senior Manager to lead the Data Curation team. You will shape the team’s strategy, oversee technical direction, grow and mentor engineers, and ensure that Upstart’s data foundation is robust, user-friendly, and scalable.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in Data Engineering, or Data Platform development, with at least 3 years in people management.
• Strong technical foundation in SQL, Python, and modern data platforms (Databricks, Spark, Kafka, Alation, Airflow, dbt, cloud data warehouses).
• Experience with data curation and governance practices, including metadata management, data catalogs, and access control.
• Hands-on experience applying AI/LLM technologies to data management, discovery, or automation use cases (e.g., automated metadata generation, natural language data discovery, or agentic AI integrations).
• Proven ability to define roadmaps, drive technical execution, and deliver business impact through data infrastructure.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Demonstrated track record of mentoring and developing engineers while fostering an inclusive, high-performance culture.

Nice To Haves

• Experience managing data platform or infrastructure teams in high-growth consumer tech or fintech environments.
• Strong knowledge of Lakehouse architecture, and big data processing frameworks.
• Familiarity with DevOps and infrastructure-as-code practices (Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD).
• Experience deploying LLM-powered solutions in production (e.g., metadata enrichment, natural language data discovery, AI-assisted developer tools) and integrating them with enterprise data catalogs such as Alation.
• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into business value and influence cross-functional strategies.

Responsibilities

• Lead and Grow the Team: Recruit, develop, and manage a high-performing team of data platform engineers focused on data curation, governance, and developer tooling.
• Set the Vision: Define and execute the strategic roadmap for data curation, including metadata management, cataloging, self-serve ETL frameworks, and data quality initiatives.
• Deliver Business Value: Ensure delivery of tools and frameworks that enable stakeholders across analytics, ML, and product teams to discover, transform, and operationalize data efficiently.
• Foster Cross-Functional Partnerships: Collaborate with Analytics, Machine Learning, Finance, and Product Engineering to align priorities and integrate data platform capabilities into broader company objectives.
• Elevate Standards: Establish best practices for platform reliability, observability, documentation, governance, and security. Drive adoption of these standards across the organization.
• Stay Ahead of the Curve: Monitor emerging technologies and industry best practices to keep Upstart’s data ecosystem modern, scalable, and developer-friendly.

Benefits

• Target bonuses
• Equity compensation
• Generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees