Principal Data Engineer

Empower$151K — $220K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field
  • 10+ years of data engineering experience
  • Certified AWS Engineer or equivalent
  • Expert-level proficiency in Python, Spark, SQL
  • Extensive hands-on experience with AWS and distributed data systems
  • Deep expertise in data modeling, ETL/ELT, and data platform design
  • Strong experience with data governance, quality, and security standards

Responsibilities

  • Design, build, and optimize scalable data engineering solutions
  • Serve as a hands-on technical leader
  • Define and drive data engineering standards and best practices
  • Lead cross-functional data initiatives
  • Establish and enforce data governance and quality standards
  • Drive innovation in data engineering practices
  • Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
  • 401(k) plan with generous company matching
  • Tuition reimbursement up to $5,250/year
  • Casual environment with the option for jeans
  • Generous paid time off and holidays
  • Paid volunteer time of 16 hours annually
  • Leave of absence programs including parental leave
Full Job Description
The Principal Data Engineer is a senior hands-on engineering role responsible for designing, building, and optimizing scalable data services, streaming data solutions, data pipelines, and cloud-based data platforms. This role is not a Data Architect position; it requires deep technical execution, active engineering delivery, and the ability to solve complex data engineering challenges through hands-on development. Operating with a high level of technical autonomy, this role will serve as a top-level authority in data engineering while directly contributing to the implementation of modern data platforms and services. The Principal Data Engineer will lead complex, cross-functional initiatives and drive innovation across scalable data pipelines, data products, streaming services, and data systems that support analytics, AI/ML, reporting, and operational workloads. What you will do: • Design, build, and optimize scalable data engineering solutions, including streaming data services, data pipelines, data platforms, and operational data systems. • Serve as a hands-on technical leader, actively developing and implementing data engineering solutions rather than functioning solely as an architect. • Define and drive data engineering standards, patterns, best practices, and reusable frameworks. • Architect and implement highly complex, scalable data platforms and advanced data engineering solutions. • Lead complex, high-impact, cross-functional data initiatives across the organization. • Build and support streaming and data services for enterprise use, with experience beyond consuming or using existing platforms. • Establish and enforce data governance, security, data quality, and data management standards. • Ensure enterprise data platforms are reliable, well-modeled, accessible, secure, and optimized for broad consumption. • Drive innovation and modernization initiatives across data platforms, engineering practices, and cloud-based data services. • Partner with senior leadership, architects, product teams, and engineering teams on long-term data strategy and roadmap planning. • Mentor senior engineers and technical leaders across the organization. • Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies to advance enterprise data capabilities. • Ensure scalability, performance, resilience, and long-term sustainability of data platforms. • Champion continuous improvement and elevate engineering practices across teams. • Complete other duties as assigned. What you will bring: • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, such as Information Systems, Mathematics, or Software Engineering, or an equivalent combination of training and experience. • 10+ years of data engineering experience. • Certified AWS Engineer or equivalent AWS certification required. • Expert-level proficiency in Python, Spark, SQL, and modern data architectures. • Extensive hands-on experience with AWS and distributed data systems. • Proven experience building streaming data solutions, data services, and scalable data platforms, not just using existing platforms as a consumer. • Deep expertise in data modeling, ETL/ELT, data platform design, and operational data stores. • Proven experience with batch and streaming data integration at enterprise scale. • Strong experience with data governance, data quality, security standards, and data management practices. • Hands-on experience with Terraform or similar infrastructure-as-code tooling. • Expertise across modern data platforms and cloud ecosystems. • Demonstrated ability to define, influence, and implement enterprise-wide technical direction and engineering standards. • Proven track record of leading enterprise-scale data transformations and initiatives. • Exceptional leadership, mentoring, and organizational influence. • Strong communication skills with the ability to advise executive stakeholders, partner with architects, and drive technical decisions. What will set you apart: • Experience with Snowflake. • Data engineering, cloud data, or data platform certifications. • Advanced AWS data services certifications. • Experience building reusable data services, frameworks, or platform capabilities used by multiple engineering teams. • Experience modernizing legacy data platforms into cloud-native, governed, scalable data ecosystems. This job operates in a professional office environment. This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications of the job. The employer has the right to revise this job description at any time. You will be evaluated in part based on your performance of the responsibilities and/or tasks listed in this job description. You may be required to perform other duties that are not included on this job description. The job description is not a contract for employment, and either you or the employer may terminate employment at any time, for any reason, as per terms and conditions of your employment contract. What we offer you We offer an array of diverse and inclusive benefits regardless of where you are in your career. We believe that providing our employees with the means to lead healthy balanced lives results in the best possible work performance. • Medical, dental, vision and life insurance • Retirement savings - 401(k) plan with generous company matching contributions (up to 6%), financial advisory services, potential company discretionary contribution, and a broad investment lineup • Tuition reimbursement up to $5,250/year • Business-casual environment that includes the option to wear jeans • Generous paid time off upon hire - including a paid time off program plus ten paid company holidays and three floating holidays each calendar year • Paid volunteer time - 16 hours per calendar year • Leave of absence programs - including paid parental leave, paid short- and long-term disability, and Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) • Business Resource Groups (BRGs) - BRGs facilitate inclusion and collaboration across our business internally and throughout the communities where we live, work and play. BRGs are open to all. Base Salary Range $151,800.00 - $220,050.00 The salary range above shows the typical minimum to maximum base salary range for this position in the location listed. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation offered may vary from posted hiring range based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.

About Empower

Empower is a retirement plan recordkeeping financial holding company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States. It is the second-largest retirement plan provider in the United States.
Learn more about Empower

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Empower

More Information Technology Jobs

Find similar Principal Data Engineer jobs: