Your New Role...
CNN is seeking a Sr. Staff Data Engineer to serve as the technical authority for CNN's Data Platform - the foundation that powers analytics, data science, machine learning, and AI across CNN's digital products. You will define and execute the platform's data strategy, architect the systems that transform raw event data into business-ready intelligence, and enable teams across CNN to build on a shared, reliable data ecosystem. Your work underpins everything from data-driven journalism and audience analytics to ad targeting and personalized content recommendations across CNN.com, the CNN mobile app, and connected TV experiences.
This is a senior individual contributor role with organization-wide influence. You will set the architectural direction for CNN's data platform, drive technical standards across multiple engineering teams, and mentor engineers up to Staff level. If you want to define how a global newsroom's data infrastructure works - not just build features on it - this is the role.
Your Role Accountabilities...
- Set the architectural direction for CNN's Data Platform - own data modeling, schema design, and platform capabilities that serve Analytics, Data Science, ML, and AI teams
- Architect and deliver scalable data pipelines for both real-time streaming and batch processing, from event collection through transformation to business-ready datasets
- Enable cross-functional teams by defining data platform APIs, data contracts, and self-service capabilities that make it easy for engineers and analysts to build on the platform
- Drive data quality and governance standards - establish frameworks for data validation, lineage tracking, and quality monitoring across the platform
- Influence technical strategy across multiple engineering teams - contribute significantly to planning, prioritize strategic architecture investments, and drive alignment on platform direction
- Mentor and provide growth-centered feedback to engineers up to Staff level through code reviews, design guidance, and architectural pairing
- Communicate designs, architectural decisions, and technical tradeoffs clearly to engineers and leaders at all levels - represent the data platform domain with autonomy
- Evangelize and oversee implementation of data engineering best practices - your code, documentation, and operational standards are the model others follow
Qualifications & Experience...Requirements - 10+ years of software engineering experience with deep expertise in data engineering, data platform architecture, and large-scale data systems
- 7+ years of experience with cloud technology (AWS, GCP, or Azure), including data-specific services (e.g., EMR, Glue, S3, Athena, Redshift)
- Strong expertise in data processing frameworks (Spark, Flink, or equivalent) and orchestration tools (Airflow, Dagster, or equivalent)
- Experience with data modeling, ETL architecture, and designing schemas that serve diverse analytical and ML use cases
- Strong programming experience across at least two of Java, Go, Python, and SQL
- Previous experience working with Snowflake, Databricks, or other modern enterprise data warehouses
- Demonstrated experience leading technical direction and setting engineering standards across multiple teams - not just executing, but defining how teams build
Preferred - Experience working on end-to-end analytics pipelines from event collection to producing business-ready semantics
- Deep familiarity with dbt or similar transformation frameworks
- Experience with streaming and event-driven architectures (Kafka, Kinesis, Flink) at scale
- Experience building or supporting AI/ML pipelines, feature stores, or model training infrastructure
- Familiarity with data governance, data quality frameworks, and data cataloging tools
- Experience in media, streaming, digital advertising, or consumer-facing products at scale
How We Get Things Done...This last bit is probably the most important! Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at www.wbd.com/guiding-principles/ along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview.
In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, location, skill set, experience, and/or performance. Base pay is just one component of Warner Bros. Discovery's total compensation package for employees. Pay Range: $159,600.00 - $296,400.00 salary per year. Other rewards may include annual bonuses, short- and long-term incentives, and program-specific awards. In addition, Warner Bros. Discovery provides a variety of benefits to employees, including health insurance coverage, an employee wellness program, life and disability insurance, a retirement savings plan, paid holidays and sick time and vacation.
