Staff Software Engineer

Ritchie Bros.; Burnaby; Hybrid; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401k with employer match

PTO 15 days per year

Job summary

RB Global is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead the Data Engineering team. You will set the architecture, design, and evolution of our enterprise data platform, mentoring engineers and delivering scalable data products across analytics, reporting, and ML workflows.

You will drive ETL/ELT pipelines, data modeling in Snowflake/BigQuery, and a governed semantic layer integrated with Power BI, Tableau, and Looker, while advancing CI/CD, IaC, and observability practices.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in data engineering or software engineering, with 3+ years at senior/staff level.
• Strong Python and SQL skills; solid OOP foundation.
• Cloud data warehouses experience (Snowflake, BigQuery).
• Experience with dbt, Airflow, Kafka, and AWS data services.
• Proficient with Terraform and CI/CD tools; observability with Datadog.
• Mentor engineers, lead design reviews, influence technical direction.
• Strong communication and collaboration in hybrid teams.
• Familiarity with BI tools (Power BI, Tableau, Looker).
• Experience with data governance tools and ADRs is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical vision for the enterprise data platform and architect scalable data pipelines.
• Lead design of ETL/ELT pipelines using dbt, Python, and SQL; establish best practices.
• Architect data models in Snowflake and BigQuery for performance and cost efficiency.
• Standardize Snowflake semantic views for a governed semantic layer across BI tools.
• Own CI/CD and IaC practices with Terraform, CircleCI, Harness, and GitHub Actions.
• Guide real-time ingestion with Kafka and Snowpipe Streaming; drive reliability and velocity.
• Mentor engineers across levels; participate in hiring, reviews, and architecture decisions.
• Collaborate with data architects, analytics, and product teams to align technical strategy.
• Support data consumption layers (Power BI, Tableau, Looker) and governance metrics.

Skills

Python

SQL

OOP

Java/Scala

dbt

Airflow

Kafka

Snowflake

BigQuery

AWS MWAA

Terraform

CircleCI

Harness

GitHub Actions

Datadog

Mentoring

Communication

Power BI

Tableau

Looker

LookML

Horizon Catalog

Select Star

Vault

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/IT or related field

Tools

Terraform

CircleCI

Harness

GitHub Actions

Airflow

Kafka

Snowflake

BigQuery

Power BI

Tableau

Looker/LookML

Horizon Catalog

Select Star

Vault

Job description

About Us

Our culture is characterized by collaboration, inclusivity, and a commitment to continuous learning, fostering an environment where diverse perspectives lead to groundbreaking solutions. Team members are empowered to share ideas and experiment across teams in all aspects of the business, fostering innovation and creativity. Leading-edge technologies and inclusive practices drive both individual and collective growth as we modernize and grow our technical capabilities.

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled Staff Software Engineer to join our Data Engineering team. In this senior technical leadership role, you will drive the architecture, design, and evolution of our enterprise data platform. You will set technical direction, mentor engineers, and champion engineering excellence across the team. Collaborating closely with data architects, engineering managers, business analysts, analytics engineers, data scientists, and product teams, you'll define and deliver the next generation of data products and platform capabilities at scale. The Data Engineering team designs, builds, and operates scalable data pipelines that power analytics, reporting, and machine learning across the organization. Our platform ingests data from multiple transactional systems, streaming platforms, and third-party integrations into our cloud data warehouse on AWS. We are also investing in AI-driven development practices to accelerate delivery and improve data quality across the platform. Staff Engineers cultivate a healthy and respectful environment with a passion for driving innovation and excellence.

• Define and drive the technical vision for the enterprise data platform, making key architecture and technology decisions that impact the entire data organization.
• Lead the design of scalable, resilient ETL/ELT data pipelines using dbt, Python, and SQL, establishing patterns and best practices for the team to follow.
• Architect and optimize data models and transformations within cloud data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery), ensuring performance, cost-efficiency, and maintainability.
• Architect and standardize the use of Snowflake semantic views to establish a governed semantic layer, ensuring consistent metric definitions across Power BI, Tableau, and Looker.
• Own the design and evolution of workflow orchestration using Apache Airflow (AWS MWAA), driving improvements in reliability and developer experience.
• Lead the strategy for real-time streaming ingestion using Kafka and Snowpipe Streaming, evaluating trade-offs and guiding implementation.
• Drive CI/CD strategy and Infrastructure as Code practices using Terraform, CircleCI, Harness, and GitHub Actions — raising the bar for deployment reliability and velocity.
• Champion and advance data modeling standards (dimensional modeling, star/snowflake schemas, data vault) across the platform.
• Define and implement observability strategy using Datadog, including SLOs, alerting, and dashboarding for pipeline and platform health.
• Lead the adoption of AI-driven development tools and practices across the team, identifying high-impact opportunities to improve engineering productivity, code quality, and pipeline reliability.
• Define and operationalize data governance metrics — including data quality scores, lineage coverage, ownership accountability, and policy adherence — to measure and continuously improve platform trustworthiness.
• Lead investigation and resolution of complex data issues by analyzing end-to-end data lineage, identifying root causes, and driving systemic fixes to ensure the accuracy and trustworthiness of critical business metrics.
• Establish and enforce data quality, governance, and lineage standards across the platform.
• Mentor and support the growth of junior, intermediate, and senior engineers through knowledge sharing, pairing, technical guidance, and feedback.
• Collaborate with data architects, business analysts, engineering leadership, and cross-functional stakeholders to align technical strategy with business objectives.
• Partner with Engineering Managers to evaluate team performance, provide input for annual reviews, and participate in hiring initiatives.
• Support and improve data consumption layers including Power BI, Tableau, and Looker.
• Drive engineering best practices including code reviews, technical documentation, incident response processes, and post-mortems.
• Collaborate with other Staff and Sr. Staff Engineers to create a community of practice and an overall organizational technical strategy for business success.
• **Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned in support of organizational priorities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in data engineering or software engineering, with at least 3+ years operating at a senior/staff level.
• Strong proficiency in Python (required) and SQL, with a solid foundation in object-oriented programming; experience with additional languages such as Java or Scala is a plus.
• Expert-level knowledge of cloud data warehouses (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery) — Snowflake experience highly preferred, including semantic views, access policies, and governance capabilities.
• Proven track record of designing and scaling data platforms in production environments.
• Deep experience with dbt for data transformation at scale.
• Extensive experience with workflow orchestration tools (Apache Airflow preferred).
• Strong understanding of streaming technologies (Apache Kafka, Snowpipe) and event-driven architectures.
• Experience with AWS services (S3, MWAA, Glue) in production data environments.
• Proficiency with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) and CI/CD tools (CircleCI, Harness, GitHub Actions).
• Experience with Datadog or similar monitoring and observability platforms, including defining SLOs and alerting strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers, lead design reviews, and influence technical direction without direct authority.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a hybrid team environment.
• Proficiency with Git/GitHub and modern development workflows.
• Strong advocate for AI-driven development tools and methodologies.
• Familiarity with BI tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or Looker/LookML.
• Experience with data governance and cataloging tools (Horizon Catalog or Select Star).
• Knowledge of HashiCorp Vault or secrets management solutions.
• Experience with data quality/testing frameworks.
• Experience contributing to or leading technical RFCs and architecture decision records (ADRs).

Why Join Us

• Opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies and drive innovation in software engineering with zero friction in your value stream.
• Collaborative and inclusive work environment that values diverse perspectives.
• Access to continuous learning and professional development opportunities.
• Competitive compensation and benefits package, including health insurance, retirement plans, and professional development opportunities.
• This is your opportunity to work with an engineering-driven organization innovating and delivering on a scale well beyond other players in our industry.
• We value innovation, consistent delivery, quality deliverables, and finding joy in our work while crushing our competition.

Candidates located near our Headquarters (Chicago, Fort Worth, Burnaby, Mississauga) could work Hybrid to those offices.

Employer

RB Global (NYSE: RBA) (TSX: RBA) is a leading, omnichannel marketplace that provides value-added insights, services and transaction solutions for buyers and sellers of commercial assets and vehicles worldwide. Through its auction sites in 13 countries and digital platform, RB Global serves customers in more than 170 countries across a variety of asset classes, including automotive, commercial transportation, construction, government surplus, lifting and material handling, energy, mining and agriculture.

The company's marketplace brands include Ritchie Bros., the world's largest auctioneer of commercial assets and vehicles offering online bidding, and IAA, a leading global digital marketplace connecting vehicle buyers and sellers. RB Global's portfolio of brands also includes Rouse Services, which provides a complete end-to-end asset management, data-driven intelligence and performance benchmarking system; SmartEquip, an innovative technology platform that supports customers' management of the equipment lifecycle and integrates parts procurement with both OEMs and dealers; Xcira, a leader in live simulcast auction technologies; and Veritread, an online marketplace for heavy haul transport.

RB Global full-time employees are offered medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurances. Employees are able to enroll in our company's 401k plan and RB Global will match 100% for the first 4% contributed. Employees will also receive 15 days of PTO each year.

EEO Information

Ritchie Bros. is an equal opportunity employer and ensures nondiscrimination in all activities in accordance with all applicable laws. This position is open to all qualified applicants who are legally entitled to work in the country in which this job is located. Candidate selection is made by Talent Acquisition. Only electronic applications can be accepted.