Principal, Cloud Data Platform Engineer

Northern Trust; Maharashtra; On-site; INR 5,500,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Northern Trust is seeking a Principal, Cloud Data Platform Engineer for its Pune office. You will design and maintain cloud-native data platforms to support analytics, ML, and enterprise data needs across AWS/Azure.

You’ll build scalable data pipelines, ensure governance and security, and partner with data scientists and engineers to deliver modern data capabilities. You will mentor engineers, drive best practices in data development, and influence cross-functional teams while optimizing cost,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or related field; Master’s preferred.
• 15+ years of total work experience in technology infrastructure.
• 10+ years in data/cloud/platform engineering or related.
• Hands-on experience with AWS or Azure.
• Strong experience with big data frameworks (Spark, Databricks, Flink).
• Proven data pipelines experience with Airflow, dbt, Kafka, or similar.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain cloud-native data platforms (AWS/Azure).
• Develop and optimize data pipelines for ingestion, transformation, and processing of various data types.
• Build reusable frameworks and automation for data workflows, monitoring, and scaling.
• Ensure data storage and compute solutions are optimized for performance, security, and cost.
• Collaborate with data scientists, BI teams, and developers to enable analytics and AI/ML workloads.
• Establish CI/CD pipelines for data services and platform components and manage DR/backup.

Skills

Cloud architecture

SQL

Python/Java/Scala

Data governance

AI/ML pipelines

Strong communication

Mentorship

Problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

AWS

Azure

Snowflake

Databricks

Spark

Airflow

dbt

Kafka

Terraform

Kubernetes

Job description

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.

Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.

With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Position : Principal, Cloud Data Platform Engineer

Position Overview

The Principal - Cloud Data Platform Engineer is responsible for designing, building, and maintaining scalable, secure, and high-performance cloud-based data platforms that support analytics, machine learning, and enterprise data needs. This role ensures that data solutions are optimized for performance, cost, and reliability, while meeting governance, compliance, and business requirements. The engineer collaborates closely with data scientists, analysts, architects, and business stakeholders to deliver modern data capabilities on cloud platforms. Should have deep technical expertise, strong design judgment, and the ability to influence without authority.

Key Responsibilities

Platform Engineering & Development

• Design, implement, and maintain cloud-native data platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure).
• Develop and optimize data pipelines for ingestion, transformation, and processing of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data.
• Build reusable frameworks and automation for data workflows, monitoring, and scaling.
• Ensure data storage and compute solutions are optimized for performance, security, and cost efficiency.
• Integrate cloud data services with enterprise applications, APIs, and third-party tools.

Data Management & Governance

• Implement data quality, lineage, and cataloging solutions across the data platform.
• Enforce governance, security, and compliance standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2).
• Work with architects and security teams to implement role-based access, encryption, and audit controls.
• Support metadata management, data discoverability, and enterprise-wide data democratization.

Operations & Reliability

• Manage the operational health of the cloud data platform, including monitoring, alerting, and troubleshooting.
• Establish CI/CD pipelines for data services and platform components.
• Implement disaster recovery, backup, and failover strategies.
• Continuously optimize platform performance, cost, and scalability.

Collaboration & Innovation

• Partner with data scientists, BI teams, and application developers to enable advanced analytics and AI/ML workloads.
• Evaluate emerging cloud data services and recommend adoption based on enterprise needs.
• Provide technical expertise in designing cloud-based data architectures and solutions.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to best practices in cloud engineering and data development.

Qualifications

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or related field (Master’s preferred).
• 15+ years of total work experience in technology infrastructure.
• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, cloud engineering, or platform engineering.
• Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud provider (AWS or Azure).
• Strong experience with big data and data processing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Databricks, Flink).
• Proven expertise in building data pipelines with tools like Apache Airflow, dbt, Kafka, or similar.

Skills & Competencies

• In-depth knowledge and experience with Snowflake, Databricks, or similar cloud data platforms.
• Extensive knowledge and real hands-on experience of AI/ML data pipelines and feature engineering.
• Exposure to regulated environments (financial services, healthcare, etc.).
• Proficiency in SQL and one or more programming languages (Python, Java, or Scala).
• Deep understanding of cloud-native data services (e.g., AWS Redshift, Glue, S3, Athena; Azure Synapse, Data Factory; GCP BigQuery, Dataflow).
• Familiarity with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, CloudFormation, Pulumi).
• Knowledge of FinOps principles for cost-efficient data platform design.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Excellent communication, mentorship, and ability to influence cross-functional teams.

Key Success Metrics

• Uptime, performance, and reliability of the cloud data platform.
• Data availability, quality, and accessibility for business and analytics use cases.
• Efficiency and scalability of data pipelines and processing.
• Cost optimization and resource utilization of cloud data services.
• Adoption and satisfaction of data platform services by business and analytics teams

Success Indicators

• Stable, scalable, and secure data platforms running in production.
• Reduced data incidents and faster root‑cause resolution.
• Improved developer productivity through reusable frameworks and standards.
• Strong technical mentorship and uplift of data engineering capabilities.
• Trusted technical advisor to architecture, security, and business leadership.

Working with Us

As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve.

Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at [e-mail], or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.

About Our Pune Office

The Northern Trust Pune office, established in 2016, is now home to over 3,000 employees. The office handles various functions, including Operations for Asset Servicing and Wealth Management, as well as delivering critical technology solutions that support business operations across the globe.

Our Pune team takes our commitment to service to heart. In 2024, they volunteered more than 10,000+ hours into the communities where they live and work. Learn more.