Principal Data Engineer

Novo Nordisk; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 7,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Novo Nordisk in Bangalore, India, is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to lead the AIRE data engineering and delivery teams, shaping data foundations for commercial, manufacturing, supply chain and corporate functions. You will ensure data quality, governance and scalable architectures that enable trustable analytics.

You will mentor engineers, drive end-to-end pipelines, implement governance, and partner with stakeholders across matrix teams to deliver AI-ready data products and insights.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, architecture and data product development.
• Strong hands-on expertise in AWS, Snowflake, dbt, Databricks, Python, SQL and GitHub Enterprise or Azure DevOps.
• Deep expertise in ETL/ELT, data modelling, data warehousing, and streaming tech like Kafka.
• Solid DataOps/DevOps background with CI/CD, Docker and Kubernetes.
• Proven ability to mentor engineers and lead cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Design enterprise-scale data architectures, models and integration patterns.
• Lead robust batch and real-time ETL/ELT pipelines with high data quality.
• Provide hands-on leadership across AWS, Snowflake, dbt and Databricks; review code and set standards.
• Implement data governance, security, privacy and regulatory compliance.
• Build data foundations, feature stores and data products for AI/ML.
• Optimize performance and cost; manage vendor designs and operational readiness.
• Evaluate modern data stacks and DataOps practices with pragmatic prototypes.

Skills

Data engineering

Data architecture

Data product dev

AWS

Snowflake

dbt

Databricks

Python

SQL

GitHub Enterprise

Azure DevOps

DataOps

DevOps

Mentoring

Education

Master's degree in Computer Science / Statistics / Engineering

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Kafka

Event Hubs

GitHub Enterprise

Azure DevOps

Job description

Department: Enterprise AI (EAI), Global Business Services, Enterprise IT & Quality

Location: Bangalore, India

Your impact begins here

As Principal Data Engineer, you will be the technical lead for the AIRE data engineering, design and delivery teams, helping strategize, build & enable the data foundations that Novo’s commercial, global manufacturing, supply chain and corporate functions would need. You will combine deep engineering expertise with business understanding to shape requirements, guide teams and vendors, and raise the bar for data quality, governance and engineering practices. Your work gives AI, analytics and business teams data they can trust and act on today.

What You’ll Bring

You are a hands-on engineering leader, as comfortable reviewing code as shaping a strategic data foundational capability roadmap with business leaders. You will bring:

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, data architecture and data product development, designing and delivering large-scale, complex data initiatives.
• Strong hands-on expertise in AWS, Snowflake, dbt, Databricks, Python, SQL and GitHub Enterprise or Azure DevOps.
• Deep expertise in ETL/ELT design, data modelling, data warehousing and data lakes, and streaming technologies such as Kafka and Event Hubs.
• A strong DataOps and DevOps background, including Git, CI/CD pipelines, Docker and Kubernetes, grounded in modern software development practices.
• Proven experience integrating data across platforms from multiple source-system types and formats, including open table formats and interoperability.
• A solid grounding in automated testing, data quality, metadata, lineage, MDM, catalogue and policy management, security and production reliability, including classifying and protecting data with native platform features.
• A demonstrated ability to mentor engineers, influence technical direction, partner with stakeholders and manage vendor delivery in cross-functional, matrix teams.
• Highly proficient English and the ability to communicate clearly with people at all levels, technical and non-technical.

Useful, But Not Essential

Experience in the pharmaceutical industry or another regulated industry.

What You’ll Do

You will set the technical direction for how data is designed, built, governed and delivered, and make independent decisions on the right approaches. You will:

• Design enterprise-scale data architectures, data models, storage strategies and integration patterns, set standards for ingestion, transformation and consumption, and recommend the technologies that fit.
• Lead the development of robust batch and real-time ETL/ELT pipelines, ensuring high data quality, reliability and performance, and resolving complex engineering issues.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership across AWS, Snowflake, dbt and Databricks, run architecture and code reviews, mentor data engineers and set standards and SOPs that link engineering to business value.
• Implement data governance frameworks, ensure security, privacy and regulatory compliance, drive master data and data quality initiatives, define metadata, lineage and cataloguing strategies, and support risk assessments and audits.
• Build data foundations, feature stores and data products for AI, ML and self-service analytics, applying agentic development and AI-assisted engineering with appropriate validation and review.
• Optimise performance and cost, implement observability and alerting, and lead large-scale delivery, managing risks and dependencies and setting clear expectations for vendor designs, code, testing, documentation and operational readiness.
• Evaluate modern data stacks, semantic technologies and DataOps practices, using pragmatic prototypes to show where data creates measurable business impact.

Who You’ll Work With

You will join the Bangalore office of Enterprise AI Reinvent & Engineering and be part of AI Data Solutions team, where colleagues work with stakeholders across the value chain to deliver enterprise specific Data & AI use cases, while enabling high quality and responsible ways of working.

You will work closely with the AI Reinvent & Engineering’s (AIRE) core data engineering & data architect team, respective domain teams within AIRE’s commercial, manufacturing, quality & corporate functions, collaborate with AIRE’s AI Engineering team and central Data & AI Foundation team, platform and enterprise architecture teams, and data owners, security and privacy specialists, as well as vendors and external consultants. You will also technically lead and represent AIRE Data Solutions in discussions on data-driven insights and business capabilities.

Together, you will clarify requirements, align designs, run architecture reviews, escalte risks and dependencies, and share knowledge across locations and time zones so priorities move forward with clarity and speed.

What You Can Expect Here

You will be trusted to own technical decisions and to propose and execute new approaches to complex data challenges, while upholding data governance and ethical standards. With work spanning commercial, manufacturing, supply chain and corporate data, you will build a broad view of the Novo value chain.

You will be at the forefront of AI and technology, as Novo upskills its entire workforce to advance AI as a main driver for innovation for the benefit of people living with serious chronic diseases. Your voice will shape roadmaps and standards, and once a decision is made, you will commit and move forward together.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.