Principal Data Engineer

Cornerstone OnDemand; Maharashtra; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 6,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Cornerstone OnDemand is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to lead end-to-end data architecture in Pune or Hyderabad, driving modernization on Snowflake, dbt, Matillion, and Salesforce. This role offers direct visibility with executive leadership and a high-ownership environment where you shape how data powers decision making.

You will own data domains from ingestion through analytics, mentor peers, and establish scalable pipelines with quality and speed, partnering with product and analytics

Qualifications

• Strong SQL and data modeling fundamentals for enterprise data domains.
• Hands-on experience with ELT architectures and dimensional modeling.
• Proven ability to own data pipelines end-to-end in production.
• Experience in new data platform modernization projects with executive visibility.
• Bachelor’s degree in CS/Engineering; MBA a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable data models and data marts in Snowflake.
• Own domain data ingestion, transformation, and analytics layer end-to-end.
• Write complex SQL and validate data quality across sources.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to define KPIs and data requirements.
• Mentor engineers and promote best practices for pipelines.

Skills

SQL

Data modeling

ELT concepts

Mentoring

Stakeholder communication

Education

Bachelor’s in Computer Science / Engineering or related field

MBA (plus but not required)

Tools

Snowflake

dbt

Matillion

Salesforce

Airflow

Fivetran

Python

Azure/AWS

Job description

Principal Data Engineer

Office Based, Pune Office

We’re looking for a Principal Data Engineer in Pune or Hyderabad who wants to do work that actually matters. You’ll join a growing, high‑ownership team modernizing how an enterprise makes decisions — replacing legacy reports with a modern AI + analytics stack built on Snowflake, dbt, Matillion, and Salesforce Agentforce. You’ll have direct visibility with executive leadership and the autonomy to shape how data flows across the company.

This isn’t a “ticket-taker” role. We need someone who can hit the ground running — someone who’s already done this work, knows what good looks like, and doesn’t need a ramp‑up period to start delivering. You’ll own entire data domains end‑to‑end, from source system ingestion through transformation to the analytics layer. You’ll be the person who understands the business well enough to ask the right questions and the data well enough to build the right answers. We want someone who brings ideas to the table, not just executes what’s handed to them. If you’re the type who reads release notes for fun, proposes better ways to do things in standup, and takes pride in pipelines that just work — keep reading.

In this role you will

• Design and build performant data models (facts, dimensions, data‑marts) in Snowflake to support business functions across the enterprise.
• Own your domain end‑to‑end: understand source systems deeply, transform messy data into clean and trusted models, and make sure downstream consumers get what they need.
• Write complex SQL daily to explore data, validate assumptions, reconcile sources, and solve problems that don’t have obvious answers.
• Partner directly with business stakeholders, product managers, and analysts to turn ambiguous asks into clear requirements, defined KPIs, and prioritized roadmaps.
• Troubleshoot data and pipeline issues with urgency, trace them to root cause, and own the fix through to production.
• Communicate progress, blockers, risks, and tradeoffs crisply to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Mentor other engineers through code reviews, pattern sharing, and raising the quality bar for the team.
• Train business teams on self‑service so they can answer their own questions without filing a ticket.

You Have What It Takes If You Have

• You write window functions, recursive CTEs, and performance‑tuned queries without looking things up, and you have the instinct to know when output looks wrong.
• You have a strong foundation in dimensional modeling, slowly changing dimensions, ELT architecture, grain, and conformed dimensions.
• You’ve done this before and can orient yourself in a new codebase, understand a new domain, and start contributing meaningful work in your first weeks.
• You’re in the code every day building models and debugging pipelines, not delegating the hard parts.
• You identify gaps and propose solutions before anyone asks you to, and you make the team better by bringing ideas, not just completing tasks.
• You notice when row counts shift by 0.3% and you want to know why.
• You keep up with new platform features, try new tools, and read documentation because you genuinely enjoy getting better at your craft.
• Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (MBA is a plus but not required).

Extra dose of awesome if you have

• Experience with Snowflake data modeling, performance tuning, or Cortex AI features.
• Hands‑on dbt experience including models, tests, snapshots, and incremental strategies.
• Familiarity with orchestration tools like Apache Airflow or Matillion.
• Python skills for data scripting, automation, or light ML work.
• Experience with Fivetran or similar ingestion platforms.
• Knowledge of CRM data (leads, opportunities, quotes, campaigns) or ERP data (GL, AP, AR).
• SnowPro Core or SnowPro Advanced Data Engineer certification.
• Exposure to data science, advanced analytics, or AI/ML workflows.
• AWS cloud experience.