Senior Lead Cloud Data Engineer

Northern Trust; Pune District; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Northern Trust seeks a Senior Lead - Cloud Data Platform Engineer to design and build scalable cloud data platforms supporting analytics and AI/ML workloads. You will drive ingestion, processing, and governance across data pipelines while ensuring security and cost efficiency.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate with data scientists and stakeholders, and lead CI/CD for data services, advancing enterprise data capabilities on cloud platforms.

Qualifications

• Education & Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or related field (Master’s preferred). 8+ years in data/cloud/platform engineering with 13+ years total tech work experience.
• Hands-on with at least one major cloud provider (AWS or Azure).
• Strong experience with big data and data processing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Databricks, Flink).

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain cloud-native data platform infrastructure (AWS, Azure).
• Develop and optimize data pipelines for structured and unstructured data.
• Implement governance, security, and cost optimization practices.

Skills

Python

Java/Scala

SQL

Data pipelines

Cloud architecture

DevOps

Cross-functional collaboration

Big data processing

AI/ML pipelines

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Data Engineering

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Terraform

Airflow

dbt

Kafka

Spark

Databricks

Snowflake

Kubernetes

Docker

GitHub

Job description

Sr Lead - Cloud Data Engg

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 Overview

The Sr. Lead - 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 platform infrastructure resources (e.g., AWS, Azure).
• Design and build GitHub terraform Pipeline for managing cloud data infrastructure resources and object management pipelines into the databases and SaaS product.
• Develop and optimize data pipelines patterns 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). 8+ years of experience in data engineering, cloud engineering, or platform engineering with 13+ years of total work experience in technology infrastructure.

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 on Github terraform pipelines and objects deployment management.
• 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 terraform, 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.

Experience Level Senior Level