Engineering Lead, Knowledge Platform

AIRWALLEX (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.; Singapore; On-site; SGD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial technology firm in Singapore is seeking an experienced leader to oversee large-scale, cross-functional initiatives in their data ecosystem. As a key player, you will be responsible for defining the strategic roadmap for their Real-time Data Platform, modernizing their core data capabilities, and mentoring engineering teams. Ideal candidates will have over 8 years in data/software engineering with a strong focus on leadership, distributed data processing technologies, and experience in building and scaling teams. Join a dynamic team dedicated to leveraging data and AI for impactful business solutions.

Benefits

Accelerated learning opportunities

Collaborative environment

Impact-driven projects

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in data or software engineering, 3+ in leadership.
• Experience managing and scaling teams of 10+.
• Strong command of architecture and strategy in data engineering.
• Deep knowledge of data processing technologies like Spark and Kafka.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and define strategic roadmap for Realtime Data Platform.
• Lead modernization of core data platform for real-time processing.
• Partner with product teams to enable data-driven features.
• Scale and structure engineering teams, mentoring managers.
• Cultivate relationships with product and engineering teams.

Skills

Leadership

Data engineering

Software engineering

Distributed data processing

Real-time analytical processing

Tools

Apache Spark

Databricks

Kafka

ElasticSearch

CubeJS

Job description

About Airwallex

At Airwallex (airwallex.com), we’re building the future of global finance on one platform. Founded in 2015 in Melbourne, Airwallex is the leading financial technology platform for modern businesses to grow beyond borders. With one of the world’s most powerful payments infrastructure, our technology empowers businesses of all sizes to accept payments, move money globally, and simplify their financial operations, all on one single platform.

Attributes We Value

We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor.

You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next.

Who We Are? About the Team:

The Knowledge Platform team is at the heart of our company's data and AI strategy. We are building the foundational infrastructure that empowers the entire company to leverage data, AI, and ML into business impact. We accomplish this by creating platforms that handle the entire data and AI/ML lifecycle, simplifying the interface while providing proper safety and governance. This includes managing our data infrastructure (Databricks, Spark, Kafka, etc.), the technology to serve that data to our users (RAG, MCP, etc.), and the platform to host and govern these AI/ML models.

Who You Are? Role Overview:

You will oversee large‑scale, cross‑functional initiatives that impact the entire data ecosystem. You will be responsible for defining the multi‑year vision and technical roadmap for all real‑time data analysis and serving needs, ensuring they are aligned with broader business objectives and product goals. A key aspect of your role will also include scaling the engineering teams, defining new roles, and establishing best practices for communication and collaboration across multiple sub‑teams.

Responsibilities:

• Provide visionary technical leadership and define a clear 1-3 year strategic roadmap for the Realtime Data Platform.

• Lead the multi-year effort to modernize our core data platform, introducing real-time analytical processing at petabyte scale.

• Partner with product teams to enable new data-driven features, such as AI-powered applications or real-time dashboards, by ensuring the underlying platform capabilities are in place.

• Successfully scale and structure the engineering teams, including hiring new talent and mentoring managers and senior individual contributors.

• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with product and other engineering teams, serving as a trusted technical advisor on all things Data and AI.

Who you are:

We're looking for people who meet the minimum qualifications for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory.

Minimum Requirements:

• A minimum of 8 years of experience in data or software engineering, with at least 3 years in a leadership or management role.

• Proven experience successfully managing and scaling an engineering team of 10+ people, including managers and senior individual contributors.

• Demonstrated ability to define and execute a technical strategy that led to a significant business outcome or operational improvement.

• Strong command of the data and software engineering domains, with a focus on architecture and strategy.

• Deep understanding of distributed data processing technologies (e.g., Apache Spark, Databricks) and event streaming (e.g., Kafka).

• Solid knowledge of modern data storage and serving technologies, such as CubeJS, ElasticSearch, and Clickhouse, and more.

• Familiarity with observability tooling such as Splunk, Grafana, and Prometheus.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience within the financial domain.

• Hands‑on design experience in crafting data processing patterns for a modern Lakehouse architecture.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills tailored for diverse audiences (leadership, users, company‑wide).

• Ability to rapidly evaluate various technologies and conduct proof of concepts to drive architecture design.

• Experience thriving in a complex environment.