Contractor: Lead Analytics Engineer

Newsela Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Newsela Inc. is seeking a senior data engineering leader to shape our data ecosystem by building robust pipelines, applying software engineering best practices, and mentoring engineers.

You will partner with Product, Finance, Marketing, and Engineering to translate needs into a roadmap and drive large-scale data initiatives. You will own data model architecture, semantic layer, and governance, ensuring reliability and scalable analytics.

Qualifications

• 8+ years experience working with data in a software environment.
• Mastered proficiency in SQL and Python; experience with data semantic layer tooling and data catalog tooling; knowledge of data integrity testing frameworks.
• Experience with dbt orchestration and best practices.
• Autonomous and proactive with deep domain knowledge of data systems.

Responsibilities

• Set the technical direction for the analytics team (architecture, conventions, approach).
• Own the architecture of data models for long-term maintainability.
• Own the semantic layer, metric definitions, and governed self-service for stakeholders.

Skills

SQL

Python

Leadership

Stakeholder collaboration

Data analysis

Tools

dbt

Dagster

Airflow

Tableau

Terraform

Job description

Why You’ll Love This Role:

In this role, you will have the opportunity to directly shape our data ecosystem by building robust pipelines and applying modern software engineering principles like version control and automated testing. You’ll work closely with key stakeholders to drive data-driven decision-making, lead high-impact initiatives, and manage large-scale infrastructure and automation.

You will lead and mentor junior engineers and set the technical direction for the analytical team. If you thrive on transforming complex data into reliable, actionable insights while building scalable analytics systems, this position offers the ideal platform to showcase and expand your expertise.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Set the technical direction for the analytics team (architecture, conventions, approach).
• Raise the technical floor through code review, design reviews, and pairing, holding a consistent bar for what ships.
• Own the architecture of our data models, with accountability for long-term maintainability rather than just the models you write yourself.
• Own the semantic layer, metric definitions, and governed self-service, so stakeholders can answer their own questions correctly.
• Act as the primary technical partner to Product, Finance, Marketing, and Engineering, translating what they need into a roadmap the team can execute.
• Negotiate scope directly with stakeholders.
• Drive a cadence of proactive analysis so the team surfaces questions the business hasn’t asked, rather than waiting for tickets.
• Define the team’s data testing strategy and govern how business logic is validated across the analytics layer.
• Own the operational health of the analytics layer (monitoring, alerting, incident response, and release readiness for what the team ships).
• Mentor the engineers around you and build shared understanding through documentation and technical presentations.
• Lead large-scale migrations and performance efforts, setting the approach and enabling the team to execute rather than executing alone.

About You:

• 8+ Years experience working with data in a software environment.
• Required Skills: Mastered proficiency in SQL and Python; advanced experience managing business semantic layer tooling, data catalog tooling and data integrity testing frameworks. Experience with dbt orchestration and best practices.
• You have a track record of working autonomously and proactively, with deep domain knowledge of data analysis and data systems.
• Required Tech Stack: SQL, Python, relational datastores, DAG tooling (like Dagster or Airflow), dbt and Tableau.
• Experience with cloud-based infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Terraform) and document, graph, or schema-less datastores.

Why you’ll love working at Newsela:

• Make A Difference: No matter your role or department, the work you do each day helps share the future of education and improves the lives of students and teachers.

All offers of employment are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check as part of our pre-employment process.

About Newsela:

Newsela is a leading education technology company dedicated to meaningful classroom learning for every student. We deliver integrated, AI-powered solutions designed to unlock student engagement, empower teachers, and drive meaningful learning outcomes. Our suite of products supports knowledge and skill development, writing practice, daily instruction, assessment, and data-informed decision-making across K–12 classrooms. Grounded in learning science research, Newsela’s solutions integrate content, assessment, and analytics to help educators track progress, understand student outcomes, and deliver high-impact instruction that supports every learner.

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