Data Engineer

Lightning AI; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 188,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage

Generous paid time off

Professional development support

Job summary

Lightning AI, based in New York City, is looking for its first Data Engineer to ensure data reliability across the company. You'll design ETL/ELT pipelines, manage data quality, and collaborate closely with product and ML teams.

The role requires extensive experience in analytics engineering and strong technical skills in SQL and Python. Join a competitive environment with a comprehensive benefits package, including a salary range of $188,000 to $275,000 per year.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience managing analytics engineering or data engineering teams.
• 10+ years of total experience in analytics engineering or data-focused roles.
• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on technical leadership.

Responsibilities

• Design and own ETL/ELT pipelines for moving data.
• Build and maintain clean, documented tables for analysts.
• Own data quality end-to-end: schema management, freshness monitoring.

Skills

Data modeling

ETL pipelines

SQL

Python

Data governance

Tools

dbt

SQLMesh

Job description

Who We Are

Lightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end‑to‑end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction.

Through our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer‑first software with cost‑efficient, large‑scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in.

We serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.

What We’re Looking For

We’re moving fast, and our data infrastructure needs to keep up. GPU telemetry, product usage, and operational signals are accumulating faster than our pipelines can surface them. We’re at the stage where the right data foundation unlocks everything: better product decisions, faster model iteration, and cleaner ops. As our first Data Engineer, you will help us get there.

This is an early, high‑scope role reporting to our VP of Product. You’ll own data reliability across the company: clean tables, documented lineage, and signal flowing to where it’s needed. You drive projects from conception to production without waiting to be told what to do next.

What You’ll Do

• Design and own ETL/ELT pipelines that move GPU telemetry, product usage, operational data, and customer data from where it lives to where it’s useful
• Build and maintain the clean, documented tables that analysts and data scientists actually work from — not raw dumps
• Own data quality end‑to‑end: schema management, freshness monitoring, lineage tracking, and alerting when something breaks
• Partner with engineering and GTM teams to instrument what isn’t already tracked
• Work closely with product, infra, and ML teams, primarily unblocking them

What You’ll Need

• 4+ years of experience managing analytics engineering or data engineering teams, preferably in a scaling startup environment
• 10+ years of total experience in analytics engineering, data engineering, or similar data‑focused roles
• Deep expertise in data modeling, ETL pipelines, and data warehouse architecture
• Strong technical foundation with expertise in SQL, Python, and modern data stack tools (dbt, SQLMesh, etc)
• Proven track record of building and leading high‑performing teams
• Experience partnering with Data Science, Product, and Engineering leaders to deliver key product metrics and user behavior insights
• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic thinking with hands‑on technical leadership
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts for diverse audiences
• Experience scaling analytics functions from early stage to maturity in rapidly changing environments
• Track record of establishing data governance, quality standards, and best practices
• A bias for action and urgency, not letting perfect be the enemy of the effective
• A “full‑stack mindset”, not hesitating to do what it takes to solve a problem end‑to‑end

Location

We work in‑person from our NYC office 2 days a week—we’ve found it accelerates how fast we ship.

We are committed to offering competitive compensation that reflects the value each team member brings to our mission. Final offers are based on factors such as experience, skills, geographic location, and role expectations. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package for eligible roles includes a discretionary bonus, a meaningful equity component, and comprehensive benefits.

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is:
$188,000 — $275,000 USD

Benefits and Perks

We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees’ health, well‑being, and long‑term success. Benefits may vary by location, team, and role.

Benefits include:

• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage (U.S.); Private medical and dental insurance (U.K.)
• Retirement and financial wellness support (U.S.); Pension contribution (U.K.)
• Generous paid time off, plus holidays
• Paid parental leave
• Professional development support
• Wellness and work‑from‑home stipends
• Flexible work environment

At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.