Data Engineer (Contract to Perm)

Locality; New York (NY); On-site; USD 83,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Retirement benefits

Paid days off

Job summary

Locality is seeking a Senior Data Engineer in New York to own the Audience Engine, spanning data ingestion, identity resolution, automation, and AI enablement. Lead Databricks Bronze→Silver→Gold pipelines and ensure scalable, cost-efficient data platforms.

You will collaborate with Product, Analytics, and Ad Operations to onboard new data sources, maintain SLAs, and support AI/ML workflows in a modern cloud environment.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience as a Data Engineer or Data Platform Engineer, preferably in advertising.
• Strong hands-on experience with Databricks, Spark, and modern cloud data platforms.
• Proven ability to design and maintain multi-layer data architectures (Bronze/Silver/Gold).
• Deep SQL expertise and Python or similar scripting language.

Responsibilities

• Own the Audience Engine, manage data ingestion, identity resolution, automation, and AI enablement.
• Architect and optimize Databricks pipelines (Bronze→Silver→Gold) for large-scale ingestion and activation.
• Ensure platform reliability, data quality, and cost efficiency across pipelines and integrations.
• Lead identity resolution across datasets and maintain robust data delivery SLAs.
• Integrate with external data and activation partners and onboard new data sources.
• Support AI/ML workflows within Databricks and translate business needs into production features.
• Design scalable data models and datasets for Power BI reporting and analytics.

Skills

SQL

Python

Data pipelines

Databricks

Spark

Identity graphs

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related field

Tools

Databricks

Spark

Cloud platforms

Power BI

Job description

Job Details:

Job Location: NY - Bryant Park Building - New York, NY 10036-6797, Locality is seeking a Senior Data Engineer whom will serve as the primary internal owner of our Audience Engine, spanning data ingestion, identity resolution, automation, and AI enablement. This role emphasizes hands on platform stewardship today, with a clear path to supporting future expansion of the HH Identity Graph and applied AI use cases.

• Establish and own technical management of the Audience Engine, transitioning knowledge from external partners and building a scalable, internally managed data platform
• Reduce reliance on third-party vendors while maintaining high standards for platform reliability, uptime, and data integrity across all pipelines and integrations
• Architect, own, and continuously optimize Databricks Bronze → Silver → Gold pipelines to support large scale audience ingestion, enrichment, and activation workflows
• Ensure the platform is scalable and cost efficient through effective pipeline optimization and resource management
• Proactively monitor, troubleshoot, and resolve ingestion failures, schema drift, and data quality issues across batch and near real time data pipelines
• Lead identity resolution across datasets including HHID, DSID, MAID, IP, and campaign logs, improving matching logic to strengthen the Household Identity Graph
• Guarantee accurate and timely audience publication by maintaining robust downstream data delivery processes and SLAs across activation platforms and partners
• Own and maintain integrations with external data and activation partners (e.g., Experian, FreeWheel, DSPs), ensuring seamless data exchange and operational reliability
• Partner cross functionally with Product, Analytics, and Ad Operations teams to onboard new data sources and activation endpoints, enabling new use cases and revenue opportunities
• Support and operationalize applied AI/ML workflows within Databricks, including integration with tools like Akkio, and translate business needs into production-ready data features and datasets
• Design and implement scalable data models and query-ready datasets that power BI reporting, audience insights, and predictive modeling, ensuring alignment with downstream analytics requirements
• Enforce data governance, lineage, and documentation standards while ensuring compliance with privacy, consent, and data usage regulations across all audience and identity data systems

WHAT WE LOOK FOR:

• 4+ years of experience as a Data Engineer or Data Platform Engineer, ideally within advertising
• Strong hands on experience with Databricks, Spark, and modern cloud data platforms
• Proven experience designing and maintaining multi-layered data architectures (Bronze / Silver / Gold)
• Deep expertise in SQL and proficiency in Python or another scripting language
• Experience working with identity graphs, audience data, and complex join logic across large datasets
• Hands on experience building and managing automated data pipelines and third-party data integrations
• Familiarity with adtech, martech, or audience activation platforms, including exposure to identity providers such as Experian or similar vendors
• Practical experience supporting AI/ML workflows or AI-enabled analytics, with an understanding of data quality, schema design, and performance optimization in cloud-scale environments

Compensation for the role includes a competitive base salary in the range from $60-$80/hr (dependent on years of experience, level of education obtained, as well as applicable skillset), and an excellent benefits package (including but not limited to health care benefits, retirement benefits and paid days off).

At Locality, we believe our biggest asset is our people. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, hiring and developing individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences to add to our collaborative culture. Locality values and solicits applications from all qualified candidates without regard to actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, sex, gender, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law.