Data Engineering Lead

Coates Group; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus program

Thrive Program

Flexible work options

Wellbeing days

Give Back Day

Job summary

Coates Group seeks a Data Platform Engineer in Chicago to lead the evolution of our enterprise AWS data platform and enable analytics, BI, and future AI capabilities. You will design scalable pipelines and governance while guiding a growing team of data engineers.

You will split time between in-office collaboration in the West Loop (3 days) and remote work (2 days), contributing to a fast-paced global tech environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in data engineering with scalable system design.
• Proven experience modernizing or evolving enterprise data platforms.
• Deep hands-on AWS data ecosystem experience (S3, Glue, Spark, Athena, Redshift).
• Strong Python and SQL for production-grade data pipelines and transformation workflows.
• Experience implementing workflow orchestration solutions, preferably Airflow.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code and automated deployment practices using Terraform or AWS CDK.
• Familiarity with modern data warehousing and lakehouse concepts, including Snowflake, Redshift, or Databricks.
• This role will be 3 days in office in the West Loop and 2 days remote.

Responsibilities

• Architect and evolve scalable, cost-efficient AWS data platform for analytics and future AI capabilities
• Design and implement reliable, production-grade data pipelines for batch and near real-time data
• Define enterprise standards for data architecture, modeling, observability, reliability, and platform performance
• Lead foundational technical decisions across tooling, infrastructure, data design, scalability, and operational efficiency
• Implement and maintain infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD pipelines, and automated deployment practices across the data platform
• Enable high-quality, accessible, and governed data products through scalable semantic layers, curated datasets, and transformation standards
• Provide hands-on technical leadership, mentoring, and architectural direction for a growing team of data engineers and cross-functional stakeholders

Skills

Data engineering

AWS

Python

SQL

Airflow

Terraform

AWS CDK

Snowflake

Redshift

Databricks

Tools

dbt

Kafka

Kinesis

Job description

Be Part of Our Next Chapter

For over almost 60 years, our solutions have enabled impactful connections between some of the world’s leading brands and their customers. And while we’ve already done a lot of work we’re proud of, we’re just getting started!

We’re a global technology company focused on creating dynamic, smart, personalized and engaging customer experiences powered by our range of digital hardware, our proprietary content management system and our industry leading signage solutions. (For example: If you’ve ordered in-store or in the drive-thru at McDonald’s somewhere in the world in the last few years, chances are you’ve interacted with our digital solutions.) We work in over 50 global markets and have 9 offices around the world, with a global headquarters proudly located in our founding home of Sydney, Australia.

Coates Group has the values of a family-owned business and the innovative spirit of a start-up, both which fuel our purpose – Creating Connections. Empowering Partnerships. Always Evolving. Through hard work, dedication and creativity, we’ve become industry leaders who have won awards and set records while remaining focused on continual growth and evolution. We are a 2x Australia Good Design Award winner and successfully completed the largest hardware deployment in Quick Service Restaurant history.

We are curious, charismatic, authentic and we value and leverage the diversity of our crew. We are imaginers, kindness enthusiasts, experts, creators, thinkers, challengers, collaborators and over-achievers. And together, as a Crew, we are revolutionizing the way the world’s leading brands leverage technology to drive the best customer experiences.

Design, build, and lead the evolution of Coates’ next-generation enterprise data platform on AWS, establishing scalable and secure foundations for how data is integrated, governed, transformed, and consumed across the organization. This role enables business intelligence, analytics, operational decision-making, and future AI capabilities through hands‑on technical leadership, architecture design, and cross‑functional partnership.

Responsibilities

• Architect and evolve a scalable, cost-efficient AWS data platform that enables enterprise analytics, reporting, and future AI capabilities
• Design and implement reliable, production‑grade data pipelines and processing frameworks for batch and near real‑time data
• Define enterprise standards for data architecture, modeling, observability, reliability, and platform performance
• Lead foundational technical decisions across tooling, infrastructure, data design, scalability, and operational efficiency
• Implement and maintain infrastructure‑as‑code, CI/CD pipelines, and automated deployment practices across the data platform
• Enable high‑quality, accessible, and governed data products through scalable semantic layers, curated datasets, and transformation standards
• Provide hands‑on technical leadership, mentoring, and architectural direction for a growing team of data engineers and cross‑functional stakeholders

Capabilities

• Ability to design scalable, secure, and cost‑efficient data architectures that support enterprise analytics and future AI initiatives
• Strong technical problem‑solving and decision‑making skills, including balancing tradeoffs between scalability, complexity, performance, and cost
• Ability to establish engineering standards, operational best practices, and reliable platform governance processes
• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines, modern software engineering practices, and production support models
• Experience enabling accessible, high‑quality data products for analytics, reporting, and downstream business consumers
• Ability to work collaboratively across technical and business stakeholders while providing hands‑on technical leadership and direction
• Exposure to streaming technologies (e.g., Kafka or Kinesis), transformation frameworks such as dbt, multi‑cloud environments, and/or ML and data science workflows is beneficial

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in data engineering with strong expertise in scalable system and platform design
• Proven experience building, modernizing, or significantly evolving enterprise data platforms and architectures
• Deep hands‑on experience within the AWS data ecosystem, including production‑scale data lake or lakehouse environments utilizing technologies such as S3, Glue, Spark, Athena, and/or Redshift
• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL with experience developing production‑grade data pipelines and transformation workflows
• Experience implementing workflow orchestration solutions, preferably Airflow
• Experience with infrastructure‑as‑code and automated deployment practices using tools such as Terraform or AWS CDK
• Familiarity with modern data warehousing and lakehouse concepts, including dimensional modeling and platforms such as Snowflake, Redshift, or Databricks
• *This role will be 3 days in office in the West Loop and 2 days remote.

$145,200 - $165,000 a year

Full Salary Range: $145,200/year (minimum), $155,100/year (midpoint), $165,000/year (maximum).

Pay is based on relevant experience, skills, education, internal equity, and market data. Well‑qualified candidates can generally expect offers around the midpoint. Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications but have more limited directly relevant experience for this specific role are typically placed nearer the minimum, while highly experienced candidates with strong role alignment may be placed closer to the maximum.

About Coates

We are industry leaders who have won awards and set records. We are a 2x Australia Good Design Award winner and we successfully completed the largest hardware deployment in Quick Service Restaurant history.

We are led by a forward‑thinking CEO who has demonstrated a true passion for people and making Coates a place where people genuinely enjoy working. Our growth plans enable a focus on providing rapid career advancement opportunities for our talent.

Together, we are creators, allowing us to make our purpose a reality – to create immersive brand experiences for everyone.

Join a Crew that Cares

Be part of a global team of talented, ambitious, creative people that value integrity, individuality and inclusivity. (Ask us about our Equality + Empowerment Initiatives).

The benefits include an annual market competitive bonus program and our “Thrive Program” which includes a suite of flexible work options because we’re strong believers that you should never miss an important life or work moment. Thrive also provides dedicated time to prioritize our health and wellbeing (think virtual Yoga or meditation sessions), a Global Wellness paid day off to recharge as well as a “Give Back Day” to allow our Crew an opportunity to make an impact in the community.

Be inspired To Be More

We skip the red tape and aim to always stay nimble. We’re proud of where we’ve been and are energized by where we’re going. We encourage ideas and perspectives because we know the more we have, the better we are. We work hard but have fun along the way. We push the boundaries but keep it real and authentic. We believe in the values that got us here are the ones that will continue to lead us forward. We are excited by what we’ve accomplished, but know the best is yet to come.

Coates Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, gender, religion, disability, age, political affiliation or belief, disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam Era, or citizenship status (except in those special circumstances permitted or mandated by law).