Data Engineering Principal

Better Trucks; Indiana (PA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work option

Hybrid schedule in Chicago area

Job summary

Better Trucks is seeking a Principal Data Platform Engineer to own the architecture and delivery of our core data platform. You will partner with Analytics Engineering, BI, Finance, and Operations to transform multi-source data into trusted, standardized models powering pricing, reporting, and forecasting.

You will lead the design and implementation of production-grade data pipelines in BigQuery and Dataform, build robust ingestion, and define orchestration strategies.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of data engineering experience, including staff/principal level responsibilities.
• Deep hands-on expertise in BigQuery or equivalent cloud data warehouse, and SQL-based transformation tooling such as Dataform or dbt.
• Strong Python skills for pipeline and tooling work, with production services experience (FastAPI/Flask).
• Experience designing standardized or normalized data models from heterogeneous, complex source systems.
• Practical experience with workflow orchestration (Airflow/Composer) at production scale.
• Track record of making data trustworthy with testing, monitoring, and anomaly detection.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Own architecture and execution of core data platform.
• Design and build standardized data models for pricing, finance, and ops.
• Own BigQuery/Dataform pipelines, including schema design and testing.
• Build ingestion into warehouse via Datastream, Cloud Functions, connectors.
• Set direction for orchestration (Airflow/Composer) and cost/performance tradeoffs.
• Drive data integrity with anomaly detection and monitoring.
• Build internal tools to automate workflows (Python, FastAPI/Flask).
• Apply AI/LLM tooling to automate repetitive tasks and accelerate work.
• Collaborate with Analytics Engineering and BI to serve reporting needs.

Skills

BigQuery

Python

SQL

Airflow

Data modeling

Data governance

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Dataform

dbt

GCP

Looker

Datastream

Job description

Reporting to the Head of Data, Analytics, and Data Science, you will own the architecture and execution of Better Trucks' core data platform. You will partner closely with Analytics Engineering, BI, Finance, and Operations to turn fragmented, multi-source operational and financial data into standardized, trusted models that the business runs on.

Location: Remote (US) or Hybrid (Chicago)

Key Responsibilities & Requirements

Data Platform Ownership

• Design and build standardized data models that normalize complex, customer- and source-specific data (MongoDB, Postgres, Firestore, carrier and customer systems) into trusted schemas for pricing, finance, and operations.
• Own core BigQuery and Dataform pipelines, including schema design, incremental modeling patterns, testing, and documentation.
• Build and operate ingestion into the warehouse via Datastream, Cloud Functions, and custom connectors for systems without clean CDC paths.
• Set technical direction for orchestration (Composer/Airflow), including job design, dependency management, and cost/performance tradeoffs.
• Drive data integrity through anomaly detection, quality monitoring, and root-causing discrepancies before they erode trust in reporting.
• Build internal tools (Python, FastAPI/Flask, occasionally React) that automate operational workflows such as invoicing, ops data feeds, and reporting utilities.
• Apply AI and LLM-based tooling pragmatically to automate repetitive internal workflows and accelerate data engineering work, without introducing fragile or unmaintainable systems.
• Partner with Analytics Engineering and BI to ensure core data models serve reporting and forecasting without duplicative downstream logic.
• Review designs and code from other data engineers, and raise the technical bar without adding unnecessary process.
• Make build-vs-buy and architecture decisions with profitability, maintainability, and team adoption in mind.

Background & Experience

• 8+ years of data engineering experience, including 2-3+ years operating at a staff/principal level of scope (org-wide architecture decisions, not just pipeline delivery).
• Deep hands-on expertise in BigQuery or an equivalent cloud data warehouse, and SQL-based transformation tooling such as Dataform or dbt.
• Strong Python skills for pipeline and tooling work, with experience building and maintaining production services (FastAPI, Flask, or equivalent).
• Demonstrated experience designing standardized or normalized data models from heterogeneous, complex source systems.
• Practical experience with workflow orchestration (Airflow, Composer, or equivalent) at production scale.
• Track record of making data trustworthy, including testing, monitoring, anomaly detection, and incident response for data issues.
• Strong analytical and communication skills, with the ability to explain technical tradeoffs to non-technical stakeholders in Finance and Operations.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related field, or equivalent experience.

Qualifications

• Experience in last mile delivery, parcel logistics, transportation management, or another operationally intensive business where data quality directly affects P&L.
• Experience with the GCP ecosystem, including Cloud Functions, Datastream, and Firestore.
• Familiarity with BI tooling such as Looker, and with BI migration or governance efforts.
• Hands-on experience with LLM-based tooling (e.g. Claude, GPT) for code generation, data pipeline automation, or internal agent/workflow tooling.
• Experience in a high growth technology company.

Why Join Better Trucks?

Better Trucks is building the next generation of last mile logistics technology. Our software powers the delivery lifecycle from routing and driver assignment to real time operations, customer visibility, and delivery performance. We are looking for a Principal Product Manager to lead our Operations Product Stack and help shape the future of our platform.