Director, Data Engineering

Alquemy; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Alquemy in New York seeks a Director of Data Engineering to lead the modernization of a large-scale data platform. You will oversee redesign of data infrastructure, improve accessibility and reliability, and drive automation and efficiency while guiding a small engineering team through a major platform transformation.

You will build a unified data environment supporting business users and downstream applications, establishing technical standards, roadmaps, and best practices.

Qualifications

• Experience leading engineering teams and delivering scalable data architectures.
• Hands-on technical leadership at Associate Director level with strategic oversight at Director level.
• Strong experience with scalable data platforms, cloud tech, data lakes/lakehouses, batch and streaming pipelines.
• Ability to design data ingestion, storage, and consumption layers.
• Experience in financial services or data-intensive industries is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and modernization of scalable data platforms for performance and reliability.
• Oversee ingestion, transformation, and distribution of diverse datasets.
• Build reliable data delivery with automated validation and governance.
• Lead and mentor a data engineering team; set standards and roadmaps.
• Evaluate technologies and recommend modern architectures and automation.
• Identify opportunities to reduce manual processes and duplication.

Skills

Engineering Leadership

Modern Data Engineering

Problem-Solving

Automation

Data Architecture

Technology Flexibility

Tools

Cloud Platforms

Data Lakes/Lakehouses

Job description

Director, Data Engineering

We are seeking an analytical and strategic Data Engineering Leader to lead the modernization of a large-scale data platform. This role will oversee the redesign of data infrastructure, improve data accessibility and reliability, reduce duplication, and drive greater automation and efficiency. The role will lead a small engineering team through a significant platform transformation, building a unified data environment that supports business users and downstream applications.

Core Responsibilities

• Platform Architecture & Modernization: Lead the design and modernization of scalable data platforms, improving performance, reliability, and maintainability.
• Data Pipeline & Ingestion: Oversee the ingestion, transformation, processing, and distribution of diverse internal and external datasets.
• Data Quality & Governance: Build reliable data delivery and automated validation processes to ensure data accuracy, consistency, and governance.
• Team Leadership: Lead and mentor a team of data engineers while establishing technical standards, engineering best practices, and delivery roadmaps.
• Technology Strategy: Evaluate existing technologies and recommend modern architectural solutions, automation opportunities, and engineering practices.
• Operational Improvement: Identify opportunities to eliminate manual processes, reduce system duplication, and improve overall platform efficiency.

Qualifications & Technical Profile

• Engineering Leadership: Proven experience leading engineering teams, managing technical deliverables, and designing scalable data architectures. Hands-on technical leadership is expected at the Associate Director level, while the Director level emphasizes broader strategic oversight.
• Modern Data Engineering: Strong experience with scalable data platforms, cloud technologies, data lakes/lakehouses, batch and streaming pipelines, and query/analytics platforms.
• Problem-Solving & Automation: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a focus on automation, process optimization, and code-driven solutions.
• Data Architecture: Experience designing and modernizing complex data ecosystems, including data ingestion, transformation, storage, and consumption layers.
• Domain Experience: Experience in financial services, capital markets, or other data-intensive industries is a plus but not required.
• Technology Flexibility: Ability to evaluate and work across different technology stacks, with emphasis on sound engineering principles rather than specific vendor tools.