Head of Data Engineering & Platform

Mercury; New York (NY); On-site; USD 290,000 - 362,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercury is seeking a Head of Data Engineering & Platform to build a data foundation that powers analytics, AI, and product development at scale. You will lead a talented data engineering team and shape the platform architecture and engineering practices across the company.

You'll partner with Security, Legal, and Privacy teams to ensure governance, privacy, and regulatory compliance while delivering reliable, self-service data and AI-ready datasets for internal and customer-facing initiatives.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant experience, including 5+ years leading data or engineering teams.
• Architect modern data platforms at scale with semantic layers, metadata, and data products.
• Evolve data architecture amid rapid growth balancing long-term investments with near-term needs.
• Deep expertise in data modeling, orchestration, streaming, storage, metadata, governance.
• Experience partnering with Security, Legal, Compliance, and Privacy teams for regulated financial data.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of senior data and analytics engineers.
• Define and execute Mercury's long-term data platform strategy, building the architecture, tooling, and reusable data products that power analytics, AI, operational systems, and self-service across the company
• Build a platform that makes Mercury's data easy for both people and AI systems to discover, understand, and use, investing in semantic models, metadata, and developer tooling
• Establish the foundations for a trusted, resilient data platform by driving best practices for reliability, observability, data quality, governance, privacy, security, and regulatory compliance
• Partner closely with Engineering, Product, Data Science, Security, and Infrastructure leaders to ensure Mercury's data platform accelerates product development, business operations, and decision-making

Skills

Data leadership

Data architecture

Platform engineering

Governance & privacy

Regulatory compliance

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

In the early 1970s, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie built Unix around a deceptively simple idea: create small, composable tools that work well together. That philosophy went on to shape modern operating systems, developer tooling, cloud infrastructure, and much of the software we rely on today—not because any individual tool was revolutionary, but because the platform made everyone else more productive.

We're looking for a Head of Data Engineering & Platform who can build the data platform that gives Mercury that same leverage—creating a foundation where trusted data is easy for both people and AI systems to discover, understand, and work with.

In this role, you'll lead and grow a high-performing team of data engineers responsible for Mercury's core data infrastructure. You'll shape the architecture, tooling, and engineering practices that enable reliable analytics, accelerate product development, and enable the next generation of AI-powered products and internal tools.

• Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

Here are some things you’ll do on the job:

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of senior data and analytics engineers responsible for Mercury's core data infrastructure, setting a high technical bar and cultivating a strong engineering culture
• Define and execute Mercury's long-term data platform strategy, building the architecture, tooling, and reusable data products that power analytics, AI, operational systems, and self-service across the company
• Build a platform that makes Mercury's data easy for both people and AI systems to discover, understand, and use, investing in semantic models, metadata, and developer tooling that make trusted data reusable across the company
• Establish the foundations for a trusted, resilient data platform by driving best practices for reliability, observability, data quality, governance, privacy, security, and regulatory compliance
• Partner closely with Engineering, Product, Data Science, Security, and Infrastructure leaders to ensure Mercury's data platform accelerates product development, business operations, and decision-making

You should:

• Bring 10+ years of relevant experience, including 5+ years leading data or engineering teams
• Have architected modern data platforms at scale, building the data foundations, semantic layers, metadata, and platform capabilities that power analytics, AI, machine learning, and operational systems
• Demonstrate the technical judgment and organizational influence to evolve data architecture through periods of rapid growth, balancing long-term, well-governed platform investments with near-term product needs
• Bring deep expertise in modern data infrastructure, including data modeling, orchestration, streaming, storage systems, metadata, and governance
• Have experience partnering with Security, Legal, Compliance, and Privacy teams to ensure data platforms meet the privacy, security, and regulatory standards expected of a regulated financial institution

Mercury values diversity & belonging and is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All individuals seeking employment at Mercury are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristic. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process for applicants with disabilities or special needs. If you need assistance, or an accommodation, please let your recruiter know once you are contacted about a role.

Total Rewards

The total rewards package at Mercury includes base salary, equity (stock options/RSUs), and benefits.

Our salary and equity ranges are highly competitive within the SaaS and fintech industry and are updated regularly using the most reliable compensation survey data for our industry. New hire offers are made based on a candidate’s experience, expertise, geographic location, and internal pay equity relative to peers.

Our target new hire base salary ranges for this role are the following

• US employees (any location): $289,700—$362,100 USD
• Canadian employees (any location): $273,800—$342,200 CAD