Head of Data Engineering & Platform

Mercury; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercury in the United States seeks a Head of Data Engineering Platform to build a data platform that enables analytics and AI systems. You will lead a team of data engineers, shape architecture, and drive tooling that accelerates product development while maintaining reliability and governance.

You will partner with Security, Legal, Compliance, and Privacy teams to ensure trusted data foundations, privacy controls, and scalable data products across the company.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant experience including 5+ years leading data or engineering teams.
• Experience architecting modern data platforms at scale.
• Expertise in data modeling, orchestration, streaming, storage, metadata, and governance.
• Ability to balance long-term platform investments with near-term product needs.
• Experience partnering with Security, Legal, Compliance, and Privacy teams.

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.
• Build a platform that makes Mercury's data easy for people and AI systems to discover and use.
• Establish foundations for a trusted, resilient data platform with governance and security.
• Partner with Engineering, Product, Data Science, Security, and Infrastructure leaders.

Skills

Leadership

Data platform

Architectural design

Data governance

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 priva