Lead Data Engineer

OC Sports & Entertainment; Anaheim (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

OC Sports & Entertainment, LLC is seeking a Lead Data Engineer to design, build, and govern a unified data warehouse architecture that unifies ticketing, loyalty, and F&B data. You will own identity resolution end‑to‑end, establish data governance in Azure, and deliver production‑grade pipelines while partnering with business and technical stakeholders to produce trusted analytics products.

The role requires 6+ years of hands‑on data engineering experience, a Bachelor's Degree, and deep

Qualifications

• 6–9 years of hands‑on data engineering experience designing and building production‑grade systems.
• Academic background in a quantitative or technical field such as physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, or related field.
• Production‑grade pipeline development in Python and advanced SQL, with emphasis on performance and observability.
• Experience with dbt and building reliable transformation layers for analytics.
• Experience with Airflow or Dagster/Prefect, DAG design and failure handling at scale.
• Deep Azure data warehouse experience; AWS or GCP experience transferable.
• Experience with medallion architecture in production environments.
• Experience auditing externally managed platforms and evaluating architectures.
• Experience owning engineering standards, code review, and pipeline governance.
• AI‑native mindset with experience using AI‑assisted tools.

Responsibilities

• Design and build a governed data warehouse architecture unifying ticketing, loyalty, and F&B data.
• Own identity resolution end‑to‑end and define the entity framework with onboarding of new sources.
• Govern the Azure data environment with monitoring, cost controls, and consolidation.
• Audit the existing platform and drive toward full internal ownership with stakeholders.
• Translate complex data decisions for non‑technical partners and deliver trusted data products.
• Mentor engineers and promote technical rigor while remaining hands‑on as a builder.

Skills

Data engineering

Python

SQL

dbt

Airflow

Dagster

Prefect

Azure

Data governance

Azure Data Warehouse

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

Dagster

Prefect

dbt

Airflow

Job description

A great experience starts with you!
Join our team to help create and develop the future of live entertainment and sports in Orange County!

Mission:

To enrich the lives in our community through shared experiences, welcoming spaces, and responsible actions.

Vision:

We will be the social and entertainment center of Orange County – a place where the cultural kaleidoscope of the region converges and connects. Our vibrant, rich collection of experiences will celebrate the diversity of our community.

Values:

Be Safe | Do the Right Thing | Be Generous | Include Everyone | Make it Easy | Be Bold

Job Title

Lead Data Engineer

Pay Details

The annual base salary range for this position in California is $140,000 to $180,000 per year. The starting pay for the successful candidate depends on various job-related factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s geographic location, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, education/training, internal value, peer equity, external market demands, and organizational considerations.

The Lead Data Engineer is responsible for designing, building, and governing a reliable data warehouse architecture that unifies key business data across ticketing, loyalty, and F&B systems. This role owns critical data engineering standards, identity resolution, Azure environment governance, and production‑grade pipeline development while partnering with business and technical stakeholders to deliver trusted data products that support analytics, operations, and decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Design and build a governed data warehouse architecture that unifies ticketing, loyalty, and F&B data into a single trusted source of truth
• Own identity resolution end‑to‑end, including defining the entity framework, setting coverage standards, and expanding capabilities as new source systems are onboarded
• Govern the Azure data environment, including monitoring, alerting, cost controls, and consolidation into a single reliable warehouse
• Serve as the internal technical counterpart to the implementation partner by auditing the existing platform, evaluating architectural decisions, and driving toward full internal ownership
• Translate complex data architecture decisions for non‑technical business partners and collaborate with analytics and operations teams to deliver data products that drive business decisions
• Mentor engineers and help build a culture of technical rigor while remaining hands‑on as a builder

Qualifications

• 6–9 years of hands‑on data engineering experience designing and building production‑grade systems
• Academic background in a quantitative or technical field such as physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, or a related field
• Production‑grade pipeline development experience in Python and advanced SQL, with strong attention to performance, observability, and maintainability
• Production experience with dbt, including project structure, robust test coverage, and development of reliable transformation layers that support downstream reporting and analytics
• Production experience with Airflow or equivalent tools, such as Dagster or Prefect, including DAG design, dependency management, and failure handling at scale
• Deep cloud data warehouse experience; Azure preferred, with strong AWS or GCP experience transferable
• Experience building or enforcing medallion architecture in a production environment
• Experience inheriting or auditing an externally managed platform, including reviewing unfamiliar codebases and independently evaluating architectural decisions
• Experience owning engineering standards, including code review, pipeline governance, and documentation practices
• AI‑native mindset, with experience using AI‑assisted tools as a productivity multiplier

Education -

Bachelor's Degree

Experience Required –

6+ Years

This position is on‑site.

Company

OC Sports & Entertainment, LLC

Our Commitment

We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and team members without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, parental status, military service, medical condition or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws. We are firm believers that diversity and inclusion among our team members are critical to our success, and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.

Thanks for your interest in becoming part of OCVIBE!