Lead Data Engineer

UNAVAILABLE; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 98,000 - 182,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible time off

Paid sick time

Comprehensive health coverage

401(k)

Tuition assistance

Job summary

UNAVAILABLE is seeking an experienced engineer to build and maintain data pipelines using Spark and SQL. This role focuses on high-volume data environments and offers the opportunity to work with state-of-the-art technologies like AWS and Databricks.

Ideal candidates will have substantial experience in Apache Spark, Scala, and Python. You will also mentor junior engineers and contribute to a team that prioritizes autonomy and impactful work.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience building and maintaining big data pipelines.
• Deep hands-on expertise in Apache Spark and distributed computing concepts.
• Fluent SQL skills to ingest complex use cases and tune queries.

Responsibilities

• Write scalable code using Spark (Scala/Python) and SQL.
• Build and optimize data connectors for external publishers.
• Participate in code reviews and mentor junior engineers.

Skills

Apache Spark

Scala

Python

SQL

AWS

Databricks

Education

S. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field

Tools

Apache Airflow

Kafka

Job description

Job Description

How You’ll Make an Impact The Epsilon Activation Delivery Platform team builds the core framework and connectors powering our audience activation business. We are a small, high-impact team of engineers operating at massive scale—trillions of user events flow through our pipelines every month. By building and maintaining integrations with major advertising players (Meta, Google, Amazon) and Connected TV publishers (LG, Samsung), your work directly connects our data ecosystem to the biggest platforms in the world.

Who does this role report to and who will they collaborate with on a day-to-day basis? This role reports to the Engineering Director and collaborates closely with fellow data engineers, product managers, and partner teams. You will participate in design reviews, code reviews, and the end-to-end delivery of critical business features in a highly collaborative environment.

Why would a top candidate evaluating multiple opportunities want this job?

• Operate at True Scale: Work in a high-volume data environment where your pipelines will process and route trillions of records monthly.
• Work with Modern Data Tech: Get hands-on with an innovative big data stack using Spark, Scala, Python, AWS EMR, and Databricks.
• See Your Impact: Your code will directly enable our business to interface with the world’s largest tech, social media, and CTV platforms.
• Own the Solution: We are a small team, which means you will have the autonomy to take complex problems from ingestion and specification all the way through to production.

What You’ll Achieve

• Core Contribution: Write robust, scalable, and maintainable code using Spark (Scala/Python) and SQL to build out our core framework and data pipelines.
• Pioneer AI-Assisted Engineering: We are on the cutting edge of AI adoption. You will leverage tools like Cursor and Amazon Q Developer to accelerate coding, debugging, and testing. You'll also actively participate in experimenting with the latest developer workflows for agentic, AI-assisted development, helping define the future of how our team builds software.
• Scale Integrations: Build, maintain, and optimize the high-concurrency data connectors that feed external publishers and ad networks.
• Optimize & Solve: Dive deep into complex data processing routines on EMR and Databricks. You will actively fix production issues, tune SQL queries, and solve for performance bottlenecks in a distributed environment.
• Team Mentorship & Quality: Participate in rigorous code reviews, help enforce engineering standard processes, and mentor mid-level/junior engineers to elevate the team's overall codebase.
• Continuous Improvement: Build and maintain automated production processing routines that fit seamlessly into our existing scheduled cloud infrastructure.

Who You Are

• What you’ll bring with you:
  • S. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
  • 5+ years of professional experience on a development team building and maintaining big data pipelines.
  • Deep, hands‑on expertise in Apache Spark and distributed computing concepts.
  • Strong programming proficiency in Scala and/or Python.
  • Fluent SQL skills with the ability to ingest complex use cases, refactor code, and tune queries for massive datasets.
  • Proven experience working within cloud environments (AWS preferred) and managed platforms like Databricks or EMR.
  • Ability to solve production issues autonomously and own a problem to the end.
  • Excellent communication skills to work with internal partners, ask the right questions, and translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Why you might stand out from other talent:
  • Experience in the AdTech/MarTech space, specifically programmatic advertising, identity resolution, or audience activation.
  • Familiarity with orchestration tools (e.g., Airflow).
  • Experience building and optimizing data integrations with external REST APIs at high concurrency.
  • Exposure to streaming technologies (Kafka) or NoSQL databases.

Base Salary: $98,000.00 - $182,000.00

Application deadline for this job posting is 05/26/2026.

Because You Matter

As an Epsilon employee, you deserve perks and benefits that put you, your family and your finances first. Our benefits encompass a wide range of offerings, including but not limited to the following:

• Time to Recharge: Flexible time off (FTO), 15 paid holidays
• Time to Recover: Paid sick time
• Family Well-Being: Parental/new child leave, childcare & elder care assistance, adoption assistance
• Extra Perks: Comprehensive health coverage, 401(k), tuition assistance, commuter benefits, professional development, employee recognition, charitable donation matching, health coaching and counseling

Epsilon is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Epsilon’s policy is not to discriminate against any applicant or employee based on actual or perceived race, age, sex or gender (including pregnancy), marital status, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, mental or physical disability, religion, creed, color, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (including transgender status), veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law. Epsilon also prohibits harassment of applicants and employees based on any of these protected categories. Epsilon will provide accommodations to applicants needing accommodations to complete the application process. Please reach out to [e-mail] to request an accommodation.

For San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles Areas: Epsilon will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance and San Francisco Police Code Sections 4901-4919, commonly referred to as the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. Applicants with criminal histories are welcome to apply.