Lead Data Engineer

Empower Retirement, LLC; Greenwood Village (CO); On-site; USD 132,000 - 191,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan with company matching

Paid time off and holidays

Volunteer time

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Empower Retirement, LLC is seeking a Lead Data Engineer in Colorado to architect and optimize scalable data pipelines, real-time ingestion, and enterprise data platforms. The role demands independent leadership, mentoring, and collaboration with architects to meet enterprise standards.

The position emphasizes streaming technologies, schema management, and governance while driving automation and platform improvements across teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field or equivalent experience.
• 6-8+ years of data engineering experience with enterprise-scale platforms.
• 6-8+ years hands-on with Apache Kafka, Confluent Cloud, AWS Kinesis, or Apache Pulsar.
• Advanced proficiency in Python, PySpark, and SQL.
• Proficiency in Python, Java, Scala, or Go, with production experience using Flink, Kafka Streams, or Spark Structured Streaming.
• Strong experience with AWS and modern data platforms.
• Deep expertise in CDC tools such as Debezium and Kafka Connect, including log-based replication mechanisms.
• Hands-on experience integrating streaming events into lakehouse formats and cloud data warehouses.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of advanced data pipelines, ingestion frameworks, and real-time streaming solutions.
• Build, optimize, and maintain scalable Kafka producers and consumers for sub-second latency.
• Configure CDC solutions across relational and NoSQL systems into Kafka topics.
• Develop stream-processing solutions using Flink, Spark Streaming, Kafka Streams, or dbt-mesh architectures.
• Implement schema evolution policies with Confluent Schema Registry and ensure idempotency across consumers.
• Lead technical execution of data initiatives and mentor engineers.
• Collaborate with architects and stakeholders on architectural decisions.
• Enforce data governance, security, quality, and data contracts.

Skills

Python

SQL

Spark

Kafka

Data governance

Agile

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related field

Tools

Debezium

AWS

Confluent Cloud

Flink

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Job description

Our vision for the future is based on the idea that transforming financial lives starts by giving our people the freedom to transform their own. We have a flexible work environment, and fluid career paths. We not only encourage but celebrate internal mobility. We also recognize the importance of purpose, well-being, and work-life balance. Within Empower and our communities, we work hard to create a welcoming and inclusive environment, and our associates dedicate thousands of hours to volunteering for causes that matter most to them. Chart your own path and grow your career while helping more customers achieve financial freedom. Empower Yourself. Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time, including CPT/OPT.

The Lead Data Engineer will provide technical leadership in designing, developing, and optimizing scalable data pipelines, real-time ingestion frameworks, and enterprise data platforms. This role will lead complex data initiatives, including event-driven and streaming solutions, while ensuring performance, reliability, security, data quality, and governance align with enterprise standards. Working with significant independence, the Lead Data Engineer will guide technical decisions, mentor engineers, collaborate with architects and stakeholders, and resolve complex data engineering challenges.

What you will do:

• Lead the design and implementation of advanced data pipelines, ingestion frameworks, and real-time streaming solutions.
• Build, optimize, and maintain scalable Kafka producers and consumers using Python, Java, Go, or Scala to support sub-second latency and high availability across distributed services.
• Configure and manage change data capture (CDC) solutions, including Debezium, AWS DMS, or Qlik Replicate, across relational and NoSQL systems such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, and Oracle into Kafka topics.
• Develop stream-processing solutions using Apache Flink, Spark Streaming, Kafka Streams, or dbt-mesh architectures to enrich, filter, and aggregate event data.
• Implement schema evolution policies using Confluent Schema Registry with Avro, Protobuf, or JSON Schema, ensuring appropriate delivery guarantees and idempotency across consumers.
• Integrate automated code generation, validation agents, and LLM-driven orchestration using technologies such as LangGraph, AutoGen, or CrewAI to support schema drift, unstructured event parsing, and dynamic event routing.
• Implement end-to-end pipeline monitoring and alerting using Prometheus, Grafana, or Datadog, and manage consumer group offsets, partition rebalancing, and dead-letter queues.
• Lead technical execution of complex data initiatives across teams, translating business requirements into scalable data solutions.
• Optimize data platforms for performance, scalability, reliability, and high availability.
• Enforce data governance, security, quality, data contract, and schema management standards.
• Mentor engineers, provide technical guidance, and lead code reviews to ensure adherence to engineering standards.
• Collaborate with architects and stakeholders on architectural and design decisions to align solutions with enterprise direction.
• Drive improvements in automation, engineering efficiency, and platform capabilities.
• Complete other duties as assigned.

What you will bring:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
• 6-8+ years of data engineering experience with enterprise-scale platforms.
• 6-8+ years of hands‑on experience with Apache Kafka, Confluent Cloud, AWS Kinesis, or Apache Pulsar.
• Advanced proficiency in Python, PySpark, and SQL.
• Proficiency in Python, Java, Scala, or Go, with production experience using Flink, Kafka Streams, or Spark Structured Streaming.
• Strong experience with AWS and modern data platforms.
• Deep expertise in CDC tools such as Debezium and Kafka Connect, including log-based replication mechanisms such as Oracle Redo, PostgreSQL WAL, and MySQL binlog.
• Hands‑on experience integrating streaming events into lakehouse formats such as Apache Iceberg and Delta Lake and cloud data warehouses such as Snowflake or BigQuery.
• Solid foundation in Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, and CI/CD automation for event-driven microservices.
• Experience implementing data contracts and schema management using tools such as Schema Registry to support data quality, schema evolution, and interface reliability.
• Deep understanding of data modeling, ETL/ELT processes, and data warehousing.
• Experience leading technical initiatives and mentoring engineers.
• Strong problem-solving and communication skills.
• Experience working in Agile environments.

What will set you apart:

• Experience integrating AI agents to self-heal pipeline failures, dynamically resolve schema drift, and extract structured data from unstructured event streams.
• Experience designing resilient fallback strategies, including automated dead-letter reprocessing, circuit breakers, and deterministic idempotency keys.
• Experience championing domain-driven event design, including Event Sourcing and CQRS, and defining enterprise-wide event contracts and governance.
• Experience establishing and formalizing data contracts between producers and consumers and leading adoption of schema registry practices for lifecycle versioning and backward and forward compatibility.

This job operates in a professional office environment.

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications of the job. The employer has the right to revise this job description at any time. You will be evaluated in part based on your performance of the responsibilities and/or tasks listed in this job description. You may be required to perform other duties that are not included on this job description. The job description is not a contract for employment, and either you or the employer may terminate employment at any time, for any reason, as per terms and conditions of your employment contract.

What we offer you

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance
• Retirement savings – 401(k) plan with generous company matching contributions (up to 6%), financial advisory services, potential company discretionary contribution, and a broad investment lineup
• Tuition reimbursement up to $5,250/year
• Business-casual environment that includes the option to wear jeans
• Generous paid time off upon hire – including a paid time off program plus ten paid company holidays and three floating holidays each calendar year
• Paid volunteer time — 16 hours per calendar year
• Leave of absence programs – including paid parental leave, paid short- and long-term disability, and Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)
• Business Resource Groups (BRGs) – BRGs facilitate inclusion and collaboration across our business internally and throughout the communities where we live, work and play. BRGs are open to all.

Salary

Base Salary Range $131,700.00 - $190,950.00 The salary range above shows the typical minimum to maximum base salary range for this position in the location listed. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation offered may vary from posted hiring range based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.

Equal opportunity employer • Drug-free workplace

We are an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to diversity. All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age (40 and over), race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, religion, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable state or local law.

Remote and hybrid positions

For remote and hybrid positions you will be required to provide reliable high-speed internet with a wired connection as well as a place in your home to work with limited disruption. You must have reliable connectivity from an internet service provider that is fiber, cable or DSL internet. Other necessary computer equipment, will be provided. You may be required to work in the office if you do not have an adequate home work environment and the required internet connection.