Principal Data Engineer

trueanomalyinc; Denver (CO); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health benefits

PTO and holidays

401K

Parental Leave

Job summary

True Anomaly seeks a Principal Data Engineer to provide hands-on technical leadership in designing, building and evolving scalable data platforms. This role will solve complex data engineering challenges, establish engineering standards, and guide the technical direction of True Anomaly's Enterprise Data Platform.

The ideal candidate is a strong hands-on engineer with deep experience in Python, SQL, and modern cloud data platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks or Redshift.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of data engineering and software engineering experience.
• Strong hands-on Python and SQL experience.
• 3+ years with Snowflake, Databricks, or both.
• Understanding of data architecture, data modelling and ELT/ETL.
• Experience with Git, testing, CI/CD and code reviews.
• Ability to provide technical leadership and mentor other engineers.
• Adopt AI-assisted engineering tools to improve productivity.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain scalable data pipelines and data products using Python, SQL and modern data engineering practices.
• Build and optimize ELT/ETL processes on cloud data platforms with focus on performance and cost efficiency.
• Establish data quality, testing, monitoring, observability, CI/CD, version control and production reliability.
• Own data engineering projects end-to-end—from design to deployment and support.
• Collaborate with engineering, AI/ML, analytics, product and business teams on reliable data solutions.
• Leverage AI-assisted tools while contributing to engineering excellence and knowledge sharing.
• Mentor Junior and Senior Data Engineers and guide engineering teams.

Skills

Data engineering

Python

SQL

Snowflake

Databricks

Data architecture

ELT/ETL

Git

CI/CD

AI tooling

AWS

Tools

Airflow

dbt

Kafka

Job description

Space is a warfighting domain. True Anomaly seeks those with the talent and ambition to build the technology that secures it.

OUR MISSION

True Anomaly delivers decisive capabilities for space superiority. We build autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors - enabling the U.S. and its Allies to secure the space environment and counter threats from the ultimate high ground.

OUR VALUES

Be the offset. We create asymmetric advantages with creativity and ingenuity.

What would it take? We challenge assumptions to deliver ambitious results.

It's the people. Our team is our competitive advantage and we are better together.

YOUR MISSION

We are looking for a Principal Data Engineer to provide hands‑on technical leadership in designing, building and evolving scalable data platforms. This role will be responsible for solving complex data engineering challenges, establishing engineering standards, and guiding the technical direction of True Anomaly's Enterprise Data Platform.

The ideal candidate is a strong hands‑on engineer with deep experience in Python, SQL, and modern cloud data platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks or Redshift.

This role will embrace the use of AI to aid data engineering and improve productivity, including leveraging AI‑assisted development tools, automation and systems to accelerate pipeline development, improve code quality and optimize workflows.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, develop and maintain scalable data pipelines and data products using Python, SQL and modern data engineering practices, supporting batch, streaming, analytics, and AI/ML workloads
• Build and optimize ELT/ETL processes and data models using cloud data platforms with a focus on performance, scalability, reliability and cost efficiency
• Establish and apply engineering best practices for data quality, testing, monitoring, observability, CI/CD, version control, security, and production reliability
• Own data engineering projects end‑to‑end, from technical design and development through deployment, production support, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement
• Collaborate across engineering, AI/ML, analytics, product and business teams to translate requirements into reliable, scalable data solutions and products and contribute to technical design decisions
• Leverage AI‑assisted engineering tools while contributing to data engineering technical excellence through code reviews, reusable frameworks, documentation, knowledge sharing, and mentoring other data engineers
• Mentor Junior and Senior Data Engineers and provide technical guidance across the engineering teams

QUALIFICATIONS

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering and software engineering field
• Strong hands‑on Python and SQL experience
• 3+ years of experience with Snowflake, Databricks, or both
• Strong understanding of data engineering, data architecture, data modelling and ELT/ETL
• Strong understanding of software engineering practices including Git, testing, CI/CD and code reviews
• Demonstrated ability to provide technical leadership and mentor other engineers
• Adopt AI‑assisted engineering tools to improve productivity and delivery speed

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience with AWS, Azure or GCP
• Experience with Airflow, dbt, Kafka or similar technologies
• Experience building out Lakehouse architectures
• Experience with data governance, lineage and observability

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

This is a hands‑on Principal level engineering role. The successful candidate should be comfortable writing code, designing architecture, solving difficult technical problems, and influencing best data practices across the company.

COMPENSATION

• Base Salary: Denver - $200,000 - $280,000, Long Beach - $210,000 - $290,000
• Equity + Benefits including Health, Dental, Vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO and paid holidays, 401K, Parental Leave
• Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case‑by‑case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job‑related knowledge and skills, education, location, and experience.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Work Location - Long Beach, CA, or Denver, CO. While we observe a hybrid work environment, you will need to be onsite as the business needs require. Onsite requirements are subject to change, particularly when work on classified systems is required. On an average week, you can expect to spend at least 3 days per week in office.
• Work environment -the work environment; temperature, noise level, inside or outside, or other factors that will affect the person's working conditions while performing the job.
• Physical demands -the physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving.
• To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be