Principal Data Engineer

Continuus Technologies LLC; Town of Germantown (WI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Continuus Technologies LLC seeks a Principal Data Engineer to define the data architecture and long-term technical strategy. You will influence data standards, mentor senior engineers, and partner with executives to scale data platforms.

You will lead complex initiatives, set governance and observability standards, and ensure data platforms support analytics, ML, and product use cases at scale.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering or related fields.
• Expert-level SQL and Python or similar languages.
• Experience with data warehouses, data lakes and distributed systems.
• Proven ability to design and operate large-scale data platforms.
• Strong systems thinking and architectural decision-making skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the long-term data architecture and technical vision.
• Design scalable, resilient data platforms and pipelines.
• Set standards for data modeling, reliability, observability, and governance.
• Lead complex, high-risk technical initiatives and migrations.
• Escalation point for critical data incidents and root cause analysis.
• Influence tool selection and technology adoption across the data stack.
• Mentor Staff and Senior Data Engineers and elevate engineering excellence.
• Partner with leadership to align data strategy with business goals.
• Ensure data platforms support analytics, ML, and product use cases at scale.

Skills

SQL

Python

Data warehousing

Distributed systems

Architectural decision-making

Systems thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Engineering or related field

Job description

Role Overview

The Principal Data Engineer is a senior technical authority responsible for defining the organization's data architecture, setting long-term technical strategy, and solving the most complex data engineering challenges. This role influences company-wide data standards, mentors senior engineers, and partners with executive and cross-functional leaders to ensure data platforms scale with the business.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the long-term data architecture and technical vision
• Design highly scalable, resilient data platforms and pipelines
• Set standards for data modeling, reliability, observability, and governance
• Lead complex, high-risk technical initiatives and migrations
• Serve as the escalation point for critical data incidents and root cause analysis
• Influence tool selection and technology adoption across the data stack
• Mentor Staff and Senior Data Engineers and elevate engineering excellence
• Partner with leadership to align data strategy with business goals
• Ensure data platforms support analytics, ML, and product use cases at scale

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 10+ years of experience in data engineering or related disciplines
• Expert-level SQL and strong proficiency in Python or similar languages
• Deep experience with data warehousing, data lakes, and distributed systems
• Proven track record of designing and operating large-scale data platforms
• Strong systems thinking and architectural decision-making skills

Preferred Experience

• Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Streaming and real-time systems (Kafka, Spark, Flink, etc.)
• Advanced data governance, security, and compliance practices
• Supporting ML, AI, or product-led data platforms
• Influencing technical direction without direct managerial authority