Principal Data Engineer

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc; Westbrook (ME); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive Salary

Annual cash bonus

Health/Dental/Vision Benefits Day-One

401k matching

25 Holidays per year

Pet insurance

Additional benefits

Job summary

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc is seeking a Principal Data Engineer at our Westbrook, ME site. You will design and maintain data pipelines powering AI model training for IDEXX inVue Dx and other AI-powered diagnostics.

You will work hands-on with Databricks, dbt Core, and Snowflake, mentoring peers and aligning with Data Science and MLE teams. This senior role requires leadership on testing, deployment, and data modeling.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in data engineering or a closely related field with production exposure.
• Strong SQL and Python skills with hands-on dbt experience.
• Experience with modern cloud data platforms (Databricks and Snowflake) and CI/CD tooling.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain fault-tolerant production data pipelines.
• Own delivery of a piece of the team’s roadmap and collaborate with DS/MLE teams.
• Write and review code, tests, and documentation to engineering standards.
• Troubleshoot pipeline failures and implement data quality monitoring.
• Contribute to Snowflake integration and history tracking work.
• Mentor junior/mid data engineers on code quality and modeling best practices.
• Review PRs, pair on challenging problems, and help triage Jira tickets.
• Participate in interviewing and help set testing/deployment standards.

Skills

SQL

Python

dbt

Databricks

Snowflake

CI/CD

GitHub

Mentoring

Data modeling

Tools

Databricks

dbt Core

Snowflake

Job description

As a Principal Data Engineer, you will build and maintain the data pipelines that power AI model training and algorithm development for IDEXX inVue Dx and other AI-powered diagnostic products. This is a hybrid role based out of our Westbrook, ME location, with a minimum expectation of 2 days a week onsite.

The Data & AI Center of Excellence (AI Enablement & Model Operations) manages the data foundation behind IDEXX's AI-powered diagnostics. You'll join the Data Engineering team, working hands on in Databricks, dbt, and Snowflake, and serving as a technical anchor for other engineers on the team.

In this role:

• You will design, build, and maintain fault-tolerant production data pipelines in Databricks and dbt Core, following the medallion architecture and SCD2 patterns already in place across the team.
• You'll own delivery of a piece of the team's roadmap and partner directly with Data Science and MLE colleagues on what they need from the data.
• Your day-to-day will include writing and reviewing code, tests, and documentation to a standard other engineers can build on.
• You'll troubleshoot pipeline failures and data quality issues, and build the monitoring and alerting that catches problems early.
• You'll contribute to Snowflake integration work, including federated connections and history tracking for source systems.
• You'll mentor junior and mid level data engineers on code quality, data modeling, and platform best practices.
• You'll review pull requests and pair with teammates on tricky problems.
• You'll help scope and triage incoming Jira tickets, and flag when something needs to be escalated.
• You'll take part in interviews for future hires on the team.
• You'll partner with your manager on team standards for testing, deployment, and documentation.

Why this role matters:

The pipelines you build feed the AI models behind IDEXX inVue Dx and other AI-powered diagnostic products, which help veterinary teams care for pets. This is a senior, hands on role with real ownership: you'll drive significant pieces of the pipeline from start to finish and set the bar for code quality and data modeling across the team.

What you need to succeed:

• You have 7+ years of experience in data engineering or a closely related field, with real production experience.
• You have strong SQL and Python skills and hands on experience with dbt.
• You've worked with a modern cloud data platform (Databricks and/or Snowflake strongly preferred).
• You're comfortable with CI/CD, version control (GitHub), and automated testing for data pipelines.
• You've mentored or reviewed the work of junior and mid level engineers.
• You've worked directly with Data Science, MLE, or other technical partners to understand what they need from the data.
• You use good judgment about when to escalated, when to make the call yourself, and when to ask for help.
• Preferred: Experience in healthcare, life sciences, or another regulated data environment.
• Preferred: Experience with AI/ML training pipelines, or working closely with data science or MLE teams.
• Preferred: Familiarity with medallion architecture, SCD2 patterns, or similar data modeling conventions.
• Preferred: A track record of proposing and driving improvements to engineering practices or tooling, not just following the ones already in place.

What you can expect from us:

This is a hybrid role based out of our Westbrook, ME location, with a minimum expectation of 2 days a week onsite.

• Competitive Salary
• Opportunity for annual cash bonus, if applicable
• Health / Dental / Vision Benefits Day-One
• 5% matching 401k
• 25 Holidays / year
• Pet insurance
• Additional benefits including but not limited to financial support, pet insurance, mental health resources, volunteer paid days off, employee stock program, foundation donation matching, and much more!

Why IDEXX:

We're proud of the work we do, because our work matters. An innovation leader in every industry we serve since 1983, our team members help pet owners worldwide keep their companion animals healthy and happy, ensure safe drinking water for billions, and help farmers protect livestock and poultry from disease.

We have customers in over 175 countries and a collaborative global workforce. Our culture embraces challenges and encourages learning and discovery. At IDEXX, you'll be supported by competitive compensation, incentives, and benefits while enjoying purposeful work that drives improvement.

If meaningful work and a sense of purpose are at the top of your list, you'll find it here. Let's pursue what matters together.

EEO Statement:

IDEXX values a diverse workforce and workplace and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply. IDEXX is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will not be discriminated against because of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, medical condition, or any protected category prohibited by local, state, or federal laws.