Senior Data Engineer

The Trade Desk; Ventura (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 229,000; Full time

Job summary

The Trade Desk is a global technology company shaping the future of digital advertising. We seek a Senior Software Engineer - Data Engineer to own end-to-end data pipelines, models, and integrations powering analytics and internal products.

Lead design decisions within established architecture, mentor engineers, and collaborate with product, BI, and data science teams to deliver scalable data solutions. The role emphasizes reliability, governance, and observability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, or a related field; equivalent work experience accepted.
• Masters degree preferred with 6-8+ years of professional software or data engineering experience.
• Strong expertise in SQL and data modeling for analytics and reporting.
• Hands-on experience with Snowflake and/or Databricks data warehouse concepts.
• Experience building and operating ETL/ELT pipelines using Airflow, Dagster, Glue, or similar tools.
• Proficiency in Python, Scala, Java, or similar languages.
• Familiarity with Spark-based data processing.
• Solid understanding of Git and CI/CD practices.
• Experience with data quality, observability, and operational support.
• Senior-level engineer capable of delivering complex data solutions independently.

Responsibilities

• Own complex data pipelines end to end; design, build, and operate scalable ETL/ELT pipelines.
• Lead data modeling and warehouse design balancing performance, usability, and governance.
• Implement data quality checks, monitoring, and alerting for data accuracy and freshness.
• Collaborate with product managers, BI teams, data scientists, and business teams to translate needs into data solutions.
• Propose technical improvements, review designs, and influence standards within architecture directions.
• Mentor midlevel and junior engineers through code reviews, pairing, and documentation.
• Improve performance, scalability, cost efficiency, and observability; participate in on-call duties.

Skills

SQL

Data modeling

Python

Scala

Java

Spark

Git

CI/CD

Data quality

Observability

Team leadership

Independent delivery

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/related field

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Snowflake

Databricks

Airflow

Dagster

Glue

Job description

The Trade Desk is a global technology company and the world's leading independent platform for digital advertising, with nearly 4,000 employees across more than 30 offices. Our technology helps advertisers reach the right audiences across the open internet - from streaming TV and podcasts to mobile apps, news, and more. Advertising powers the content people love. By making it more transparent, effective, and responsible, we help support trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and creators worldwide. The world's brands and agencies rely on us to reach their customers and grow their businesses responsibly. The scale of our platform brings unique technical challenges - from processing massive datasets in real time to building systems that operate reliably on a global scale. When you work here, your impact is worldwide. We welcome diverse perspectives, encourage curiosity, and build teams that learn from one another. If you're driven to solve meaningful challenges, we'd love to meet you.

ABOUT THE ROLE

This role sits within the Technology Operations group in Engineering at The Trade Desk and focuses on building reliable, scalable, and wellgoverned enterprise data solutions. As a Senior Software Engineer - Data Engineer, you will be an endtoend owner for complex data pipelines, models, and integrations that power analytics, reporting, and internal products.

This is a hands-on senior role with growing technical leadership expectations. You will work independently on ambiguous problems, influence design decisions, and mentor others, while still operating within an established architecture and technical direction.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

• Own complex data pipelines end to end. Design, build, and operate scalable batch and nearrealtime ETL/ELT pipelines using Snowflake, Databricks, Spark, and cloud storage.
• Drive data modeling and warehouse design. Define and implement dimensional models, data marts, and curated datasets that balance performance, usability, and governance.
• Raise data quality and reliability. Implement robust data quality checks, validations, monitoring, and alerting to ensure data accuracy, freshness, and trust.
• Collaborate deeply with stakeholders. Partner with product managers, BI teams, data scientists, and internal business teams to translate business needs into welldesigned data solutions.
• Lead design without owning architecture. Proactively propose technical improvements, review designs, and influence standards while aligning with broader platform and architectural direction.
• Mentor and raise the bar. Provide technical guidance through code reviews, pairing, and documentation; help midlevel and junior engineers grow in ownership and quality.
• Operational excellence. Improve performance, scalability, cost efficiency, and observability of data systems; participate in oncall and incident response as needed.

WHO YOU ARE:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information security, or a related field, or equivalent work experience. Masters degree preferred and 6-8+ years of professional experience in software or data engineering
• Strong expertise in SQL and data modeling for analytics and reporting
• Handson experience with Snowflake and/or Databricks modern data warehouse concepts
• Experience building and operating ETL/ELT pipelines using tools such as Airflow, Dagster, Glue, or similar
• Proficiency in Python, Scala, Java, or similar languages
• Familiarity with Spark-based data processing
• Solid understanding of version control (Git) and CI/CD practices
• Experience with data quality, observability, and operational support
• Strong seniorlevel engineer. You can independently deliver complex data solutions and make sound technical tradeoffs, even when requirements are incomplete.
• Pragmatic and detailoriented. You care deeply about correctness, reliability, and maintainability-not just shipping code.
• Collaborative and influential. You communicate clearly, build trust across teams, and influence outcomes without requiring formal authority.
• Continuously learning. You stay current on data engineering patterns, tooling, and best practices and apply them thoughtfully

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience working at petabytescale or highgrowth data environments
• Familiarity with governance, security, and compliance (e.g., PII handling, access controls)
• Exposure to containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) or cloud infrastructure patterns
• Experience in AdTech or analyticsheavy domains
• Comfort working with BI and reporting tools and understanding downstream consumption needs

Variety of technical opportunity is one of the best things about working at The Trade Desk as a software engineer which is why we do not expect you to know every technology we use when you start. What we care about is that you can learn quickly and find solutions to complex problems using the optimum tools for the job.

What you know is less important than how well you learn and innovate. We don't need engineers who know all the answers; we need engineers who can invent the answers no one has thought of yet, to the questions yet to be asked.

Note: Interns are not eligible for variable incentive awards such as stock-based compensation, retirement plan, vacation, tuition reimbursement or parental leave

At the Trade Desk, Base Salary is one part of our competitive total compensation and benefits package and is determined using a salary range. The base salary range for this role is

$124,900—$228,900 USD

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, The Trade Desk is committed to creating an inclusive hiring experience where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

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