Senior Manager, Data Engineering

Vanguard; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanguard is seeking a Senior Manager, Data Engineering to lead a team responsible for building scalable, enterprise-grade data products. Your focus will be on enhancing the data ecosystem, enabling various teams by delivering high-quality data solutions.

With ten years of experience and a background in data management, you'll guide the strategy and execution of data initiatives that drive meaningful business outcomes. Leadership skills and familiarity with cloud technologies like AWS are essential for this role.

Qualifications

• Minimum of ten years’ experience in business or technical roles with people management and data expertise.
• Experience leading data engineering teams and delivering scalable data solutions.
• Proven track record delivering data initiatives in complex environments.

Responsibilities

• Leads and develops a team of managers and engineers.
• Owns the lifecycle of enterprise data products and platforms.
• Directs planning of data product roadmaps and initiatives.

Skills

Data engineering teams leadership

Data quality and governance

Modern data technologies

Data modeling

Stakeholder partnership

Business requirements translation

Cloud platforms

Analytics workflows

Education

Undergraduate degree

Graduate degree (preferred)

Tools

AWS

Tableau

Power BI

Databricks

Job description

Join our team and help shape the future of data‑driven decision making. As a Senior Manager, Data Engineering, you will lead a team of leaders responsible for building and scaling trusted, reusable, and enterprise‑grade data products that power analytics and decisioning across the business. In this role, you will sit at the center of our data ecosystem, enabling teams across the organization through high‑quality, governed, and highly available data assets. You will partner closely with business, analytics, and technology stakeholders to define priorities, guide strategy, and deliver data products that unlock insights and drive measurable outcomes. You will translate complex business needs into scalable data solutions, ensuring teams are aligned to shared outcomes and delivering value at scale. At the same time, you will drive execution, leading the development of modern data platforms and pipelines that are resilient, high‑performing, and grounded in strong data quality and governance practices.

Responsibilities

• Leads and develops a team of managers, technical leads, and engineers, building a strong leadership bench and high‑performing engineering culture while setting performance standards, coaching, and supporting career development.
• Owns the end‑to‑end lifecycle of enterprise data products and platforms, including definition, development, delivery, and optimization, ensuring scalability, reuse, quality, and measurable business value.
• Directs planning, prioritization, and execution of data product roadmaps and engineering initiatives aligned to business outcomes and enterprise strategy, while driving adoption and reliability across domains.
• Leads the design and development of scalable data pipelines, platforms, and frameworks, enabling efficient data integration, self‑service consumption, and insight generation from large, complex datasets.
• Establishes and enforces data quality, governance, and observability practices, ensuring data integrity, consistency, and trust across the data ecosystem.
• Partners with senior leaders and cross‑functional teams to shape data strategy, influence operating models, and deliver high‑impact, outcome‑based solutions.
• Evaluates and implements modern data technologies and architecture patterns to improve scalability, performance, and developer experience while fostering innovation and continuous improvement.
• Participates in special projects and performs other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of ten years’ business or technical experience including people management and data expertise.
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of training and experience. Graduate degree preferred.
• Experience leading data engineering teams and delivering scalable data solutions.
• Experience partnering with business and technical stakeholders to define requirements and deliver data solutions.
• Experience translating business needs into data engineering solutions or products.
• Proven track record delivering data initiatives in complex or ambiguous environments.
• Experience with modern data engineering technologies and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS or similar).
• Hands‑on or leadership experience with data modeling, data quality, and data management practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate degree preferred.
• Exposure to modern data platforms (e.g., data lakes, real‑time systems, Databricks).
• Familiarity with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) and analytics workflows.
• Experience making decisions in ambiguous or high‑stakes environments.
• Deep understanding of data and analytics principles, including data quality and modeling.
• Experience driving change and influencing adoption across teams.

Sponsorship

Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.