Sr. Staff Data Engineer

Archer; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 207,000 - 259,000; Full time

Job summary

Archer in San Jose, CA is seeking a Senior Staff Data Engineer to architect scalable data systems and set technical direction for data governance and consumption across the company.

You will own data warehouse/lakehouse design, lead modeling efforts, partner with analytics and operations, and drive storage design for cost-efficient, high-performance queries.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of data engineering experience with data modeling and warehouse design.
• Strong grasp of dimensional modeling, Medallion/Lakehouse architecture, and semantic layers.
• Advanced SQL: joins, aggregations, window functions, performance.
• Experience designing/scaling data warehouses or lakehouses in cloud environments (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery).
• Python proficiency for data transformation and pipelines.
• Familiarity with orchestration tools (Airflow, Prefect).
• Experience with data governance concepts: lineage, cataloging, access control, quality frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Own the design and evolution of our data warehouse and lakehouse architecture — schemas, layering, modeling patterns, long-term scalability.
• Lead data modeling efforts across key business domains.
• Define standards for data structures, naming, documentation, and governance across the Medallion Architecture.
• Partner with analytics engineers and stakeholders to translate requirements into robust data models.
• Drive storage design, partitioning strategies, and compute optimization for performance and cost.
• Contribute to data governance — lineage, cataloging, access control, quality frameworks.
• Build and maintain production-grade pipelines with reliability and idempotency.
• Participate in architecture reviews and bring senior data engineering judgment to stack decisions.

Skills

Data modeling

Warehouse design

SQL

Cloud data warehouses

Python

Orchestration tools

Data governance

Tools

Snowflake

Databricks

BigQuery

Airflow

Prefect

dbt

Job description

Archer is an aerospace company based in San Jose, California building an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft with a mission to advance the benefits of sustainable air mobility. We are designing, manufacturing, and operating an all-electric aircraft that can carry four passengers while producing minimal noise.

Our sights are set high and our problems are hard, and we believe that diversity in the workplace is what makes us smarter, drives better insights, and will ultimately lift us all to success. We are dedicated to cultivating an equitable and inclusive environment that embraces our differences, and supports and celebrates all of our team members.

About the Role

Archer is building the future of urban air mobility, and our data platform is what makes intelligent decisions possible — from manufacturing operations to flight analytics. We're looking for a Senior Staff Data Engineer who brings deep expertise in data modeling and warehouse design: someone who can architect scalable, well-structured data systems and set the technical direction for how data is organized, governed, and consumed across the company.

This is a high-ownership, low-bureaucracy role on a small team. You'll shape how data is modeled and stored, work closely with engineering and operations stakeholders, and have direct visibility into how your work shapes the company.

What You'll Do

• Own the design and evolution of our data warehouse and lakehouse architecture — schemas, layer structure, modeling patterns, and long-term scalability
• Lead data modeling efforts: dimensional modeling, semantic layer design, and entity relationship design across key business domains
• Define standards for how data is structured, named, documented, and governed across the Medallion Architecture (bronze → silver → gold)
• Partner with analytics engineers and business stakeholders to translate domain requirements into robust, reusable data models
• Drive decisions on storage design, partitioning strategies, and compute optimization for query performance and cost efficiency
• Contribute to data governance — lineage, cataloging, access control, and quality frameworks
• Build and maintain production-grade pipelines where needed, with a focus on reliability and idempotency
• Participate in architecture reviews and bring Senior Staff-level judgment to data stack decisions

What We're Looking For

• 7+ years of data engineering experience with demonstrated depth in data modeling and warehouse design
• Strong grasp of dimensional modeling, Medallion / Lakehouse architecture, and semantic layer concepts
• Advanced SQL — complex joins, aggregations, window functions, query optimization, and schema design
• Experience designing and scaling data warehouses or lakehouses in cloud environments (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, or equivalent)
• Python proficiency for data transformation and pipeline work
• Familiarity with orchestration tools (Airflow, Prefect, or equivalent)
• Experience with data governance concepts — lineage, cataloging, access control, quality frameworks

Nice to Have

• Experience with dbt or similar transformation/modeling frameworks
• Exposure to agentic or AI-assisted data infrastructure
• Experience in a fast-moving startup or aerospace/manufacturing environment

How You Work

• You take ownership — if something is broken or unclear, you fix or clarify it
• You think in systems: you model data to be reusable, not just functional
• You communicate well with non-technical partners and translate ambiguity into concrete data designs
• You're comfortable operating on a small, high-trust team without a lot of process overhead

At Archer we aim to attract, retain, and motivate talent that possess the skills and leadership necessary to grow our business. We drive a pay-for-performance culture and reward performance that supports the Company’s business strategy. For this position we are targeting a base pay between $207,400 - $259,200. Actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Archer is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to job applicants with physical or mental disabilities, and those with sincerely held religious beliefs. Applicants who may require reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should provide their name and contact information to Archer’s People Team at [e-mail]. Reasonable accommodations will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Information collected and processed as part of any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Archer's Candidate Privacy Policy.

Archer is unable to provide work visa sponsorship for this position at the present time.

Archer is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. All aspects of employment are decided on the basis of merit, qualifications, and business needs. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.