Sr Staff Software Engineer- Data Platform

WEX Inc.; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 220,000 - 255,800; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Health savings account

Flexible spending accounts

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Tuition reimbursement

Wellness resources

Job summary

WEX Inc. is seeking a Backend/Software Engineer to lead data‑lakehouse initiatives, building data‑discovery APIs and optimizing distributed systems. Candidates should have deep Java and Python expertise and a track record delivering scalable software at enterprise scale.

You will guide long‑term roadmaps, create SDKs and tooling, and mentor engineers while aligning governance, security, and cost efficiency with business goals.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in software engineering with at least 4 years in a principal or staff‑level capacity leading platform‑scale initiatives.
• Strong software foundations in algorithms, data structures, and system design.
• Experience with Java/J2EE ecosystem (Spring Boot, Microservices) and Python, building platforms and APIs that power data movement.

Responsibilities

• Architectural Sovereignty: Define the 3‑5 year technical roadmap for the Data Lakehouse, determining how storage, compute, and metadata layers interact.
• Platform‑as‑a‑Product: Build internal SDKs, CLI tools, and automated orchestration frameworks to abstract cloud complexity.
• Internal R&D: Prototype and benchmark emerging technologies (e.g., Spark extensions) to maintain performance and cost efficiency.
• Global Governance & Security: Design compliance‑by‑design systems, automate data lineage, PII masking, and fine‑grained access control at petabyte scale.
• AI Governance Lake: Implement streaming support for Open Telemetry data from AI agents and develop advanced AI evaluation metrics.
• Engineering Excellence & Influence: Set standards for code quality and system design, lead architecture reviews, and escalate complex outages.
• Organizational Mentorship: Foster an engineering community, influence hiring standards, and shape professional development paths.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

Microservices

Python

Algorithms

Data structures

System design

Open-source contributions

Spark

dbt

Iceberg

Hudi

Delta Lake

AWS

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Terraform

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science (Distributed Systems focus)

Tools

Terraform

CI/CD

AWS

Kubernetes

Spark

dbt

Iceberg

Hudi

Delta Lake

Job description

About Us

WEX is a global commerce platform that helps businesses solve operational complexities such as employee benefits, fleet management, and payment processing. With over 6,500 employees worldwide and partners in more than 200 countries, we foster continuous innovation and deliver unparalleled client service.

Is This Role For You?

YES, if you are a Backend/Software Engineer who enjoys solving “Big Data” problems, building data‑discovery APIs, and optimizing distributed systems.

NO, if your primary work focuses on writing SQL, building Tableau dashboards, or managing ETL workflows without deep experience in Java or Python system architecture.

Responsibilities

• Architectural Sovereignty: Define the 3‑5 year technical roadmap for the Data Lakehouse, determining how storage, compute, and metadata layers interact.
• Platform‑as‑a‑Product: Build internal SDKs, CLI tools, and automated orchestration frameworks to abstract cloud complexity.
• Internal R&D: Prototype and benchmark emerging technologies (e.g., specialized Spark extensions) to maintain performance and cost efficiency.
• Global Governance & Security: Design compliance‑by‑design systems, automate data lineage, PII masking, and fine‑grained access control at petabyte scale.
• AI Governance Lake: Implement streaming support for Open Telemetry data from AI agents and develop advanced AI evaluation metrics.
• Engineering Excellence & Influence: Set standards for code quality and system design, lead cross‑functional architecture reviews, and serve as the final escalation point for complex outages.
• Organizational Mentorship: Foster an engineering community, influence hiring standards, and shape professional development paths.

Qualifications & Experience

• Experience: 15+ years in software engineering, with at least 4 years in a principal or staff‑level capacity leading platform‑scale initiatives.
• Core Technical Competencies (Software Engineering Focus):
  • Strong software foundations, including algorithms, data structures, and system design.
  • Experience in the Java/J2EE ecosystem (Spring Boot, Microservices) and Python.
  • Building platforms, framework engines, and APIs that power data movement, not just ETL pipelines.
  • Data Lakehouse mastery: deep knowledge of Apache Iceberg, Hudi, or Delta Lake.
  • Contributing to or customizing open‑source data projects such as Spark and dbt.
  • Designing high‑throughput, fault‑tolerant pipelines and orchestration frameworks to ensure robust data transformations and quality.
  • Cloud and infrastructure: extensive experience with AWS (S3, EMR, Kubernetes, Lambda) and Azure, plus CI/CD automation, Terraform, and modern development tools.
  • AI‑Driven Development & Productivity: leveraging AI code generation platforms, LLM‑Ops for vector database integration, and automated unit test generation.
  • Leadership & Vision: influencing technology adoption across autonomous teams and communicating architectural trade‑offs to executives and engineers alike.
• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science (Distributed Systems focus) preferred, or equivalent industry experience.

Compensation & Benefits

Pay Range: $220,000.00 – $255,800.00. Base pay is one component of WEX’s total compensation package and may include a quarterly or annual bonus. Benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance, retirement savings plan, paid time off, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, life and disability insurance, tuition reimbursement, and additional wellness resources.

EEO Statement

WEX is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, disability, or other protected status. WEX promotes a drug‑free workplace. Qualified individuals with a disability have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please submit your request through the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form.