Staff Data Engineer

Socket.dev; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 190,000 - 223,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Fertility/adoption reimbursement

Flexible PTO

Wellness stipend

Learning & development allowance

Relocation stipend

Job summary

Checkr is seeking a Staff Data Engineer on the People Data team to build and evolve a centralized platform powering Checkr’s AI verification across Workforce, Mortgage, Tenant, Trust and Personal products.

You will own core services, data pipelines, and architecture, solving distributed systems challenges while guiding the technical direction of a critical platform.

Qualifications

• 10+ years designing, implementing, and delivering highly scalable data platforms.
• Experience building large-scale data processing pipelines (ETL/ELT, batch, streaming).
• Proficiency in PySpark, Python, and SQL at expert level.
• Expertise in data modeling, relational DBs, and NoSQL stores.
• Experience with Kafka, Spark, Iceberg, data lakes, and AWS stack (EKS, EMR, Glue, Athena, S3).
• Knowledge of security best practices and data privacy.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, lead, and build an end-to-end data platform.
• Work as an independent contributor with ownership and high-quality output.
• Mentor junior engineers to deliver complex features.
• Collaborate with customers and internal stakeholders to ship features solving real problems.
• Partner with engineering, product, design, and other teams to architect new features.
• Experiment with customer needs and ship rapid MVPs.
• Maintain quality and instrument product experiments with data-driven insights.
• Monitor and resolve production issues for the team’s services.
• Create data pipelines and foundational datasets to support product needs.

Skills

Data platform design

ETL/ELT pipelines

PySpark

Python

SQL

Data modeling

NoSQL databases

Kafka

Spark

Iceberg

AWS stack

Security & privacy

Tools

MongoDB

Airflow

Databricks

Snowflake

Job description

About Checkr: Checkr is building the data platform to power safe and fair decisions. Over 140,000 companies and millions of people rely on Checkr for AI verification in the moments that matter most: getting a new job, a new place to live, a car ride, childcare, even a date. Customers include Uber, Pennymac, Airbnb, Doordash, Amazon, and Anthropic. We’re a team that thrives on solving complex problems with innovative solutions that advance our mission. Checkr is recognized on Forbes Cloud 100 2025 List and is a Y Combinator 2024 Breakthrough Company.

As a Staff Data Engineer on the People Data team, you’ll help build and evolve the centralized platform that powers every Checkr product. This platform stores and serves the identity and people records that underpin Checkr’s Workforce, Mortgage, Tenant, Trust, and Personal products, making it foundational to the company’s AI‑powered verification platform and every high‑stakes decision our customers make.

In this role, you’ll own the core services, data pipelines, and architecture that keep this platform scalable, reliable, and ready for the next generation of Checkr products. You’ll solve complex distributed systems and data engineering challenges while influencing the technical direction of one of the company’s most critical platforms.

What you’ll do

• Architect, design, lead, and build an end‑to‑end, performant, reliable, scalable data platform.
• Work as an independent contributor: solve problems and deliver high‑quality solutions with minimal oversight and strong ownership.
• Mentor and guide junior engineers to deliver complex, next‑generation features.
• Bring a customer‑centric, product‑oriented mindset. Collaborate with customers and internal stakeholders to resolve product ambiguities and ship features that solve real customer problems.
• Partner with engineering, product, design, and other stakeholders to design and architect new features.
• Experimentation mindset: autonomy and empowerment to validate a customer need, get team buy‑in, and ship a rapid MVP.
• Quality mindset: you treat quality as a non‑negotiable part of your software deliverables.
• Analytical mindset: instrument and deploy new product experiments with a data‑driven approach.
• Monitor, triage, and resolve production issues for the team’s services.
• Create and maintain data pipelines and foundational datasets to support product and business needs.

What you bring

• 10+ years designing, implementing, and delivering highly scalable, performant data platforms.
• Experience building large‑scale data processing pipelines using ETL/ELT, batch, and stream processing.
• Expert‑level proficiency in PySpark, Python, and SQL.
• Expertise in data modeling, relational databases, and NoSQL data stores (e.g., MongoDB).
• Experience with big data technologies such as Kafka, Spark, Iceberg, data lakes, and the AWS stack (EKS, EMR, Serverless, Glue, Athena, S3, etc.).
• Knowledge of security best practices and data privacy concerns.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and attention to detail.
• Nice to have: Experience or knowledge of data processing platforms such as Databricks or Snowflake.

Pay Transparency Disclosure

We use geographic cost of labor as an input to develop ranges for our roles and as such, each location where we hire may have a different range. If this role is remote, we have listed the top to the bottom of the possible range, but we will specify the target range for an exact location when you are selected for a recruiting discussion. For more information on our compensation philosophy, see our website.

On‑target Earnings OR Base Salary range (San Francisco, CA): $224,000 – $264,000 USD.

On‑target Earnings OR Base Salary range (Denver, CO): $190,000 – $223,000 USD.

What We Offer

• A fast‑paced and collaborative environment
• Learning and development allowance
• Competitive cash and equity compensation, and opportunity for advancement
• 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Up to $25K reimbursement for fertility, adoption, and parental planning services
• Flexible PTO policy
• Monthly wellness stipend

At Checkr, we believe an in‑office work environment strengthens collaboration, drives innovation, and encourages connection. Our hub locations are Denver, CO; San Francisco, CA; Nashville, TN; and Santiago, Chile. Individuals are expected to work from the office 3+ days a week. In‑office perks are provided, such as lunch five times a week, a commuter stipend, and an abundance of snacks and beverages. A relocation stipend may be available for those willing to relocate to a Checkr hub location.

Equal Employment Opportunities at Checkr

Checkr is committed to building the best product and company, which requires hiring talented and qualified individuals with a diverse set of perspectives and lived experiences. Checkr believes in hiring people of all backgrounds, including those whose histories are impacted by the justice system in accordance with local, state, and/or federal laws, including the San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance.

Applicant Privacy Policy

If you are a California resident or are located in Alberta or British Columbia, our Applicant Privacy Policy applies to our collection and processing of your personal information when you apply for a role with us or otherwise participate in our recruitment process.

*Legitimate Checkr emails will always include our official domain name after the @ symbol (e.g., [e-mail] or [e-mail]).