Staff Data Engineer ($400k - 500k salary)

Unchain Data; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Baton Corporation is seeking a Data Engineer to design and scale real-time data infrastructure for a high-throughput crypto social network. You will build streaming pipelines, analytics databases, and storage solutions, collaborating with a world-class engineering team.

You will own data features from concept to production, using SQL, Python, and modern tools to ensure quality, observability, and performance in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Experience building and scaling data platforms.
• Fluent in SQL and Python with hands-on experience in modern data tools.
• Designed and operated reliable batch and real-time data pipelines focused on quality, observability, and performance.
• Engineer-first mindset; build robust, maintainable systems; avoid data movement as end in itself.
• Experience modeling complex datasets to enable analytics, ML, or product teams with well-designed platforms.
• Experience making architectural decisions balancing short-term delivery with long-term scalability and technical excellence.
• Able to solve ambiguous problems and drive large technical initiatives from design to production.
• Mentor engineers through code reviews and raising engineering standards.
• Clear communication across engineering, product, and infrastructure teams.
• Motivated by ownership and fast-moving environments; influence product and engineering direction.

Responsibilities

• Architect, build, and ship high-performance data solutions at speed to support growth of the platform.
• Work across the data stack: streaming pipelines, data modelling, analytics databases, and real-time processing systems.
• Rapidly prototype and iterate on new data features with a balance of speed and quality.
• Solve data consistency, performance, and scale challenges in a fast-moving crypto data space.
• Collaborate with engineers and product leaders to push boundaries and achieve results.
• Take ownership from concept to production deployment and maintenance.

Skills

Data engineering

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

SQL

Python

Spark

Kafka

Airflow

dbt

ClickHouse

BigQuery

Snowflake

Tools

Dagster

DBT

Job description

Who Are We

Baton Corporation is the development company that builds and operates the entire technology stack behind pump.fun, the largest memecoin launchpad in production today. The systems are low latency, high throughput, live under constant load, and break if you get them wrong.

What You'll Do

As a Data Engineer, you will play a critical role in building and scaling our real-time data infrastructure at the forefront of crypto and social finance. You'll work on high-throughput data pipelines, analytics systems, and storage solutions in an environment where speed, ownership, and innovation are paramount.

• Architect, build, and ship high-performance data solutions at speed, contributing directly to the growth of the world's largest crypto social network

• Work across the data stack, from streaming pipelines, data modelling, analytics databases, and real-time processing systems

• Rapidly prototype and iterate on new data features, balancing speed with quality in a fast-moving environment

• Solve complex technical challenges around data consistency, performance, and scale in a space where innovation and efficiency are the upmost priority

• Collaborate closely with a world-class team of engineers and product leaders to push boundaries and redefine what's possible

• Take full ownership of your work, from initial concept to production deployment and maintenance

Who You Are

• You’re experienced building and scaling data platforms, with deep expertise in data engineering, distributed systems, and modern cloud infrastructure.

• You're fluent in SQL and Python, and have hands-on experience with technologies such as Spark, Kafka, Airflow, dbt, ClickHouse, BigQuery, Snowflake, or similar large-scale data ecosystems.

• You have designed and operated reliable batch and real-time data pipelines that process high volumes of data with a strong focus on quality, observability, and performance.

• You think like an engineer first—you care about building robust, maintainable systems rather than simply moving data from A to B.

• You have experience modeling complex datasets and enabling analytics, machine learning, or product teams through well-designed data platforms.

• You're comfortable making architectural decisions, balancing short-term delivery with long-term scalability and technical excellence.

• You enjoy solving ambiguous, open-ended problems and can independently drive large technical initiatives from design through implementation.

• You naturally mentor other engineers through technical leadership, thoughtful code reviews, and raising engineering standards across the team.

• You communicate complex technical concepts clearly and collaborate effectively across engineering, product, and infrastructure teams.

• You're motivated by ownership, enjoy working in fast-moving environments, and thrive where you can have a direct impact on both product and engineering direction.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with cryptocurrency and blockchain data

• Strong data visualisation skills (esp. Omni/Looker)

• Experience working with event tracking data

• Advanced knowledge of statistical methods and causal inference

• Experience building and maintaining data pipelines (esp. Dagster, DBT)

• Familiarity with Machine Learning methods and applications

• Experience in consumer tech products or fintech

What it's like to work here

• We work in person

• Hours can be long and unconventional

• The pace is intense

• Expectations are high, and impact is immediate

• Working at Baton is not for everyone

Why Join Us?

• Unmatched ownership and autonomy

• Exposure to systems operating at the edge of crypto scale

• The ability to ship fast and see real-world impact immediately

If you’re motivated by responsibility, speed, and building products used by massive audiences, you’ll feel at home here.