Staff Data Platform Engineer

Harnham; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

A fast-scaling advanced technology company based in California is seeking a Staff Software Engineer, Data Platform. In this senior leadership role, you will define and shape the data platform's architecture, drive key architectural decisions, and mentor engineers. The ideal candidate has over 7 years of experience in data or backend engineering, strong skills in Python, and proven expertise in scalable data architectures within cloud environments. This position offers the opportunity to make a significant impact in a growing tech firm.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in data engineering, backend engineering, or platform engineering.
• Comfort leading ambiguous, high-impact initiatives.
• Strong expertise in Python or similar programming languages.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the roadmap for the data platform architecture.
• Drive architectural decisions that balance performance, scalability, and maintainability.
• Mentor engineers and raise the technical bar across the team.

Skills

Python

Spark

SQL

dbt

Systems thinking

Communication skills

Job description

We’re partnering with a fast‑scaling, mission‑driven advanced technology company building complex software and hardware systems deployed in real‑world environments. Their platform processes and operationalizes high-volume data to power critical decision‑making across the organization.

They are hiring a Staff Software Engineer, Data Platform to shape the long‑term architecture and direction of the company’s data ecosystem.

The Role

At the Staff level, you will operate as a technical leader across the data platform, responsible for both delivery and direction. You will:

• Define and lead the roadmap for the data platform architecture
• Design scalable ingestion, transformation, and data service frameworks
• Establish engineering standards across data modeling, testing, CI/CD, and security
• Partner with senior stakeholders across operations, product, and engineering to align platform capabilities with business needs
• Drive architectural decisions that balance performance, scalability, and maintainability
• Mentor engineers and raise the technical bar across the team
• Take ownership of debugging and resolving complex system‑level data issues

What They’re Looking For

• 7+ years of experience in data engineering, backend engineering, or platform engineering
• Strong expertise in Python or similar programming languages
• Deep experience with Spark, PySpark, SQL, and dbt
• Proven experience shaping scalable data architectures in cloud environments
• Strong systems thinking and ability to influence technical direction
• Comfort leading ambiguous, high‑impact initiatives
• Clear communication skills and ability to partner with technical and non‑technical leaders
• Must be a U.S. Person due to export‑controlled information requirements

This is a senior technical leadership opportunity to define and scale the data backbone of a high‑growth, technically ambitious organization.