Principal Data Engineer and Architect

Description
Our client is looking for a hands-on Principal Data Engineer & Architect to lead the design, evolution, and execution of their core data engineering ecosystem. This role is built specifically for an elite technical leader who loves mapping out highly reliable distributed architectures but is driven by a strong desire to stay close to the metal—allocating approximately 70% of their time to writing mission-critical production code, core data libraries, and internal frameworks, and 30% to high-level architectural design, data infrastructure governance, and technical mentorship.

About Our Client
Our client is a venture-backed, AI-powered platform built specifically for consumer brands. It connects seamlessly to fragmented external sources like banks, POS systems, and advertising platforms to deliver daily profit & loss snapshots, cash flow plans, and peer benchmarking—all in real time. With integrations stretching across finance, e-commerce, and marketing tools, the platform provides the clarity and automation brands need to grow confidently.

What You’ll Do
Architect Data Infrastructure (70% Focus): Maintain a heavy, hands-on presence in the codebase. Author core data processing libraries, distributed computing frameworks, and high-scale data platforms in JavaScript (Node.js/NestJS) and Python to establish gold standards for the engineering team.
Design Data Systems (30% Focus): Design and evolve a robust, multi-tenant data architecture capable of handling massive datasets and high-throughput processing across hundreds of distinct data domains concurrently.
Data Quality & Governance: Establish bulletproof data integrity and observability patterns. Focus on robust processing workflows, comprehensive data validation, automated quality checks, and end-to-end distributed tracing across the data lifecycle.
Scale Data Pipelines: Define and enforce efficient data architectures, high-throughput streaming patterns, and transaction boundaries to guarantee accurate real-time financial reporting at scale.
Technical Leadership & Mentorship: Act as an elite technical sounding board for the engineering organization. Conduct comprehensive architecture reviews, upskill senior engineers, and champion modern DevOps, testing, and deployment workflows.

What We’re Looking For
Deep Industry Experience: 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a proven history of designing, deploying, and maintaining large-scale data processing and distributed data infrastructure solutions.
Polyglot Mastery in Data Engineering: Highly proficient in both JavaScript/TypeScript (Node.js, NestJS) and Python, with the ability to build sophisticated data pipelines and distributed systems using each language’s native strengths.
Advanced Data Engineering & Architecture Expertise: Extensively experienced with distributed systems, high-scale storage solutions, query optimization, and complex data architecture patterns for massive, high-velocity datasets.
Data Modeling & Schema Excellence: Expert-level understanding of relational (SQL) and non-relational (NoSQL) databases, schema design, complex data validation, mapping workflows, and ETL pipeline design.
True Builder Mentality: A strong architectural thinker who actively rejects the “ivory-tower” approach and remains deeply passionate about shipping high-quality production code every single week.

Would Be a Plus
Direct technical experience within FinTech, e-commerce SaaS platforms, or real-time data streaming architectures (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ).
Familiarity with financial data aggregates or banking networks (e.g., Plaid, Yodlee, Stripe).
Experience setting up data ingestion pipelines optimized for downstream AI/LLM analysis models.

What We Offer
Highly competitive principal-level base salary + substantial early-stage equity package.
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage.
Flexible, remote-first working culture with an elite engineering group.
Direct technical influence over the foundational platform architecture of a fast-growing, venture-backed startup.