- Company Name
- Dataworks
- Job Title
- Head of Data Engineering (hands-on)
- Job Description
-
**Job Title**
Head of Data Engineering (Hands‑On)
**Role Summary**
Lead and operate the end‑to‑end data and analytics function in a fast‑growing fintech. Drive the evolution of a mature AWS/Snowflake/dbt stack, ensure data quality and governance, and deliver high‑impact use‑cases while maintaining a hands‑on technical presence and a close partnership with product and business teams.
**Expectations**
- Executive ownership of all data and analytics activities.
- Build and mentor a small technical team to achieve autonomy and high performance.
- Scale and maintain a robust, governed, and high‑quality data platform.
- Translate business needs into prioritized, valuable data initiatives.
- Keep directly involved in core data engineering work (SQL, dbt, modeling, architecture) while guiding strategic decisions.
**Key Responsibilities**
1. Manage a two‑person data team (DBA + Data Engineer); set objectives, conduct performance reviews, and enable career growth.
2. Own the health, performance, and scalability of the existing stack: AWS, Snowflake, dbt, CI/CD, automated testing.
3. Implement and enforce data quality, governance, and lineage practices across multi‑source, high‑volume datasets.
4. Collaborate with product, marketing, finance, and other business units to capture requirements and propose actionable data solutions.
5. Prioritize use cases with the greatest business value; drive delivery of segmentation, personalization, and simple machine‑learning models.
6. Conduct code reviews, architectural reviews, and design discussions; ensure consistency with best practices.
7. Establish and maintain a centralized data knowledge base and documentation hub for cross‑functional teams.
8. Champion continuous improvement in data processes, tooling, and talent capabilities.
**Required Skills**
- 8–10 years of experience in data engineering, analytics engineering, BI, or platform data roles.
- Deep expertise in data modeling, SQL, Python, Snowflake, AWS data services, and dbt.
- Proven leadership in technical teams (tech lead, head, or manager of day‑to‑day operations).
- Strong understanding of data quality, performance tuning, governance, and lineage.
- Excellent communication: able to explain complex data concepts to technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
- Pragmatic, collaborative, and comfortable with rapid transformation environments.
- Passion for building long‑term data capabilities rather than quick fixes.
**Required Education & Certifications**
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field.
- Preferred certifications: AWS Certified Data Analytics, Snowflake SnowPro, dbt Certified, or equivalent.
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