[Hiring] Staff Data Engineer @Code for America

Role Description

Code for America is looking for a talented Staff Data Engineer who will lead the technical execution of our data infrastructure behind high-impact government services. In this role you will make data reliable and usable at scale — improving how our teams collect, move, model, and analyze the data that tells us whether the services we build actually work for the people who need them most.

The pace of change in the policy and government landscape is accelerating at the same time that technology possibilities are shifting rapidly. Together, these shifts create new windows of opportunity to develop technical solutions that make critical public services more effective for the people who need them. Staff data engineers keep delivery moving through those moments, supporting staff and holding high delivery standards so that data are trustworthy, and reachable by the people who need it.

About the role:

• Build and operate the infrastructure that moves data through the products we ship, between our systems and our partners’ systems, and into the analysis that drives meaningful improvements in outcomes across the tax, criminal justice, and safety net delivery areas.
• Lead the technical execution of data infrastructure projects and solutions while guiding their teams’ technical direction, setting a high standard for technical judgment, and enabling other data scientists and engineers through collaboration and mentorship.
• This role will report to a Data Science Manager and is expected to travel no more than 10% of the time.
• This is a remote position.

In this position you will:

• Lead cross-functional technical planning with Data Scientists, Software Engineers, and Product Managers to translate data architecture requirements into scalable technical solutions for your team's projects.
• Create new data pipelines, data transfers, and compliance-oriented infrastructure to facilitate seamless data utilization within cloud environments.
• Contribute to best practices for dataset management and optimization, ensuring data consistency and performance.
• Implement data transformation, integration, and validation processes to support analytics and reporting needs.
• Partner with our DevOps team to apply deployment standards, monitoring frameworks, and operational best practices for data infrastructure.
• Lead technical investigations into data issues within the systems you own, resolving them with thorough communication and recommending process changes where necessary.
• Optimize and fine-tune data pipelines for improved speed, reliability, and efficiency.
• Lead generation and optimization of data architecture recommendations and demonstrate the ability to implement them.
• Champion privacy, security, and data governance practices throughout the entire data lifecycle.
• Support Engineering's culture of writing by producing quality documentation and learning materials.

Technical Leadership & Enablement:

• Contribute to the development of data engineering best practices and standards, and reinforce them across the team.
• Collaborate with Product Managers and other cross-functional peers; adapt your approach as priorities, technology, and team needs shift; and actively help others do the same when facing major changes in direction or tooling.
• Mentor engineers and data scientists on data engineering best practices, pipeline design, and sound architectural thinking, and create conditions for them to grow into unfamiliar problem spaces through pairing, documentation, or direct coaching.
• Engage in ad hoc projects and initiatives as required by the organization's evolving needs.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in data engineering or related technical fields.
• Expert-level SQL and experience with Python, R.
• Experience with Postgres and cloud-based data warehousing (e.g. BigQuery, Snowflake).
• Expert at data orchestration tools (e.g. Dagster) for building and managing data pipelines.
• Expert at using dbt for data transformation and modeling within data warehouses.
• Demonstrated experience with Metabase or similar business intelligence tools (e.g. Tableau, PowerBI, Looker).
• Experience in ensuring that data pipelines are accessible to Data Scientists through notebook tools (e.g. Hex).
• Experience with cloud infrastructure and infrastructure as code.
• Excellent collaboration skills, with a demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional relationships, respond to stakeholder needs, and facilitate effective decision-making conversations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Demonstrated ability to use AI coding tools judiciously, validating and refining generated code for quality, and modeling that discipline for teammates.
• A deep commitment to Code for America's mission of making government services work well for the people who need them most.

Requirements

• It’s a bonus if you have experience with making government services better for people who need them most.
• Personal or professional experience with the social safety net or other mission-relevant government services.
• Experience building and integrating AI-powered features in production systems, with evaluation and monitoring.

Benefits

• Salary: Code for America’s salary bands are transparent. The offer targets for this role range from $128,945 to $157,850, annually.
• Comprehensive benefits package including:
• Leadership and teammates who share a strong work ethic and values, and who respect and care for one another.
• A collaborative, cross-functional, hardworking, and joyful environment.
• Laptop provided.
• A one-time $700 payment for remote environment setup; $200 stipend (in first paycheck) and up to $500 reimbursement, in accordance with our equipment policy.
• Cell phone and/or internet reimbursement of $50 per month.
• $500 annual stipend towards professional development; prorated at time of hire.
• Training/guidance for staff required to utilize AI as part of their role.
• Employees receive a 100% employer match on the first 3% of contributions to retirement plans.
• At least one no-cost health insurance option for full-time employees for employee-only coverage.
• Open personal time off (subject to manager approval), a minimum of 14 paid holidays, and an org-wide closure from Christmas Day through New Year's Day.
• Paid sick time; up to 96 hours annually.
• 17 weeks of paid parental and family leave.
• 3 weeks of paid sabbatical after 5 years of service.