Senior Data Engineer
Handshake
Everyone is welcome at Handshake. We know diverse teams build better products and we are committed to creating an inclusive culture built on a foundation of respect for all individuals. We strongly encourage candidates from non-traditional backgrounds, historically marginalized or underrepresented groups to apply.
Want to learn more about what it's like to work at Handshake? Check out these interviews from our team members!
Your impact
At Handshake, we are assembling a team of dynamic engineers who are passionate about creating high-quality, impactful products. As a Senior Data Engineer, you will play a key role in driving the architecture, implementation, and evolution of our cutting-edge data platform. Your technical expertise will be instrumental in helping millions of students discover meaningful careers, irrespective of their educational background, network, or financial resources.
Our primary focus is on building a robust data platform that empowers all teams to develop data-driven features while ensuring that every facet of the business has access to the right data for making informed conclusions. While this individual will work closely in collaboration with our ML teams, they will also be supporting our businesses data needs as a whole.
Your role
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Technical leadership: Taking ownership of the data engineering function and providing technical guidance to the data engineering team. Mentoring junior data engineers, fostering a culture of learning, and promoting best practices in data engineering.
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Collaborating with cross-functional teams: Working closely with product managers, product engineers, and other stakeholders to define data requirements, design data solutions, and deliver high-quality, data-driven features.
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Data architecture and design: Designing and implementing scalable and robust data products that enable self-serve analytics for internal and external use. Staying abreast of emerging technologies and tools in the data engineering space, evaluating their potential impact on the data platform, and making strategic recommendations.
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Performance optimization: Identifying performance bottlenecks in data processes and implementing solutions to enhance data processing efficiency.
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Data quality and governance: Ensuring data integrity, reliability, and security through the implementation of data governance policies and data quality monitoring.
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Advancing our Generative AI strategy: Leveraging your Data Engineering knowledge to design and implement data pipelines that support our AI Initiatives for both internal development and product features, advising and working in collaboration with our ML teams.
Your experience
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Extensive data engineering experience: A proven track record in designing and implementing large-scale, complex data pipelines, data warehousing solutions, and data products. Deep knowledge of data engineering technologies, tools, and frameworks.
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Software engineering excellence: Experience implementing software engineering best practices in build services for data consumption, ensuring reliability, maintainability, and scalability of data delivery systems.
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Cloud platform proficiency: Hands-on experience with cloud-based data technologies, preferably Google Cloud Platform (GCP), including BigQuery, DataFlow, BigTable, and more
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Problem-solving abilities: Exceptional problem-solving skills, with the ability to tackle complex data engineering challenges and propose innovative solutions.
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Collaborative mindset: A collaborative and team-oriented approach to work, with the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Bonus areas of expertise
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Machine learning for data enrichment: Experience in applying machine learning techniques to data engineering tasks for data enrichment and augmentation.
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End to end data service deployment, comfortable with product alignment of data-driven initiatives
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Containerization and orchestration: Familiarity with containerization technologies like Docker and container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes.
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dbt: Experience with dbt as a data transformation tool for orchestrating and organizing data pipelines.
Compensation range
$184,000 -$230,000
For cash compensation, we set standard ranges for all U.S.-based roles based on function, level, and geographic location, benchmarked against similar stage growth companies. In order to be compliant with local legislation, as well as to provide greater transparency to candidates, we share salary ranges on all job postings regardless of desired hiring location. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors, including geographic location as well as candidate experience and expertise, and may vary from the amounts listed above.
About us
Handshake is the career platform for Gen Z. With a community of over 17 million students, alumni, employers, and career educators, Handshake’s network is where career advice and discovery turn into first, second, and third jobs. Nearly 1 million companies use Handshake to build their future workforce—from Fortune 500 to federal agencies, school districts to startups, healthcare systems to small businesses. Handshake is built for where you’re going, not where you’ve been.
When it comes to our workforce strategy, we’ve thought deeply about how work-life should look at Handshake. With our hybrid-work model, employees benefit from collaboration and shared team experiences three days per week in our vibrant offices, and enjoy the flexibility of remote work two days per week (unless noted in the specific job posting). Handshake is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, London, and Berlin.
What we offer
At Handshake, we'll give you the tools to feel healthy, happy and secure.
Benefits below apply to employees in full-time (not Contract) positions.
- 💰 Equity and ownership in a fast-growing company.
- 🍼 16 Weeks of paid parental leave for birth giving parents & 10 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birth giving parents.
- 💝 Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision policies including LGTBQ+ Coverage. We also provide resources for Mental Health Assistance, Employee Assistance Programs and counseling support.
- 📚 Generous learning & development opportunities and an annual $2,000/£1,500/€1,850 stipend for you to grow your skills and career.
- 💰 Financial coaching through Origin to help you through your financial journey.
- 🛜 Monthly internet stipend and a brand new MacBook to allow you to do your best work.
- 🚃 Monthly commuter stipend for you to expense your travel to the office (for office-based employees).
- 🥗 Free lunch provided 3x a week across all offices.
- 🤝 Referral bonus to reward you when you bring great talent to Handshake.
(US-specific benefits, in addition to the first section)
- 🏦 401k Match: Handshake offers a dollar-for-dollar match on 1% of deferred salary, up to a maximum of $1,200 per year.
- 🏝 All full-time US-based Handshakers are eligible for our flexible time off policy to get out and see the world. In addition, we offer 13 standardized holidays, and 2 additional days of flexible holiday time off. Lastly, we have a Winter #ShakeBreak, a one-week period of Collective Time Off.
- 💻 Handshake offers $500 home office stipend for you to spend during your first 3 months to create a productive and comfortable workspace at home.
- 🍼 Family support: Parental leave coaching and support provided by Parentaly. We partner with Maven Clinic to provide a lifetime coverage up to $15K for expenses related to fertility and family forming!
- 💰 Lifestyle Savings Account: We offer you an annual stipend of $500 to use for purchases such as fitness classes, gym memberships, work-from-home setup, and more.
(UK-specific benefits, in addition to the first section)
- 🏦 Pension Scheme: Handshake will provide you with a workplace pension, where you will make contributions based on 5% of your salary. Handshake will pay the equivalent of 3% towards your pension plan, subject to qualifying earnings limits.
- 🏝 Up to 25 days of vacation to encourage people to reset, recharge, and refresh, in addition to 8 bank holidays throughout the year.
- 🤝 Regular offsites each year to bring the team together + opportunity to travel to our HQ in San Francisco.
- 🛍️ Discounts across various high street retailers, cinemas and other social activities exclusively for Handshake UK employees.
(Germany-specific benefits, in addition to the first section)
- 🏝 25 days of annual leave + 5 days of a winter #ShakeBreak, a one-week period of Collective Time Off across the company.
- 🤝 Regular offsites each year to bring the team together + opportunity to travel to our HQ in San Francisco once a year.
- 🧘 Urban sports club membership offering access to a diverse network of fitness and wellness facilities.
- 🛍️ Discounts across various high street retailers, cinemas and other social activities exclusively for Handshake Germany employees.
Looking for more? Explore our mission, values and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.
Handshake is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or reasonable accommodation, please let your recruiter know during initial communications.