Big Data Team Lead

Summary

Join Placer.ai, a rapidly growing tech company, as a Big Data Team Lead. Lead a team focused on ingesting big data and developing core algorithms, building scalable and robust solutions for processing massive geospatial datasets. Collaborate with product managers, R&D stakeholders, and data scientists. Prioritize and scope feature requests and technical improvements. Maintain and evolve the team’s Apache Spark-based data pipelines. Lead technical planning sessions and drive project-level KPIs. Manage 3–6 direct reports. This position requires a passionate leader with a strong background in big data technologies and a drive to innovate. Placer.ai offers competitive salaries and excellent benefits.

Requirements

• 2 years of experience in leading a data engineering team
• Strong expertise in Apache Spark, and big data pipeline design
• Deep understanding of big data architecture in cloud environments, ideally GCP (e.g., Dataproc, BigQuery, GCS, Composer)
• Problem-solving mindset with the ability to diagnose complex system behavior and debug issues across layers of the stack
• Effective communicator with adaptability and prioritization skills to align cross-functional teams and balance short- and long-term goals
• BSc in Computer Science, Engineering or a related technical field (or equivalent experience in the industry)

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a big data engineering team, focused on processing high-volume spatial-temporal data, while also engaging in hands-on technical tasks
• Collaborate daily with product managers, R&D stakeholders, and data scientists to translate requirements into robust data systems
• Prioritize and scope incoming feature requests and technical improvements to balance innovation with stability
• Maintain and evolve the team’s Apache Spark-based data pipelines, including optimization and scaling
• Lead technical planning sessions, foster ownership and accountability within the team
• Drive project-level KPIs and data quality KPIs such as pipeline completion time, job reliability, data freshness metrics and data accuracy
• Manage 3–6 direct reports

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with geospatial data or spatial analytics
• Familiarity with Airflow
• Proficiency in Scala

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Excellent benefits