Data Systems Engineer

Summary

Join the Working Families Party as their Data Systems Engineer and lead the architecture, implementation, and maintenance of complex data systems. You will be responsible for the full data stack, from ingestion to serving, collaborating with organizers and the Engineering Director. This senior-level position requires a systems thinker with strong independent engineering judgment and the ability to own projects end-to-end. You will build robust, scalable, and secure systems supporting campaigns and organizing work nationwide. The role involves workflow automation, application development, cloud infrastructure, and ensuring data system reliability. This is a full-time, remote position offering a competitive salary and benefits package.

Requirements

• At least 6 years of work experience in engineering or software
• Expertise in Python and SQL for data engineering and systems development
• Expertise in web application backends (Python/Flask/Django or Node.js )
• Experience with columnar database systems like BigQuery, Redshift, DuckDB, etc
• Comfortable working in a git-based team environment with collaborative development practices
• Debugging skills across multiple layers of a system (source data, transformation layers, pipelines, infrastructure)
• Exceptional independent judgment and project ownership

Responsibilities

• Architect, implement, and manage data projects from start to finish, including ingestion (APIs / BigQuery mirrors), transformation (dbt / Python), orchestration (Prefect), and serving (Flask-based UIs)
• Collaborate with Working Families organizers and the Engineering Director to proactively identify, build, and maintain pipeline, automation, and application needs across our ecosystem of tools to facilitate better organizing (such as syncing texting voter contact data to Airtable, or building a web form for staff to self-serve configureable list pulls)
• Build web-based tools and internal-facing applications (Flask, Node, React) that automate staff workflows and surface actionable insights for campaigns and organizing
• Collaborate with organizers and analysts to understand operational needs and build tools that surface data or automate workflows in actionable, user-friendly ways
• Ensure all tooling is intuitive, documented, and aligned with user needs
• Oversee aspects of the department’s data infrastructure including CI/CD pipelines, cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP), and containerized deployments
• Ensure data systems are reliable, monitored, and resilient to failure
• Lead incident response, debugging, and long-term reliability engineering practices

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in political, movement, or campaign work is a plus
• Experience or familiarity with some or all of the following
• Orchestration tools (e.g. Prefect, Airflow)
• Transformation layers (dbt)
• CICD tooling like Github Actions, Jenkins, CircleCI, etc
• Cloud-based infrastructure (AWS, GCP) and IaC tools like Terraform or Ansible
• Python API connectors, like the Parsons library
• Basic familiarity with frontend development (React or plain HTML/CSS/JS) for internal-facing tools
• Strong verbal and written communication skills

Benefits

• Paid time off
• Health, dental, vision, and life insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• Retirement plan options
• Professional development funding
• Remote work support