Senior Data Engineer

Summary

Join Dwolla's Engineering team as a Senior Data Engineer and lead efforts to maximize the value of our data, impacting billions of dollars in monthly payment processing. You will design and build AWS-based data pipelines, implement DataOps methodologies, optimize queries and reports, and support existing databases. This role requires strong coding skills (Python, SQL), experience with AWS technologies (Redshift, Glue, Athena, S3), and a passion for data engineering best practices. The ideal candidate is a self-starter, stays updated on industry trends, and thrives in a collaborative, remote-first environment. Dwolla offers a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and a flexible work arrangement.

Requirements

• Experience with Python and SQL are clutch!
• Your skill set includes a blend of DataLake-related technologies in AWS (Redshift, Glue, Athena, S3 would be great!)
• Typically requires 5+ years of experience in a closely-related role

Responsibilities

• Design, build, monitor, and maintain infrastructure-as-code AWS-based data pipelines and warehousing tooling to support both internal and client-facing use cases
• Write and optimize Python code for ETL and other jobs to populate the Dwolla Data Lake and integrate with Salesforce (and related tools)
• Help define and implement the principles and technologies for a Data Lifecycle to enable application of CI/CD principles to data problems while ensuring integrity, security, privacy, and performance
• Support the Technology department’s use of a combination of AWS database technologies through advising on implementations, troubleshooting, and maintenance
• Partner with other engineers and data specialists in writing and optimizing queries or developing performant schemas with consideration for security and privacy
• Assist other Engineers in supporting highly-available RDS database instances including user management, configuration, migrations, and performance troubleshooting
• Contribute to plans and exercises to ensure databases and data pipelines are resilient to outages and recoverable in the event of a disaster
• Communicate technical decisions through RFCs, design docs, technical training, and the wiki
• Mentor other engineers via pairing, design review, and code review

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience implementing relevant AWS technologies for the purposes of building data pipelines and executing extract, transform, load (ETL) jobs
• Experience with infrastrastructure-as-code (i.e., Terraform, CloudFormation) methodologies
• Experience with distributed computing technologies such as Spark
• Experience designing and reviewing multi-function Python programs in accordance with style and security guidelines
• Experience optimizing SQL queries for high performance
• Experience with AWS database solutions such as RDS, DynamoDB and Redshift
• A knack for seeking empirical evidence through proofs of concept, tests and external research
• Empathy with the user of the work you are producing to guide decision-making
• Strong analytical thinking and troubleshooting skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills

Benefits

• Unlimited Paid Time Off (with a mandatory PTO minimum of 5 days every 4 months 😎)
• 12 weeks paid parental leave
• Medical, dental and vision insurance (Health plan options include FSA & HSA options and more…)
• Stock options
• 401k (with 4% company match)
• Long-term disability insurance
• Life insurance
• Our employees can work from anywhere in the US or from our Des Moines office
• You can move anywhere in the US and your compensation won’t change
• Combined with our unlimited PTO, you have the flexibility to enjoy the laptop lifestyle and balance work while traveling
• We actively support a healthy remote-first company culture by frequently providing both in-person and virtual opportunities for collaboration with co-workers
• We never miss a beat… by working both synchronously and asynchronously in our day-to-day interactions we’re able to stay full-steam ahead
• Remote-first home office stipend (and paid parking for our office-loving employees)