National Interstate is a member of Great American Insurance Group. As one of the leading commercial transportation insurers in the nation, we offer risk financing solutions in all 50 states tailored to meet the needs of a wide variety of transportation classes. Our offerings include traditional insurance and innovative alternative risk transfer (ART) programs, including more than a dozen group captive programs catering to niche wheels markets. We are proud to be a multiple Northcoast 99 winner and Cleveland Plain Dealer Top Workplace in Northeast Ohio. It is because of our talented and dedicated team that we are able to live out our company values of integrity, transparency, fairness, accountability, empowerment and collaboration with each transaction we make. If you are ready to join an engaging and driven team such as ours, we would love to hear from you!
At Great American, we value and recognize the benefits derived when people with different backgrounds and experiences work together to achieve business results. Our goal is to create a workplace where all employees feel included, empowered, and enabled to perform at their best.

This position is not eligible for employment visa sponsorship. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future sponsorship.
Since 1989, National Interstate has specialized in serving the insurance needs of the wheels-based transportation industry. Our steadfast focus on developing niche expertise in product design, loss control and claim services has made National Interstate one of the most respected names in commercial transportation insurance today. (https://natl.com/)
National Interstate is looking for a Data Engineering Director to join their team. This individual will either work hybrid from the Richfield, OH office 3 days per week.
National Interstate’s culture is built on connection, shared learning, and strong relationships. To support this, employees in this role are expected to be on-site a minimum of three days a week, with the potential to work two days remotely. Core in‑office days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday but will be determined by business needs.
Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities
- Accountable for overseeing the Data Engineering team operations, enhancing workflow efficiency, and maintaining high productivity levels.
- Responsible for overseeing strategic planning and execution to align data engineering initiatives with organizational goals and objectives, ensuring long-term success and innovation.
- Oversees the design, development, and optimization of data pipelines and architectures to support data integration, storage, and retrieval needs.
- Provides leadership and guidance on the implementation of ETL processes, ensuring seamless data flow between systems and maintaining high standards of data quality.
- Fosters a collaborative environment among business analysts, project managers, and other stakeholders to understand business needs and translate them into technical requirements, providing regular updates on project status and progress.
- Oversees the adoption and integration of cutting-edge technology best practices to significantly enhance operational performance, scalability, and resilience across the organization.
- Provides strategic mentorship and guidance to team members, promoting best practices and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
- Continuously evaluates, adopts, and implements industry-leading best practices to maintain a competitive edge and drive technological advancements.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Strategic Business Leadership & Domain Expertise:
- Experience with Data strategy for P&C insurance business domains including Underwriting, Claims, Operations, Finance, and Customer Experience, serving as primary business-technology connector for data initiatives
- Leader of enterprise digital transformation by establishing foundational data governance practices, operational data stores, and advanced analytics capabilities
- Can collaborate directly with C-suite executives and business unit leaders to translate strategic business goals into actionable data roadmaps, balancing priorities across business demand, technology modernization, and regulatory compliance
- Able to champion data product development approach, creating reusable, trusted data assets that power analytics, reporting, and business intelligence across multiple business domains
End-to-End Data Ecosystem Architecture:
- Experience designing and implementing an enterprise data ecosystem spanning data capture at source systems through to consumption
- Able to design and architect the enterprise data assets such as Operational Data Store (ODS)
- Able to Architect scalable ETL/ELT pipelines across batch, real-time, and event-driven latencies
- Familiar with warehousing solutions using Snowflake, and IDMC that serve as single source of truth for enterprise reporting and advanced analytics
Data Governance & Compliance Leadership:
- Able to generate a comprehensive data catalog and Data Quality (DQ) framework that provides data lineage, quality scoring, and control documentation
- Able to design and implement Error and Audit logging frameworks across ETL and integration pipelines to support traceability, root-cause analysis, and audit/compliance requirements
- Experience establishing data governance framework and data catalog tools to improve data quality, consistency, and regulatory compliance across all business domains
- Can define and enforce data architecture policies governing data collection, integration, storage, and usage to align with strategic business goals and regulatory requirements (HIPAA, state insurance regulations)
- Able to lead data stewardship programs across business units, establishing data ownership models and accountability frameworks
Job Requirements
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
Experience: Generally, a minimum of 18 years of experience in data engineering or a related field, including a minimum of 8 years of leadership experience. Experience with data warehousing solutions and ETL processes.
Scope of Job/Qualifications: Typically manages 2 or more reports. Contributes to the development of strategies, performance targets, and policies and procedures. Collaborates with management to understand workforce needs and position the organization as a preferred employer. Accountable for identifying and implementing process improvements to enhance and ensure the efficiency and quality of application services. Exhibits expert proficiency in multiple programming languages, cloud platforms, and modern development frameworks. Offers expert consultancy on the organization's business and technology operations. Demonstrates expert understanding of machine learning concepts and their software engineering implications. Maintains expert knowledge of industry trends and technologies to continuously improve data engineering solutions. Responsible for managing staff performance and coaching, making decisions regarding talent selection, development, and performance management. Plans and ensures that the team meets budget and performance targets. Proficiency in SQL and experience with relational database management systems (RDBMS) such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or Oracle. Knowledge of data modeling, data architecture, and data governance. Familiarity with big data technologies (e.g., Hadoop, Spark) is a plus.
Company:
NIIC National Interstate Insurance Company
Benefits:
We offer competitive benefits packages for full-time and part-time employees*. Full-time employees have access to medical, dental, and vision coverage, wellness plans, parental leave, adoption assistance, and tuition reimbursement. Full-time and eligible part-time employees also enjoy Paid Time Off and paid holidays, a 401(k) plan with company match, an employee stock purchase plan, and commuter benefits.
Compensation varies by role, level, and location and is influenced by skills, experience, and business needs. Your recruiter will provide details about benefits and specific compensation ranges during the hiring process. Learn more at http://www.gaig.com/careers.
*Excludes seasonal employees and interns.
