Data Platform Engineering Manager

TEAM LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT

• Directly supervises Database engineers day-to-day direction, workload prioritization, performance management, 1:1s, and reviews aligned to the IC level framework.
• Accountable for developing the team’s depth across relational, NoSQL, and analytical platforms, and for raising automation, IaC, and GitOps proficiency.
• Accountable for closing the gap between defined standards and demonstrated team practice.
• Manages on-call rotation scheduling and escalation coverage.
• Surfaces risks, gaps, and disagreements in writing at the time they are identified rather than after work is underway.
• Resolves cross-team blockers directly with peer leaders and escalates only what cannot be settled at that level.

DATA PLATFORM OWNERSHIP

• Owns the operational data store estate: OLTP and NoSQL across MS SQL,  Cosmos, and equivalents. Recommends the right store for a given workload rather than defaulting to a single engine.
• Owns transformation and data movement: ADF, Airflow, and the replacement of the HVR and SSIS approaches currently in place.
• Operates the analytical data platform — OneLake and the Bronze, Silver, and Gold tiers — to the same standards as the relational estate.
• Selects technology within each category, and is accountable for the reliability, performance, and cost of what is chosen.
• Manages data platform cost, licensing, and capacity per organizational guidelines.

AUTOMATION AND DELIVERY

• Defines standards for GitOps schema management, IaC provisioning, and lifecycle automation. Authors and reviews T-SQL, PowerShell, and IaC templates (Terraform, Azure DevOps) for database provisioning and schema deployment.
• Accountable for moving the team’s work from manual execution to self-service — including database change management through Liquibase or equivalent tooling, and the automation of environment refreshes.
• Responsible for the team’s participation in cross-team automation initiatives, including timely delivery of post-configuration requirements, provisioning inputs, and integration constraints to partner engineering teams.
• Champions Claude and LLM tooling for schema documentation, data lineage, query optimization, and automation; mentors engineers on advanced usage.

DATABASE OPERATIONS, RESILIENCE AND PERFORMANCE

• Remains hands-on in the design, implementation, and administration of the data platform estate — Azure SQL, Managed Instance, SQL Server, and the relational, NoSQL, and analytical platforms adopted over time. Serves as the final technical escalation point for complex incidents.
• Owns redundancy planning, high availability design, and failover execution across the estate, including Always On availability groups, geo-replication, and tested failover procedures. Validates HA/DR through regular testing and drives remediation of single points of failure.
• Defines monitoring standards on Dynatrace and oversees performance, availability, and capacity monitoring across the data platform estate. Leads complex performance tuning and bottleneck resolution.
• Participates in the 24x7 on-call rotation. Reviews post-incident reports and drives remediation to closure.

STANDARDS, COMPLIANCE AND CROSS-TEAM LEADERSHIP

• Implements and enforces enterprise data classification, PII handling, retention, and audit compliance requirements within the data platform estate; partners with Security on data security aligned with NYDFS Part 500 and SOC requirements.
• Ensures team adherence to documentation and change management standards; reviews and approves change records before implementation.
• Leads tooling evaluations and vendor assessments; coordinates with the Director on capacity planning, budgeting, and staffing.
• Represents the data platform in cross-functional work with DevOps, Application Engineering, Security, and Analytics, and resolves technical boundaries between teams directly.
• Communicates technology trade-offs and platform risk to Director and VP levels; authors proposals for investments involving significant budget or operational risk.
 

QUALIFICATIONS

 

EDUCATION, LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Data Engineering, or related discipline required. Master’s preferred.
• Two or more strongly preferred: Microsoft Fabric Analytics Engineer (DP-600), Azure Data Engineer Associate (DP-203), Azure Database Administrator Associate (DP-300). Equivalent certifications in non-Microsoft data platforms are equally valued.

EXPERIENCE

• 10+ years in database administration, data engineering, or data platform operations.
• 5+ years in a team lead, supervisory, or management role with direct people-management responsibility.
• Hands-on experience across more than one database platform — required. Depth in SQL Server, Azure SQL, and Managed Instance, plus working experience with at least one of Postgres, MySQL, Cosmos, or Mongo.
• Database redundancy and high availability (Always On, geo-replication, or equivalent).
• Cloud data platform experience (Azure SQL, Fabric, or Databricks) and ETL/ELT.
• IaC and automation tooling (Terraform, Azure DevOps, PowerShell). Experience automating database provisioning and schema deployment.
• Clause or LLM usage for data engineering preferred.
• Track record designing and operating data systems in regulated industries preferred. 

TECHNICAL/FUNCTIONAL KNOWLEDGE

• Expert-level SQL Server 2016–2022, Azure SQL, and Managed Instance. Working knowledge of Microsoft Fabric.
• Familiarity with relational and NoSQL platforms beyond the Microsoft stack — Postgres, MySQL, Cosmos, Mongo — sufficient to evaluate and recommend the right store for a given workload.
• ETL/ELT patterns and tooling (Azure Data Factory, SSIS, Fabric pipelines, HVR, Databricks) and medallion and lakehouse patterns.
• Terraform, Azure DevOps, Git-based workflows, PowerShell, and Python. Repository and GitOps fluency sufficient to review and direct the team’s IaC contributions.
• Dynatrace monitoring. Advanced Claude/LLM usage for data engineering and automation.
• NYDFS Part 500, SOC audit compliance, and PII handling.

LANGUAGE ABILITY AND COMMUNICATION

• Presents technology decisions and trade-offs to Director, VP, and Analytics leadership.
• Authors standards, runbooks, change records, performance feedback, and investment proposals that are clear, defensible, and financially grounded.
• Communicates status, risks, and team capacity to the Director proactively and in writing, without requiring prompting.
• Bridges technical data concepts and business outcomes for non-technical stakeholders.

ON-CALL REQUIREMENTS

This position is required to participate in a scheduled on-call rotation. On-call responsibilities include responding to critical incidents, system alerts, and operational emergencies outside of normal business hours. Active participation in the on-call program is a mandatory condition of employment and will be evaluated as part of performance reviews.
 
 

WHAT WE OFFER

Work From Home Program (up to 2 days per week upon eligibility)
Modernized Historical Setting in East Sacramento
Free Lot Parking
Paid Time Off
Paid Holidays
Retirements Savings Match
Group Health Insurance (Medical, Dental, and Vision)
Hospital Indemnity Insurance
Life and AD&D Insurance
Long Term Disability Insurance
Accident and Critical Illness Insurance
Flexible Savings Accounts
Paid Community Volunteer Day
Employee Assistance Program
Tuition Reimbursement Program
Employee Referral Program
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program