Staff Engineer, Data Lake Engineering

This is a remote position; however, the candidate must reside within 30 miles of one of the following locations: Portland, ME; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; and San Francisco Bay Area, CA.

About the Team/Role:

The Data Lake Engineering team at WEX builds a unified, scalable data platform supporting AI and machine learning applications across the company. They collaborate with departments like Data & Analytics, Security, and Risk to enhance data accessibility, scalability, and innovation, aiming to drive WEX’s tech transformation and support a growing customer base.

The Staff Engineer, Data Lake Engineering, will lead the technical architecture and development of WEX’s Data Lake platform. Reporting to the VP of Data Lake and AI Engineering, they’ll ensure quality, security, and scalability while integrating with company-wide platforms. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in data lake environments and hands-on leadership skills.

How you’ll make an impact

• Lead and drive the development of technology and platform for the company's Data Lake needs, ensuring functional richness, reliability, performance, and flexibility.
• Help design the architecture and lead the implementation of the Data Lake platform and services.
• Challenge the status quo and drive for better technical solutions to effectively serve all the needs in the broad risk area of WEX.
• Guide your team to leverage data and/or AI technology or tools in your design and development for high productivity and better solution quality.
• Closely partner with other senior engineers across the organization to understand business needs and jointly develop technical solutions.
• Partner with information security teams to ensure data security and privacy, implementing encryption and access controls as required.
• Collaborate with solutions architecture and LOB product and engineering orgs on integrations of the Data Lake Platform with their products/systems.
• Engage with external partners and vendors to evaluate technologies and services that complement the company’s Data Lake strategy.
• Create, prioritize, communicate, manage, and execute roadmaps, project plans, and commitments.
• Report on the status of development, quality, operations, and system performance to management and partners.
• Drive the technical vision and strategy of Data Lake to serve the business needs for the near term and long term.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to the engineering teams in your group, fostering an environment of continuous learning and innovation.
• Set clear, measurable quality goals for your group in a data-driven way.
• Partner with the security org and SRE org to ensure continuous improvement and meeting of security requirements.
• Take financial responsibility for your team.
• Hold yourself and your team accountable for delivering quality results using defined OKRs.
• Advise the Senior Leadership team on complex situations that impact the organization.
• Provide strategic thought leadership on business initiatives using your technical and business industry expertise.

Experience you’ll bring

• 10+ years of software design and development experience at a large scale.
• Strong software development skills in your chosen programming language, with readiness to learn and program in Java and Python.
• Broad understanding of Data Lakehouse formats like Apache Hudi, Apache Iceberg, or Delta Lake is a plus.
• Demonstrable experience in Spark programming.
• Experience with Spark on DBT with AWS Glue or Apache Polaris is a plus.
• Broad understanding of cloud architecture tools and services, such as S3, EMR, Kubernetes, and Lambda functions.
• Deep technical knowledge in architecture design, development, deployment, and production operation.
• Rich experience in Big Data and large-scale data platforms, especially in Data Lake.
• Highly experienced in CI/CD automation.
• Excellent analytical skills; capability in identifying and resolving complex problems.
• An understanding of and experience in payment organizations is a plus.
• A mentor to individual contributors of different seniority levels.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field; a higher degree is a plus.

Leadership & Personal Characteristics

• Demonstrates a collaborative, engaging, mission-driven style with good listening skills.
• Champions a culture of high standards and embraces change.
• Able to operate in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment with a hands-on approach.
• Leads with empathy and promotes a culture of trust, transparency, and collaboration.
• Communicates effectively in small and large group formats.
• Talent magnet and developer who engages external talent and nurtures internal talent.
• Possesses a high level of intellectual curiosity and learning agility.
• Understands how to drive change through influence across a complex business.

The base pay range represents the anticipated low and high end of the pay range for this position. Actual pay rates will vary based on various factors, such as qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role. Base pay is one component of WEX's total compensation package, which includes benefits designed to support personal and professional well-being. Pay Range: $135,000.00 - $180,000.00