Principal Data Engineer

Job Description

We are seeking a Principal Data Engineer to lead our Data Engineering team and architect the scalable data infrastructure powering our clean energy mission. In this senior technical leadership role, you will mentor a team of talented engineers, design enterprise-grade data solutions supporting strategic clean energy initiatives, and establish technical standards across the organization. You'll work with agile teams across Analytics, Business Intelligence, and Product to transform business requirements into robust, efficient data platforms using industry-leading technologies. If you're passionate about solving complex technical challenges while contributing to environmental impact, we want to hear from you.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Design, develop, and optimize data architecture and pipelines that adhere to ETL/ELT principles and business goals in support of strategic clean energy initiatives
• Architect complex workflows using DBT (Data Build Tool) to transform raw data into business-ready analytics and insights
• Build and maintain production data pipelines using Python, DBT, Matillion, and Snowflake with a systematic approach to planning, creating, and maintaining data architectures
• Leverage AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, and other LLM-based assistants) extensively to accelerate development, improve code quality, troubleshoot issues, and enhance team productivity
• Establish technical standards, patterns, and best practices for data engineering across the organization, including responsible AI tool integration
• Lead technical design reviews and provide architectural guidance on data projects
• Optimize data warehouse performance, query efficiency, and cost management within Snowflake
• Evaluate and recommend new tools and technologies (including AI-powered solutions) to enhance our data platform capabilities

People Management & Mentorship

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of data engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence
• Conduct performance evaluations, career development discussions, and create meaningful growth opportunities for team members
• Promote knowledge sharing through documentation, code reviews, and technical mentoring sessions, including best practices for using AI tools responsibly and effectively
• Collaborate with engineering leadership on hiring, onboarding, and team development initiatives
• Lead by example in code quality, testing practices, testing frameworks, and adherence to engineering standards
• Model effective use of AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, and similar) to enhance productivity while maintaining code quality and security standards

Data Quality & Governance

• Implement and maintain data quality frameworks and comprehensive monitoring to ensure reliability and trust in critical data assets
• Develop systematic approaches to data governance and establish data modeling standards across teams, and supporting efforts around Metadata Management
• Ensure alignment on data access policies and best practices for data management

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Analytics, Business Intelligence, Data Science, Product, and business teams to understand data requirements and translate them into technical specifications
• Communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Work with agile teams to drive alignment on data initiatives and strategic priorities
• Champion best practices in data engineering and foster a collaborative work environment

Qualifications and Skills

• 8+ years of professional data engineering experience, with at least 3 years in a senior or lead role
• Demonstrated expertise in Snowflake data warehouse architecture and optimization
• Advanced proficiency in Python for data engineering, pipeline development, and software engineering practices
• Advanced experience with DBT (Data Build Tool) for building and maintaining production data models and transformation logic
• Hands-on production experience with Matillion for ETL/ELT orchestration and data integration
• Proven track record leading and developing engineering teams, mentoring engineers, and driving technical initiatives
• Deep understanding of data modeling, dimensional design, and ETL/ELT patterns and best practices
• Strong knowledge of SQL with ability to write optimized, complex queries and analyze query performance
• Experience with version control systems (Git) and CI/CD pipelines in production environments
• Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills for complex data infrastructure issues
• Strong communication, collaboration, and mentoring abilities
• Experience with relational database management and data transformation
• Proficiency with AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, and other LLM-based assistants) for code development, documentation, problem-solving, and productivity enhancement
• Knowledge of energy retail and/or power generation is a plus (but not required)

Preferred Qualifications

• DBT Certification is highly desired
• Experience implementing comprehensive data quality testing and monitoring solutions
• Background in Agile/Scrum development methodologies
• Knowledge of streaming data platforms and real-time data processing
• Contributions to open-source data engineering projects
• Experience with additional ETL/ELT tools and platforms

Technical Skills

• Required: Snowflake, DBT, Python, SQL, Matillion, ETL/ELT Architecture, Data Modeling, Git, Software Engineering Best Practices, AI Tools (ChatGPT, Claude, LLM-based assistants)
• Preferred: DBT Certification, Additional ETL/ELT Platforms

Travel

• Minimal travel for team off-site meetings approximately 2x/year.

Physical Demands

• Office Normal

Compensation

This position offers compensation commensurate with experience and skills and a robust benefits package.