Senior Data Engineer

Job Description

Uplight is creating a new category of energy. We make software that manages energy resources in homes and businesses-including things like smart thermostats, electric vehicles, solar panels, storage batteries, heat pumps, and even people's behavior-to generate, shift, or save energy to balance the grid, making it more efficient and reliable. This creates clean energy capacity that can be used by the power grid instead of burning more fossil fuels. Our solutions accelerate the transition to clean energy and save money for energy customers.

We're looking for a Senior Data Engineer to join our Utility Data Ingest team on Apollo, focused on the resilience, scalability, and performance of the pipelines that move large scale utility data into our platform.

What you will contribute

As a Senior Data Engineer on Apollo you will own critical ingest systems end to end, improving reliability, cost efficiency, and operational clarity at scale. You will lead design and delivery for new capabilities, define monitoring and SLAs with partners, and mentor other engineers through reviews and technical guidance. Your work ensures tenant utility data is ingested accurately and efficiently, forming the backbone of many customer facing solutions.

What you get to do

• Design, build, and maintain data pipelines using Databricks (Spark, Delta Lake) and Python
• Develop and manage orchestration workflows using Airflow (or similar tools)
• Lead reliability and fault tolerance improvements for ingest pipelines handling high volume utility data
• Define and implement data quality, freshness, and volume metrics, plus monitoring and alerting for faster debugging
• Continuously optimize pipelines for cost, performance, and scalability in cloud environments
• Contribute to platform tooling such as metadata tracking, alerting, and lineage
• Participate in code reviews, sprint planning, and architecture discussions in a remote first, agile environment

What you bring to Uplight

• 5 to 8 years of experience in data engineering or backend engineering roles
• Strong working knowledge of Databricks, Spark, or similar distributed data systems, including production operations
• Experience with Airflow or other workflow orchestration tools in production
• Proficient in Python and SQL, with an understanding of scalable data design and performance tuning
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (GCP or AWS) and cost performance tradeoffs
• Demonstrated ownership of resilient systems, including on call, incident response, and post incident improvements
• A collaborative, team oriented mindset with strong communication skills and mentoring capability

Bonus Points

• Experience with real time or streaming data systems (Kafka, Structured Streaming)
• Understanding of data observability, lineage, and quality checks at scale
• Prior work in the utility or energy sector
• Exposure to infrastructure as code tools (Terraform) and CI CD pipelines

Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women, marginalized genders and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Uplight we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Why Join Uplight in Leading the Fight Against Climate Change?

At Uplight, we're not just offering a job - we're offering a chance to be part of the solution to one of the world's biggest challenges. As a certified B Corporation, we're deeply committed to both social and environmental responsibility. Here's why you should join our team of passionate Uplighters:

• Make a Meaningful Impact: Your work directly impacts our mission of decarbonization and building a more sustainable future.
• Grow Your Career: We offer ample advancement opportunities, robust learning and development programs, and a supportive team environment that fosters collaboration and innovation.
• Thrive: We offer comprehensive benefits, including flexible time off, generous parental leave, a wellness stipend, and work flexibility to help you thrive both personally and professionally.
• Belong to an Inclusive Community: We celebrate diversity and foster an inclusive workplace where everyone feels respected, empowered, and heard. Our Employee Resource Groups offer opportunities to connect with colleagues who share your interests and backgrounds.
• Be Part of a Growing Movement: Join a team of dedicated individuals who are passionate about creating a more sustainable future. We offer a collaborative environment where your ideas are valued and your contributions recognized. Together, we can build a brighter tomorrow.

To learn more about our comprehensive benefits package and other perks, visit uplight.com/careers

Salary Range: $125,000 to $145,000 + Bonus

In accordance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the approximate annual base compensation range is listed above. The actual offer, reflecting the total compensation package and benefits, will be determined by a number of factors including the applicant's experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity among our team.

Uplight provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race (including hair texture and hairstyles), color, religion (including head coverings), age, sex, national origin, disability status (including neurodivergence), genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, neurotypicality, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.