Senior Staff Data Engineer

As a Senior Staff Data Engineer, you\’ll be a strategic technical leader within our Data Track and beyond driving the evolution of our enterprise-wide data practices. You\’ll work at the intersection of data engineering, product facing teams and platform teams, establishing standards and best practices that enable our engineering teams to deliver reliable, scalable, and secure data solutions. This role requires both deep technical expertise and the ability to influence and mentor engineers across DeepL.

Your responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Architecture
• Define and implement enterprise-wide Data engineering standards, strategies, and best practices for data solutions
• Provide expert guidance on technology selection, cloud services (AWS), and architectural decisions for data solutions
• Drive continuous improvements in efficiency, cost reduction, and innovation across data
• Evaluate and recommend tools, technologies, and frameworks to enhance our data capabilities
• Partner with and influence leaders from engineering, analytics, machine learning, and security teams to align on goals
• Mentor and be a thought leader across data, engineering and platform teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to understand data requirements and translate them into technical solutions
• Work closely with customer-facing teams to ensure data solutions meet enterprise client needs

Security, Governance & Compliance

• Drive best practices in data security, governance, and compliance aligned with enterprise B2B standards
• Implement robust security measures for data at rest and in transit
• Ensure thorough documentation of data processes, systems architecture, and stakeholder dependencies
• Maintain compliance with GDPR, SOC 2, and other relevant regulatory requirements

Qualities we look for

• Extensive Data expertise: 10+ years of experience in data engineering or related role with at least 5 years in a staff or principal role
• Data architecture experience: Deep understanding of data infrastructure, data warehousing, ETL/ELT processes, and/or data pipeline orchestration
• Cloud mastery: Proven experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native data services
• Scripting & automation: Advanced scripting skills in Python, Bash, or similar languages for automation and tooling
• Leadership & communication: Proven track record of technical leadership, mentoring engineers, and influencing cross-functional teams
• Enterprise experience: Experience working in high-growth technology or SaaS environments with distributed systems and microservices architecture
• Experience with data-specific tools and technologies such as Apache Airflow, dbt, Apache Spark, Kafka, or similar
• Experience with real-time streaming data processing pipelines (spark, flink, etc.)
• Knowledge of data warehousing solutions (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift) and data lake architectures
• Background in data engineering or analytics engineering

Nice to haves

• Familiarity with machine learning operations (MLOps) and ML infrastructure
• Experience with security best practices, including secrets management, network security, and compliance frameworks
• Experience with agile methodologies and tools (Jira, Confluence) for managing project timelines and deliverables
• Contributions to open-source projects or technical community involvement
• Experience with cost optimization strategies for cloud infrastructure

Company Benefits

• Diverse and internationally distributed team: joining our team means becoming part of a large, global community with people of more than 90 nationalities. We\\\’re more than just colleagues; we\\\’re a group of professionals with a shared mission to connect diverse cultures. Our global presence is growing–we\\\’ve doubled in size nearly every year, with our employees based in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the US, and Japan, and we continue to expand our network.
• Open communication, regular feedback: as a language-focused company, we value the importance of clear, honest communication. We value smooth collaboration, direct and actionable feedback, and believe that leading with empathy and growth mindset makes us better together.
• Hybrid work, flexible hours: we offer a hybrid work schedule, with team members coming into the office twice a week. This allows you to engage directly with your team and experience the unique energy of our workspace, while still enjoying the flexibility and comfort of working from home. With flexible working hours and trust in your productivity, we are in sync with your team’s general locations and time zones to foster effective and seamless collaboration.
• Regular in-person team events: we bond over vibrant events that are as unique as our team, from local team and business unit gatherings, to new-joiner onboardings, to company-wide events that bring us all together–literally.
• Monthly full-day hacking sessions: every month, we have Hack Fridays, where you can spend your time diving into a project you\\\’re passionate about and get the opportunity to work with other teams–we value your initiatives, impact, and creativity.
• 30 days of annual leave: we value your peace of mind. With 30 days off (excluding public holidays) and access to mental health resources, we make sure you\\\’re as strong mentally as you are professionally.
• Virtual Shares –An ownership mindset in every role. We believe everyone should share in our success, and that\\’s why every employee receives Virtual Shares, linking your contribution directly to DeepL’s growth and rewarding you with a stake in our future.
• Competitive benefits: just as our team spans the globe, so does our benefits package. We\\\’ve crafted it to reflect the diversity of our team and tailored it to align with your unique location, to ensure you feel supported every step of the way.