Staff Engineer, Data
At Flagship Financial Group, we strive to make a positive impact on our customers’ lives through responsible auto financing and on our employees’ careers through continuous learning and advancement opportunities. Following our recent acquisition and the appointment of a new CEO, we are entering an exciting period of transformation, shifting toward a high-growth, tech-forward, and operationally excellent future.
We are seeking a Staff Engineer to serve as the senior technical authority for our enterprise data architecture and engineering ecosystem. This highly influential individual contributor role that combines hands-on development with strategic technical leadership, helping shape the future of our data platform while ensuring our Enterprise Data Warehouse remains scalable, reliable, secure, and aligned with business objectives. Reporting directly to the VP of Data, this role partners closely with Analytics, Business Intelligence, Technology, and business stakeholders to establish architectural standards, drive modernization initiatives, and enable data-driven decision-making across the organization.
What You'll Do
- Design, build, optimize, and troubleshoot production ETL/ELT pipelines using Python, SQL, and modern cloud data technologies.
- Own the end-to-end architecture of the Enterprise Data Warehouse and Lakehouse environment across cloud-based data platforms.
- Establish and maintain data architecture standards including data modeling frameworks, metadata management, naming conventions, and governance practices.
- Develop architecture diagrams, data flow documentation, and technical specifications that support engineering and business audiences alike.
- Lead architecture reviews and guide cross-functional teams through technical design decisions and trade-off evaluations.
- Partner with Business Intelligence, Analytics, Data Science, and business leaders to align platform capabilities with enterprise reporting and analytics needs.
- Drive improvements in data quality, performance, scalability, reliability, and operational excellence across the data ecosystem.
- Establish and promote best practices related to data governance, security, access controls, encryption, compliance, and lineage.
- Mentor and influence data engineers by providing technical guidance, design reviews, and hands-on coaching.
- Troubleshoot complex production issues, identify root causes, and implement sustainable solutions.
- Contribute to modernization efforts, including cloud migrations, platform enhancements, and the adoption of emerging data technologies.
- Support the organization's strategic growth initiatives through scalable and trusted data solutions.
Who You Are
The Technical Expert: You possess deep expertise in modern data engineering and architecture and are equally comfortable designing enterprise-scale solutions and personally writing production code.
The Architect: You balance long-term platform strategy with practical business needs, creating scalable solutions that support organizational growth.
The Trusted Advisor: You influence technical decisions across teams and build consensus among stakeholders without relying on formal authority.
The Problem Solver: You thrive on tackling complex technical challenges, quickly diagnosing issues and implementing thoughtful, sustainable solutions.
The Mentor: You elevate the capabilities of those around you through coaching, technical leadership, and a commitment to engineering excellence.
Qualifications
Experience
- 8+ years of progressive experience in data engineering, including hands-on development and enterprise data architecture ownership.
- Proven experience designing, implementing, and supporting large-scale Enterprise Data Warehouse and Lakehouse solutions.
- Advanced experience developing production data pipelines using Python and SQL.
- Experience with modern cloud-based data platforms such as Microsoft Azure, AWS Redshift, or Databricks.
- Experience working with ETL/ELT orchestration tools, including platforms such as Azure Data Factory, Airflow, dbt, Databricks Workflows, Glue, Informatica, or similar solutions.
- Demonstrated success partnering with technical and business stakeholders to deliver scalable data architecture solutions.
- Experience mentoring engineers and providing technical leadership within engineering organizations.
- Financial services, consumer finance, or auto finance industry experience preferred.
Education
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field required.
- Master's degree preferred.
Skills & Abilities
- Deep expertise in enterprise data architecture, data warehousing, and cloud-based data platforms.
- Advanced proficiency with Python, SQL, and big data processing technologies such as Apache Spark and PySpark.
- Strong understanding of dimensional modeling, Data Vault, Kimball, Inmon, and related data modeling methodologies.
- Experience with CI/CD practices, source control tools, and infrastructure automation concepts.
- Knowledge of data governance, security frameworks, compliance requirements, and data lineage practices.
- Ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable recommendations for business and executive stakeholders.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and troubleshooting capabilities.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Demonstrated ability to influence and collaborate effectively across teams and functions.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment while managing multiple priorities and competing demands.
Location & Work Environment
Location: Remote opportunity or hybrid at our Glen Mills, PA, Tempe AZ, or Coppell, TX locations.
Schedule: Full-time position with standard business hours.
Why Join Us?
This is an opportunity to help shape the future of Flagship's enterprise data platform and become a key technical leader within a growing, data-driven organization. You'll work alongside talented professionals, influence critical technology decisions, drive platform innovation, and help build the foundation that powers business insights across the enterprise. If you're passionate about modern data architecture, hands-on engineering, and creating scalable solutions that make a measurable impact, we'd love to hear from you.