Principal Data Engineer

Overview Deputy is a global SaaS remote-first workforce management company with hubs in Sydney, Melbourne, San Francisco and London, plus team members working remotely across the United States. Our platform serves over 1.5 million workers and 375,000 workplaces across 100+ countries. We are backed by top global investors and recently achieved Unicorn status. Deputy is focused on improving the world of work, one shift at a time, for 80% of the world’s workforce: hourly workers. We transform frontline workplaces so they are more profitable, compliant, and productive, while workers are more engaged and happier at work. If you’re passionate about creating solutions that put people first and helping businesses and their teams thrive, join Deputy and make an impact where it matters most. The Role At Deputy, our mission is to simplify shift work and create thriving workplaces. Data is at the heart of how we achieve this, powering everything from product innovation to exceptional customer experiences. We are looking for a Principal Data Engineer to be the technical cornerstone of our data team, leading the charge in building a scalable and reliable data platform that will support our next phase of growth. This is a foundational, strategic role. You will have the autonomy to shape our data architecture, champion engineering best practices, and set the technical vision for how we use data across the company. This role blends hands-on technical leadership with strategic influence, where you will build powerful data systems, mentor a talented team, and partner with leaders across the business. Responsibilities Architect and Evolve Our Core Data Platform You will own the technical vision and roadmap for our data platform, steering its evolution on our modern cloud stack and ensuring it meets the demands of a rapidly scaling business. Own the Architecture: Design, implement, and refine a robust data lakehouse architecture (e.g., Medallion) using Databricks and Delta Lake to ensure data reliability and performance. Build Scalable Ingestion Frameworks: Develop and maintain resilient, reusable patterns for ingesting data from a diverse set of sources, including our systems, transactional databases, event streams, and third-party SaaS APIs. Define Data Modelling Standards: Lead the implementation of core data modelling principles (e.g., Kimball dimensional modelling) to produce curated, intuitive datasets for business intelligence and product analytics. Implement Robust Governance: Use tools like Unity Catalog to establish a comprehensive data governance framework, covering data lineage, fine-grained access controls, and a user-friendly data catalogue. Manage Platform Performance and Cost: Develop and implement strategies for monitoring, optimising, and forecasting Databricks and cloud expenditure, ensuring the platform is both powerful and cost-effective. Champion Engineering Excellence and Best Practice You will drive maturation of data operations, embedding a culture of quality, automation, and reliability. Automate Everything with CI/CD: Implement and advocate automated CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions) for all data assets, including dbt models, infrastructure changes, and Databricks jobs. Embed Git-Based Workflows: Champion a Git-first culture for all data transformation code, establishing clear processes for branching, code reviews, and version control. Embed Automated Data Quality: Implement automated data quality testing at every stage of pipelines using dbt test to ensure data accuracy. Introduce Data Observability: Establish monitoring, logging, and alerting for all data pipelines to proactively detect, diagnose, and resolve issues before they impact the business. Be a Strategic Partner Across the Business Connect the technical capabilities of the data platform to Deputy's strategic objectives, acting as a key advisor to stakeholders across the organisation. Translate Business Needs into Technical Solutions: Collaborate with leaders in Product, Engineering, Sales, Finance and Customer Success to design data solutions that enhance our product, improve customer outcomes, and drive business strategy. Guide Data Best Practices: Advise analysts, data scientists, and other stakeholders on leveraging the data platform for analysis and data-driven decision-making. Act as the Technical Authority: Serve as the go-to expert on our data architecture, running workshops and design sessions to align technical direction with business needs. Lead, Mentor, and Elevate Our Data Team As a technical member of the team, you will mentor colleagues and shape the future of the data function at Deputy. Mentor and Coach: Actively mentor data analysts and engineers through pair programming, code reviews, and technical guidance to grow skills in Python, SQL, and data modelling. Foster a Community of Practice: Lead initiatives like a data guild to encourage knowledge sharing and exploration of new technologies. Shape the Team's Future: Partner with data leadership to define career progression pathways and participate in interviewing and hiring. Skills & Experience Mastery of data architecture principles, data modelling frameworks, and strong governance and security practices; software engineering mindset with CI/CD for data, Git workflows, and automated data quality testing; exceptional communication; leadership and mentorship experience. Tech Stack Databricks, Unity Catalog, dbt, Terraform, AWS (Redshift, DynamoDB, API Gateway, CloudWatch, Lambda, Kinesis/Firehose, Glue, Bedrock), Stitch, Fivetran; advanced SQL and Python. Employee Perks Flexible remote-first policy with a home stipend; ESOP; paid parental leave; Group Salary Continuance Insurance; Employee Assistance Program; additional leave days and study/volunteering opportunities; global working groups; annual Hackathons; novated leasing and other perks. Deputy believes in equal opportunity and that inclusiveness and diversity promotes innovation. Our global team members are from a variety of cultures and we welcome different perspectives and skills. We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us. Seniority level Mid-Senior level Employment type Full-time Job function Information Technology Industries: Software Development and IT Services and IT Consulting Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Deputy by 2x Locations Sydney, New South Wales, Australia We’re unlocking community knowledge in a new way. Experts add insights directly into each article, started with the help of AI. #J-18808-Ljbffr