Head of Data Engineering - Hands-On Architect

We’re hiring a Head of Data Engineering to design and build the systems that deliver our data to tier-one hedge funds. This is our most senior technical role and is a true hybrid: you will own the architecture and build core parts of the platform yourself, while also leading a small engineering team and guiding how they build.

You’ll set the technical direction for our platform, work hands-on on critical systems, and make sure the team is building in a consistent, high-quality way. Your job is to turn a clear technical vision into real systems that run reliably every day.

This role suits someone who enjoys designing systems end-to-end, getting close to the code, and helping a small team grow around a shared technical direction.

• Own the architecture for data ingestion, transformation, validation, and delivery.
• Design and build key parts of the platform yourself.
• Lead a small engineering team and align their work to your technical vision.
• Introduce and run strong engineering practices such as code reviews, dev environments, CI/CD, sprint planning, testing, and monitoring.
• Move us from weekly or monthly delivery to reliable daily delivery.
• Design systems that are simple, automated, and resilient.
• Use LLMs and automation to reduce manual work across ingestion and delivery.
• Work with the CEO, Analytics, and Operations teams to turn real needs into technical plans.
• Improve reliability, observability, and failure recovery across the platform.

• 6–10+ years in data engineering or backend engineering.
• Strong experience designing and evolving production systems.
• Deep Python and SQL experience.
• Experience running pipelines that operate daily and can’t break.
• Comfortable being hands-on while also leading others.
• Strong instincts for simplicity, automation, and reliability.
• Experience with Snowflake, AWS, or similar stacks.
• Experience leading or mentoring a small team.
• Able to balance short-term delivery with long-term design.

We’re looking for someone who wants real ownership of a platform and a small team. You care about how systems actually behave in production, and you like getting close to the work while also helping others build well.

You bring structure to messy problems and turn them into clear technical plans. You work well with business stakeholders and translate real needs into systems that deliver.

You want to design, build, and lead, shaping both the platform and the way the team works.