Senior Data Engineer

Pontera is a fintech company on a mission to help people retire better. Our software platform enables retirement savers to get the help they need managing their 401(k) and other retirement plan accounts as part of a personalized strategy by their trusted financial advisor.

Pontera is used by financial advisors across the nation– from SMB to Fortune 500 RIA firms, independent broker-dealers, plan custodians, and plan advisors.

Backed by leading venture capital firms including ICONIQ Growth and Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pontera is built by talented individuals who share a dedication to helping people retire with greater security.

Our team is fast-growing and driven to become one of the largest fintech companies in the world. Our culture is built on a people-first principle: in a complex and numbers-driven industry, we never lose sight of the people we serve and work alongside. That’s where you come in.

DESCRIPTION

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Data Engineer to join our growing team. As a Senior Data Engineer, you will own the design, build, and optimization of Pontera’s data platform - powering analytics, and data-driven product features. At Pontera, the Data Engineer plays a crucial role in designing and overseeing all BI and analytics solutions. They collaborate closely with various departments such as Product, R&D, BizDev, and Executive teams to address their data analysis requirements. Additionally, they hold responsibility for essential financial and operational metrics.

This role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact in a fast-paced, high-growth environment while working on meaningful challenges that directly advance our mission.

At Pontera, we leverage a modern data stack that includes Snowflake, DBT, Python and Fivetran , with infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD best practices.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design and maintain scalable data models and schemas in DBT/Snowflake to support analytical and operational workloads.


• Build, optimize, and document robust ELT pipelines in SQL, Python, dbt for batch and near-real-time data ingestion.


• Implement automated data-quality testing, monitoring, and alerting to guarantee trustworthy and timely data.


• Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams on event instrumentation, schema design, and data governance standards.


• Tune warehouse performance and manage cost efficiency through partitioning, clustering, and workload management.


• Partner with Analytics and Data Science to translate business questions into engineered data solutions.


• Mentor junior engineers and analysts, championing best practices in coding, documentation, and peer review.

REQUIREMENTS

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  Experience: 5+ years in a data-engineering role in the tech industry, with a proven track record of scaling data platforms in cloud environments (AWS, GCP, or Azure).



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  Technical Skills: Expert SQL and Python; hands-on with Snowflake (or Redshift/BigQuery) and DBT. An advantage- Orchestration tools such as Airflow; familiarity with CI/CD, Docker, and infrastructure-as-code (e.g., Terraform), Familiarity with BI tools (Looker, Tableau) from a data-engineering perspective

• Data Architecture: Deep understanding of dimensional modeling, CDC, and ELT best practices; experience integrating third-party APIs and event streams.


• Quality & Reliability: Demonstrated success implementing data-quality frameworks and building highly reliable pipelines.


• Business Acumen: Experience in FinTech, SaaS, or high-growth startup environments is a plus.


• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to explain complex data concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.


• Collaboration: Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work cross-functionally across Product, Engineering, and Analytics teams.

Nice to Have

• Experience with streaming platforms (Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub).


• Background in ML feature-store design or real-time data serving.


• Familiarity with BI tools (Looker, Tableau) from a data-engineering perspective.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Compensation : $160,000 to $200,000 annually


• Opportunity : Have a major impact at a fast-growing startup that is revolutionizing the FinTech industry


• Team Culture : A collegial, collaborative, fun work environment with frequent team events


• Equity : All new hires are eligible for equity grant participation


• Healthcare : Comprehensive & affordable insurance benefits with a variety of plan options


• Retirement : 401(k) with employer match & employer-sponsored access to a retirement advisor


• Family Benefits : Paid parental leave & reimbursement program for family planning services (such as fertility treatments, adoption, or surrogacy


• Professional Development : Sponsored learning & development program (to cover classes, certifications, and more!)


• Food Perks : Fully stocked kitchen & lunch reimbursement program


• Work Flexibility : A hybrid office work model (In-Office Tues/Weds/Thurs and WFH Mon/Fri) & generous PTO day

Pontera is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.