Data Engineering Manager

At DATAPAO, data ignites passion, community fuels collaboration, and growth knows no bounds. We are a leading Data Engineering and AI consulting company backed by Databricks and recognized for our unmatched delivery standards and rapid growth. We have been named Databricks EMEA Emerging Business Partner of the Year (2024), achieved the Golden Tier status in the Databricks Partner Program , and made three consecutive appearances on the Financial Times FT1000 list .

We are now looking for an Engineering Manager (Data) to help us further expand our world-class data engineering team.

What will you do?

In the following 12-18 months, we will grow our data engineering and AI team from ~40 to ~65. Hence, we're looking for an Engineering Manager to lead one of our data engineering teams comprising 5-6 consultants. In this role, you will oversee project delivery, manage and mentor the team, and ensure the successful execution - often by staying hands-on yourself - of data engineering, ML/MLOps, and cloud migration projects for our EMEA customers. In our current operating model, you will be expected to split your time between team management and being hands-on in project delivery.

Your Team: Core Data Engineering

This team is responsible for building and optimizing scalable, high-performance data pipelines that enable seamless data movement, transformation, and storage across enterprise customer environments. This includes designing, implementing, and maintaining ETL/ELT workflows, ingesting structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data from systems like Oracle, Snowflake, and Redshift. The team is experienced in big data processing for both batch and streaming workloads and using modern data storage formats such as Delta Lake, Iceberg, and Hudi. The team collaborates closely with the cloud, infrastructure, and data governance teams to ensure data reliability, observability, and monitoring through modern tooling. Key focus areas include building enterprise data platforms, enabling real-time and batch analytics workloads, and migrating legacy systems to modern cloud environments. Depending on your seniority and our current business needs, you will either take over an existing team or build up a new team from scratch.

What does it take to fit the bill?

Consulting and Technical Skills

Consultant mindset & passion for customer experience - you prioritize your work with the customer in mind, and you seek to advise (rather than purely execute) your customers on the best-in-class technical solutions;

Solid software engineering foundations - you are a stack-agnostic software engineer with a strong understanding of how distributed systems work. Additionally, you are familiar with (and keen to follow) best-in-class software engineering principles;

Data & Cloud are part of your engineering journey - you have played a role in teams that designed and implemented data-intensive applications and have strong SQL and NoSQL hands-on experience. Exposure to real-time data processing systems, Apache Spark, and/or the big data ecosystem is an advantage;

You thrive when having to solve problems and take ownership - you solve problems on your own and advise others on how to do the same. Moreover, you have a natural predisposition to identify and fill organizational gaps, be it processes or documentation gaps, customer communication mismatches, or resource allocation deficiencies.

Leadership skills

Motivated to lead and grow people - whether you're already experienced in managing teams, or you've grown into leadership through informal experience such as leading a project team or owning delivery for a group of people, you're ready to take on the responsibility of leading and supporting a team;

Mentoring people excites you - this could mean you've already co-created goals and development plans with a team, or you've supported and mentored colleagues informally and are excited to grow this into a more structured leadership role;

Keen to build strong teams and culture - you may have already helped hire and grow high-performing teams, or contributed to team culture and collaboration in less formal ways, such as onboarding new colleagues or driving process improvements - either way, you're ready to help raise the bar across your team and the wider organization;

Excellent communication skills - you can adjust your communication style, articulate technical concepts to all types of audiences, and ensure transparent communication across all levels.

What will the selection process look like?

Screening Interview (~60 minutes) - our Technical Recruiter will run it. The purpose is to get to know you better and assess how you match the role's core requirements. This is also your chance to learn more about DATAPAO and our business model;

Technical Interview (~90 minutes) - this round will be run by two senior data engineers. Depending on your background, we will run the session in one of the following setups:

If you have Data Engineering experience, this session covers cloud fundamentals, core data engineering concepts, hands-on coding, and a problem-solving exercise or,

If you come from a Software Engineering background, this session covers cloud fundamentals, software engineering principles, hands-on programming, and a problem-solving exercise.

Cultural & Leadership Block (~120 minutes) - our Head of People and Head of Consulting will run this stage. The scope is to assess your leadership philosophy & skills and the likelihood of settling well into our community. It might consist of two back-to-back 60-minute blocks, or we might as well run it in a single ~120-minute block.

What do we offer?

At DATAPAO, we're on a mission to build one of the world's best consulting companies in its field: data engineering and AI. As an engineering manager, you'll have the rare opportunity to join DATAPAO at a time when you can still meaningfully impact our growth trajectory and organizational success. Here is a list of some other extras we offer:

World-class educational benefits - there’s no shortage of learning opportunities at DATAPAO, meaning that you'll get access to Databricks' public and internal courses to learn all the tricks of Distributed Data Processing, MLOps, Apache Spark, Databricks, and Cloud Migration from the best. Additionally, we'll pay for various data & cloud certifications. You'll also get dedicated time for learning during work hours and access to our internal library;

Flexible working hours and PTO days - we’re flexible with how many days you take off if that does not conflict with customer success and the work getting done. Additionally, how many days you spend in the office is up to you. However, as a manager, we'd expect you to spend face-to-face time with your team and mentor others regularly. We believe this can be achieved only through a balanced in-person-remote ratio;

4 weeks of paternity leave - because we think it’s important for both parents to be there when it matters most;

Private Medical Insurance - we provide a private medical package via Generali;

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - through EAP, we offer our employees access to psychology, financial, and legal consulting services via phone or in person;

Top-notch working equipment - working comfortably means working well. Therefore, you will get a MacBook Pro, a Herman Miller office chair, standing desks in the office, and whatever else is needed to give your best;

The chance to shape our culture - overseeing people gives you a privileged position to influence how our organizational culture evolves over time;

The opportunity to make an impact in a high-transparency culture - open feedback and a no-politics environment are things we value a lot at DATAPAO. Additionally, you'll get the chance to shape the future of a rapidly growing tech company and join the field of data and AI. We trust there is no better time than today to do