Data Platform Engineer

QED ( https://qed.ai ) is a tech company focused on public health and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. We build the digital infrastructure and AI used at the intersection of aid and scientific inquiry, including surveillance of HIV/malaria/TB, and nutrient analysis of crops and soils, working at national-scale in several African countries. Our funding comes from multiple philanthropic and governmental organizations, including the Global Fund, Gates Foundation, and the CDC.

We are looking for a mid/senior Data Platform Engineer (backend) to join our team in Warsaw. Desired skills include:

experience designing and maintaining data pipelines using ETL and/or ELT approaches, with the ability to reason about trade-offs rather than defaulting to a single pattern

understanding of data pipeline reliability concepts, including idempotency, backfills, and handling late or corrected data

ability to structure data systems into clear layers (e.g. raw, cleaned, curated) and reason about their different purposes and guarantees

experience deciding between batch, micro-batch, and streaming approaches based on latency, correctness, and operational complexity

strong background in software engineering, version control, writing readable code and tests, robust design, and basic data structures and algorithms

ability to conceive logical software architectures and express yourself clearly, both verbally and in writing

willingness to tackle a wide array of problems and technologies

willingness to participate in regular design sessions, code reviews, and working in teams

development primarily on UNIX-based or OSX-Darwin platforms

working proficiency (≥C1) in speaking, reading, and typing English (≥45 words per minute)

willingness and interest in working with people from other cultures

emotional resilience and social intelligence

and you have to care about the work that you do

and you have to be optimistic at least sometimes, although pessimism tends to be useful

Below are additional skills that are a bonus, but are not required:

understanding of analytical data modeling concepts, including how to transform raw data into analytics-ready datasets and define clear data semantics for downstream consumers

experience with Python, Django, DBT, Dagster, Luigi or Clickhouse

experience with containerization (Docker), Terraform, Kubernetes or Nix

knowledge and experience with data warehousing, online analytical processing, metadata management, dimensional modeling, and relational database theory

experience with programming and/or math competitions

product-oriented mindset

willingness to go on an adventure

domain knowledge and/or interest in the sustainable development goals, particularly in public health, agriculture, and assisting developing countries

What can you expect:

unusual, socially conscious projects

significant ownership

a mix of product, internal platform, and client integration work

ability and encouragement to explore technologies other than your main expertise

optional travel to learn more about problems we're trying to solve

Requires a full-time commitment physically based in Warsaw, Poland, with a hybrid of remote and in-person work throughout the week . We expect at least 2-3 days per week in the office. The working hours are flexible, for example you do not need approval to take out a small chunk in the middle of the day to handle some personal business.