About this role.
Beyond Finance is seeking a Lead Data Platform Engineer to set the technical direction for production data pipelines, integrations, and operational datastores. The role leads ETL and reverse-ETL systems that move data among systems of record, applications, Salesforce, Aurora/Postgres databases, and third-party partners. It combines hands-on technical depth in SQL, database performance, replication, cloud data services, and reliability engineering with technical leadership, mentoring, and incident response. The successful candidate will turn ambiguous business mandates into executable plans while establishing standards for infrastructure, schema contracts, observability, testing, and on-call operations.
Role DNA
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Job Complexity
5/5Pace & Pressure
5/5Autonomy Level
5/5Communication Load
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Core skills
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Sample interview questions
I would begin by defining source-of-truth ownership, data freshness objectives, schema contracts, and failure-handling requirements. I would use managed replication tooling where appropriate, add validation and reconciliation checks, make writes idempotent, and instrument freshness, completeness, error-rate, and lag metrics. I would also document replay procedures and regularly test recovery from partial loads, schema changes, and connector failures.
I start with measurable symptoms using query statistics, execution plans, lock analysis, connection behavior, and resource utilization. I prioritize the highest-impact queries, then address indexing, query shape, schema design, partitioning where justified, and transaction or concurrency issues. Changes are tested against representative workloads and monitored after release so that improvements do not create regressions elsewhere.
I first clarified the intended business outcome, constraints, risks, and measurable success criteria with stakeholders. I then mapped the current state, identified decision points and dependencies, and proposed a phased plan with ownership, milestones, and explicit tradeoffs. Frequent communication and short feedback loops kept the plan aligned as new information emerged.
During an incident, I establish a clear incident lead, stabilize the system, communicate impact and status, and assign focused investigation tracks. I make decisions based on the best available evidence while protecting data correctness and auditability. After restoration, I lead a blameless review that identifies root causes, contributing conditions, and tracked systemic fixes with accountable owners.
I would create lightweight, practical standards that define ownership, compatibility expectations, change-notification processes, versioning, and validation requirements. I would involve partner teams early so the contracts solve real integration problems rather than becoming governance overhead. Automated compatibility checks, documented exceptions, and clear escalation paths make the standards durable and easier to adopt.
At Beyond Finance, we’ve made it our mission to help everyday Americans escape the endless cycle of crippling debt and step into a brighter financial future. Through compassionate, individualized care, a culture focused on compliance and ethics, supportive user-centric technology, and customized financial solutions, we’ve helped over 1 million clients on their path to a brighter future.
While we’re proud of what we’ve already accomplished, we’re searching for new collaborators to help us get to the next level! If you’re looking to join a forward-thinking, rapidly growing organization with helping people as its number one goal, we want to hear from you.
About the Role
You’ll join our Data Platform Engineering team, which owns the production data layer connecting Beyond Finance’s systems of record to the applications and partners that depend on them. We build and operate the ETL and reverse-ETL pipelines that replicate data across those systems. Data Platform Engineering owns the movement of data to and from third-party partners, as well as keeping the datastores behind them healthy and performant. As the lead engineer, you’ll own the technical direction for this work, turn ambiguous mandates into plans the team can execute, and be accountable for the reliability of the systems we run. We value operational rigor, clear ownership, and practical engineering practices. Reliability for us means the data is correct, complete, and on time.
What You’ll Do
- Own the architecture and technical roadmap for the team’s pipelines, integrations, and datastores, and make the calls on the tradeoffs that shape them
- Work with leadership to prioritize problems and help translate broad goals into concrete work the team can pick up
- Set the standards the team builds against: infra-as-code, schema contracts, observability, testing, on-call practices, and incident response
- Guide the replication pipelines that sync Salesforce data into our Aurora and Postgres databases through Informatica and Fivetran
- Set direction for the production Postgres databases behind our applications, covering query performance, indexing, access control, and migration review
- Hold the bar on the outbound jobs that deliver data to third-party partners and the inbound pipelines that ingest and process partner files, including validation, auditability, and reprocessing
- Partner with engineering management on planning, scoping, and team growth, and represent Data Engineering in cross-team technical decisions
- Mentor engineers across levels and raise the bar through code review, while delivering increasingly through others rather than your own output alone
- Lead the team through production incidents as the senior technical voice, then drive the systemic fixes that prevent the next one
What We Look For
- 8+ years building and operating production data systems, including time spent owning the technical direction of a team or a major initiative
- A track record of creating clarity from ambiguity, setting direction others can execute against rather than only executing well-defined work
- Deep SQL expertise, including query optimization, indexing, schema design, and operating databases under production load
- Strong command of replication and ETL/ELT tooling such as Fivetran, Informatica, or Airbyte, with the judgment to choose the right approach for a given problem
- Working knowledge of AWS, GCP, or Azure data services
- Comfort writing and reviewing Ruby on Rails or a comparable language
- Ability to define and defend schema contracts across systems and teams you don’t fully control
- Calm, decisive leadership through production data incidents, and the discipline to follow up with durable fixes
- Clear, direct communication and the ability to align several teams around a technical direction
- Experience with and willingness to work with agentic AI coding tools
The base annual salary range is listed below. This role is eligible for additional incentives, including an annual bonus.
Base Salary Range
$170,000—$205,000 USD
Why Join Us?
While you make a difference for others, we’ll work to make a difference for you, providing an uplifting, collaborative work environment and benefits that reflect your value to us. For eligible full-time employees, we offer:
- Considerable employer contributions for health, dental, and vision programs
- Generous PTO, paid holidays, and paid parental leave
- 401(k) matching program
- Merit advancement opportunities
- Career development & training
And finally, our team spirit and culture! We cultivate an environment of community, connection, and belonging across our entire organization.
Beyond Finance does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third-party recruiting agencies in response to job positions. No fee will be paid to their parties who submit unsolicited candidates directly to Beyond Finance employees or the Beyond Finance HR team. No placement fee will be paid to any third party unless such a request has been made by the Beyond HR team.
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