Director of Data Engineering

Director of Data Engineering

📍 Location: Shelton, Connecticut, United States

🏢 Industry: Restaurants

💼 Work Setting: Hybrid

Are you a visionary data engineering leader with a passion for building scalable data platforms and driving enterprise-wide data transformation? This is an exciting opportunity to lead high-performing teams, modernize data ecosystems, and enable data-driven decision-making across the organization.

As the Director – Data Engineering, you will lead the strategy, development, and operation of enterprise data platforms and pipelines that power analytics, reporting, data products, and business insights. You will work closely with Data Product, Analytics, Platform, Architecture, and Security teams to deliver reliable, scalable, and governed data solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Data Engineering Strategy & Platform Leadership

• Own and drive the data engineering roadmap aligned with business and data product priorities
• Lead the design, development, and modernization of enterprise data platforms
• Establish scalable data architecture patterns and engineering best practices
• Reduce technical debt while improving platform reliability and performance

Data Pipeline & Platform Development

• Build and optimize batch and streaming data pipelines
• Ensure reliable data ingestion, transformation, and delivery processes
• Drive data platform scalability, observability, and operational excellence
• Promote reusable frameworks, standards, and engineering patterns across teams

Data Quality, Governance & Security

• Establish standards for:
• Data Quality
• Data Lineage
• Observability
• Documentation
• Partner with Security, Privacy, and Compliance teams to ensure regulatory adherence
• Maintain trusted, secure, and accessible enterprise data assets

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Collaborate with Data Product Managers to translate business needs into engineering priorities
• Support Analytics, BI, and Data Science teams with high-quality, well-modeled data
• Partner with Architecture and Platform teams to align technology standards and tooling

Team Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop managers, technical leads, and senior data engineers
• Build strong engineering capabilities through hiring, coaching, and career development
• Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement

Operational Excellence

• Define and monitor key performance indicators, including:
• Pipeline Reliability
• Data Freshness
• SLA Compliance
• Platform Performance
• Cost Efficiency
• Drive high-quality execution and continuous optimization across data operations

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Information Systems, or a related field
• 8–12 years of experience in Data Engineering, Data Platforms, or related technical domains
• 3–5 years of experience leading engineering teams or enterprise-scale data initiatives
• Strong expertise in modern data architectures, cloud platforms, and distributed data systems
• Experience building and operating large-scale batch and streaming data pipelines
• Proven success leading data engineering organizations in complex enterprise environments
• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional leadership skills
• Excellent communication, strategic thinking, and delivery management capabilities

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related discipline
• Experience with enterprise cloud data platforms and modern data ecosystems
• Exposure to data governance, security, and regulatory compliance frameworks
• Experience supporting Analytics, BI, Data Science, and Data Product teams
• Track record of leading large-scale data modernization initiatives

Key Skills

• Data Engineering Leadership
• Cloud Data Platforms
• Data Architecture
• Batch & Streaming Pipelines
• Data Governance & Security
• Data Quality & Observability
• Platform Modernization
• Team Leadership & Mentorship
• Stakeholder Management
• Strategic Planning & Execution