Job description
At Colibri, culture is a critical part of our collective success, and we live our values everyday: Love, Joy,
Boldness, Teamwork and Curiosity. These values guide our interactions with each other, our customers,
and the community as a whole.
We have a rich and storied history. Colibri is one of the pioneers of online professional education,
introducing some of the first web-based professional education courses in 2001. Today, the company’s
family of brands are the leading online professional education platforms in their respective end-markets.
We proudly serve >1 million customers annually and employ more than 1,500 mission-aligned
professionals. To learn more, please visit: www.colibrigroup.com
Position Overview:
The Director of Engineering – Data & Platforms will lead our Data Engineering organization to design and deliver trusted, scalable, and intelligent data platforms. This leader will architect and implement high-quality data ingestion pipelines that seamlessly move and transform data from SaaS applications and in-house transactional systems into a unified data platform. This foundation will power reporting, advanced analytics, and AI/ML solutions—including Generative AI—enabling actionable insights across the business.
With an AI-first mindset, this role goes beyond data delivery to drive the strategic adoption of modern data technologies, automation, and machine learning capabilities across the enterprise. The Director will champion a culture of innovation, data quality, and platform thinking while ensuring operational excellence and reliability
.
Reporting to the VP of Engineering, the Director is a strategic partner to product, engineering, and business leaders, shaping how data and platforms fuel the next generation of business growth.
What You’ll Do
- Develop and execute a multi-year data and platform strategy that accelerates AI/ML adoption, modernizes data infrastructure, and supports enterprise-scale analytics.
- Champion an AI-first culture by identifying and enabling opportunities for predictive analytics, machine learning, and generative AI within the data platform.
- Establish data governance, security, and compliance frameworks to ensure data is trusted, ethical, and compliant with regulatory requirements.
- Collaborate with senior leadership across engineering, product, and business teams to align on priorities, outcomes, and investments in data platforms.
- Define and enforce best practices for the development, automated testing, deployment, and monitoring of data ingestion and transformation pipelines.
- Drive standards for data mapping, transformation into analytics-friendly schemas, and rigorous validation processes to ensure data accuracy and reliability.
- Ensure platform reliability, performance, and 100% environment uptime through proactive monitoring and continuous improvement.
- Partner closely with Scrum Masters and the Data Insights team for story refinement, sprint planning, and delivery.
- Maintain strong communication channels with internal and external stakeholders to provide transparency, manage expectations, and accelerate outcomes.
- Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies (cloud, data mesh, streaming, real-time analytics, AI/ML, generative AI) to proactively identify opportunities for innovation.
- Partner with vendors and technology providers to evaluate and adopt tools that accelerate data platform capabilities.
- Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing Data Engineering team as a “player/coach”—balancing strategic leadership with hands-on technical contribution.
- Build a culture of innovation, learning, and continuous improvement where engineers are empowered to experiment with emerging data and AI technologies.
- Break down complex initiatives into actionable workstreams, ensuring clarity of ownership, timelines, and deliverables.
What You’ll Need to Succeed
- 7+ years of SDLC experience in ETL/ELT environments using tools such as Fivetran, dbt, SQL, AWS Redshift, Boomi, PowerBI, Git.
- 7+ years designing and optimizing schemas for analytical and AI/ML workloads.
- 7+ years of hands-on experience with AWS Cloud services (AWS Glue, AWS Lambda, Python, etc.).
- Familiarity with ERP and CRM systems (Salesforce, NetSuite, Hubspot, Eloqua).
- 7+ years in a people leadership role managing and scaling high-performing Data Engineering teams.
- Proven track record of delivering successful, enterprise-grade data and platform initiatives.
- Strong background in modern SDLC, CI/CD, and data platform best practices
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, agile environment, managing multiple priorities simultaneously.
- Strategic thinker with strong analytical and problem-solving skills; able to make data-driven decisions and inspire teams to do the same.
Colibri Group welcomes applicants from all backgrounds and experiences, and we understand that not every candidate will meet every requirement listed in the job description. Research has shown that women and people of color may be less likely to apply to jobs unless they feel they meet every qualification, and we want to actively combat this bias in our hiring process. If you’re excited about the role and believe you have the skills and experience to contribute to our team, we encourage you to apply, even if your background doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification listed. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we believe that diversity of perspectives and experiences is essential to our success. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another position within our organization. Don’t hesitate to take the leap and apply today!
