Senior Data Engineer

Job description

Who We Are

We asked ourselves — What if better care didn’t cost more? That’s why we built Vitable: the health benefits platform making healthcare better for employers of everyday workers. We bring accessible, high-quality care to over 85 million uninsured and underinsured Americans. Unlike traditional options, our suite of health benefits is designed with real people at the center.

Vitable empowers businesses to become better employers by making it easy to offer healthcare benefits to their teams. It’s a better experience for employees and a smarter solution for employers.

Simply put, we’re built for better.

We’re growing rapidly and looking for eager team members who are hungry for change and passionate about delivering better care to the everyday worker. Does that sound like you?

About the Role

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Lead Data Engineer to join our growing team. This is a unique opportunity for a “founding engineer” type who thrives in a fast-paced environment, can lead technical initiatives, and is eager to build our data platform from the ground up. You will be instrumental in shaping our data strategy, driving technical execution, and fostering a data-driven culture.

What You’ll Do:

• Strategic Vision & Roadmap: Partner closely with business stakeholders to understand their data needs, identify key challenges, and define a comprehensive data strategy and roadmap for the organization.
• Architect & Build: Design, develop, and maintain robust, scalable, and efficient data pipelines and data infrastructure. This includes data ingestion, transformation, storage, and access layers.
• Hands-on Execution: Be willing to roll up your sleeves and perform significant hands-on technical work, coding, and debugging to bring our data vision to life.
• Technical Leadership: Lead by example, mentor junior data engineers as we grow the team, and contribute to best practices in data engineering, data governance, and data quality.
• Data Maturity Assessment: Evaluate our current data maturity, identify gaps, and propose solutions to elevate our data capabilities and drive continuous improvement.
• Technology Selection: Research, evaluate, and implement new data technologies and tools to enhance our data platform.
• Collaboration: Work cross-functionally with product, engineering, and business teams to ensure data solutions meet business objectives and integrate seamlessly with existing systems.
• Problem Solving: Tackle complex data problems with innovative and pragmatic solutions.

What We’re Looking For:

• 5+ years of experience in data engineering, with a strong track record of designing and implementing data solutions.
• Extensive experience with ETL/ELT tools and techniques, including batch and streaming data processing.
• Strong proficiency working in DBT
• Strong proficiency with data warehousing concepts and data modeling.
• Expertise in cloud data platforms such as AWS (S3, Redshift, Glue, EMR, Athena), Google Cloud Platform (BigQuery, Dataflow, Cloud Storage), or Azure (Data Lake, Synapse Analytics, Data Factory).
• Strong proficiency in Python or Java for data pipeline development.
• Deep understanding of SQL and experience with various relational and NoSQL databases.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear business language.
• A “founding engineer” mindset: self-starter, proactive, adaptable, and comfortable with ambiguity and rapid iteration.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives and influence technical direction.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.

Bonus Points If You Have:

• Experience with data governance, data quality, and metadata management.
• Familiarity with containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform).
• Knowledge of BI tools (e.g., Metabase, Tableau, Looker, Power BI).

Benefits and Perks

• 100% Silver Plan + Full Medical Coverage
• Dental and Vision Coverage
• 401(k) and Life Insurance
• Access to Vitable’s Primary Care membership
• Unlimited PTO
• Remote-first culture with a supportive team
• MacBook and any other gear you need
• Mentorship opportunities through First Round Capital
• Home office setup stipend
• Competitive equity package

Who Thrives Here

You care. About people, about purpose, about doing work that matters.

You’re the kind of person who sees a broken system and asks, “How can I fix this?” You’re not afraid of a challenge—in fact, you’re energized by it. You move fast, but you think things through. You don’t just get things done, you get the right things done.

At Vitable, we thrive on autonomy and collaboration. That means you have the space to own your work, make smart decisions, and lead with initiative, but you also know when to pull others in, ask questions, and work as a team.

You’ll fit right in if you’re:

• Motivated by mission
• Someone who gets sh*t done (and does it well)
• Curious, thoughtful, and clear on your “why”
• A self-starter who can figure things out
• Empathetic, honest, and genuinely care about others
• Collaborative, but confident in working independently
• Hungry for change—and ready to help make it happen

We care deeply about the people we serve, and we care about our team just as much. We support each other, we show up with heart, and we have fun while we do it.

No egos, no jerks. Just good humans doing great work.

Inclusion at Vitable

Vitable is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences—and we’re committed to building a team that reflects the people we serve.

If you’re excited about this role but your background doesn’t match every requirement, we still encourage you to apply. We care more about potential and passion than checking every box.