Head of Data Platform Engineering

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the long-term vision and architecture for a unified, cloud-native data platform.
• Lead engineering teams building core components including data lakehouses, real-time streaming, and metadata catalogs.
• Drive the selection and adoption of modern technologies such as Snowflake, Databricks, Kafka, and Airflow.
• Establish high-quality data engineering foundations through CI/CD, IaC, and automated testing.
• Partner with Product, Analytics, and ML teams to define data contracts, SLAs, and governance standards.
• Build, mentor, and scale a multi-disciplinary engineering organization of data engineers and SREs.
• Represent data platform strategy to executive leadership to ensure alignment with business goals.

Requirements

• 20+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 10 years in data infrastructure or platform leadership.
• Proven track record of leading large-scale cloud migrations or greenfield cloud-native data platform builds.
• Deep expertise in distributed data systems, including storage (object stores, lakehouses), compute (Spark, Flink), and event streaming (Kafka).
• Proficiency in modern DevOps and DataOps practices, including Kubernetes and infrastructure automation.
• Strong people leadership skills with experience building and coaching high-performance teams across geographies.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to executives.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience architecting platforms using Azure Data Services, AWS, or GCP.
• Familiarity with modern governance frameworks such as Unity Catalog, Collibra, or Alation.
• Exposure to AI/ML enablement, including feature stores and model registries.
• Engineering degree in Computer Science or a related field.

Benefits

• Comprehensive retirement savings plan (401K) with company match.
• Medical, dental, vision, and long-term disability insurance.
• Paid time off, including vacation, sick leave, and family care responsibilities.
• Incentive compensation and annual performance-based awards.

About the Company

State Street is a leading global provider of financial services to institutional investors. Through Charles River Development and State Street Alpha®, we integrate data, technology, and services to help clients navigate complexity and drive innovation in the financial markets.