Staff Data Engineer

Role overview

As a Staff Data Engineer at Headspace, you’ll help build and evolve the data platform that powers personalized, ethical, and scalable mental health support. The role focuses on privacy-first infrastructure, AI-ready capabilities, experimentation enablement, and leading strategy while mentoring the data team.

Responsibilities

• Lead implementation of a resilient, privacy-first data platform architecture for personalization, ethical AI, and data-driven decision-making
• Own platform optimization and consolidation efforts, including deprecating legacy/redundant tools (e.g., Appflow, Prefect, Stitch, Redshift, Looker)
• Design AI-ready architecture using semantic layers to standardize business logic for Agentic AI and enable smarter downstream use (ML, experimentation, onboarding pipelines)
• Mentor members of the Data Engineering team, especially around dbt architecture and query performance
• Promote a data-first culture and act as a technical thought leader shaping cross-functional data-centric roadmaps

Requirements

• 6+ years in data engineering with experience in:
  • data platform development
  • complex data model design
  • data compliance implementation
• Production experience writing performant Python and PySpark for distributed compute (Spark 3+, Delta Lake)
• Experience with Databricks (preferred) or Redshift and/or Snowflake
• Expertise in architectural patterns for high-volume ETL pipelines
• Strong data modeling experience including Medallion architecture, pipeline design, metrics calculation, and technical documentation
• Excellent written and oral communication for cross-functional collaboration
• BA/BS in CS/Engineering or equivalent practical experience

Preferred skills

• Experience building AI-ready architectures (semantic layers for Agentic AI)
• Exposure to event streaming (Kafka, EventHub) and CDC tools
• Familiarity with Terraform for deployment/infrastructure management
• Experience implementing governance, privacy, and security frameworks
• Understanding of PII/PHI data, HIPAA, and biometrics data
• Experience migrating/working with dbt for transformations, documentation, and lineage

Location & work model

• Remote in the US, full-time; candidates must permanently reside in the US and be based in specified cities.
• If based in the greater SF area, follow a hybrid model: 3 days/week in office, remote for the rest.

Compensation

• Anticipated base salary range: $140,400–$224,250 + equity + benefits.