Staff Data Engineer

Role overview

Staff Data Engineer at Headspace with a foundational mandate to build and evolve a privacy-first data platform that powers personalization, ethical AI, experimentation, and data-driven decision-making. This is a high-impact staff-level role focused on technical strategy, mentorship, and shaping cross-functional roadmaps.

Responsibilities

• Lead implementation of a resilient, privacy-first data platform architecture for personalization, ethical AI, and faster decision-making.
• Drive platform optimization and consolidation, including deprecating legacy/redundant tools such as Appflow, Prefect, Stitch, Redshift, and Looker.
• Design AI-ready architecture using semantic layers to standardize business logic for Agentic AI.
• Spearhead new support for ML, experimentation, and onboarding to experimentation pipelines (e.g., Statsig).
• Mentor the Data Engineering team and broader data org, with emphasis on dbt architecture and query performance.
• Promote a data-first culture across teams with a focus on excellence, innovation, and collaboration.
• Act as a technical thought leader shaping the company’s data strategy and influencing cross-functional roadmaps.

Requirements

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

Preferred skills

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

Location & work model

• Role is remote in the US with the requirement to permanently reside in the US and be based in specified cities.
• If based in the greater SF area, it follows a hybrid model: 3 days/week in office, remaining days remote.

Compensation

• Anticipated base salary range: $140,400 – $224,250 (plus equity and benefits).