Sr. Data Engineer (USAFacts)

The Organization

At USAFacts, we believe facts deserve to be heard. We are on a mission to provide a comprehensive and unbiased look at our country by the numbers. Democracy thrives on serious, reasoned, and informed debate. And we’re here for it.

Founded and funded by Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, USAFacts answers questions around government spending and outcomes. While these are basic questions, finding the answers is hard. But it’s also pretty exciting. We pull together data from thousands of jurisdictions to normalize, contextualize, and visualize these metrics so the data is approachable and understandable.

Every day we learn something about our country, how to make complex data understandable, and how to make the American people interested in the numbers. We’re a collaborative group and are always learning from each other, too. The team is mission-driven, with no political agenda nor commercial incentive; we do this work purely as a public service.

Oh, and to top it off? USAFacts was named to Fast Company’s List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023!

Learn more about us at:

https://usafacts.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/usafacts/

We’d love for you to bring your talents, your curiosity, and come make a difference!

The Opportunity

At USAFacts, we are committed to providing unbiased and transparent data about the United States. We are seeking a Senior Data Engineer to be at the helm of scaling our data infrastructure to manage tens of thousands of sources to support our expanding scope of data-driven products.

This role will lead the development of AI tools needed to drive the acceleration of data acquisition, ensure the reliability and accuracy of the outputs, and enhance the accessibility and discoverability of data. They will offer technical guidance and mentorship, uphold data integrity, and collaborate with diverse teams to meet our extensive data needs.

A strong candidate will have experience designing and implementing large-scale data systems and infrastructure, including integrating AI and machine learning capabilities. They will also be an excellent communicator, problem solver, and continuous learner.

This role does not include direct people management. It is a collaborative, individual contributor role.

Key Priorities and Responsibilities

This role is split into two focus areas, AI Solutions and Data Engineering they include:

• AI Solutions
  • Lead the development of AI tools at USAFacts, including designing and maintaining scalable and reliable AI solutions and tools.
  • Leverage AI to make data more accessible and discoverable as data scales to tens of thousands of sources.
  • Proactively seek out and recommend new technologies and tools that can provide organizational benefit.
• Data Engineering
  • Monitor data systems and processes to identify issues and proactively implement improvements to prevent future problems.
  • Develop and support ETL/ELT processes to scale data ingestion to tens of thousands of government sources into USAFacts' data systems.
  • Collaborate with data engineers to integrate AI functionalities into data pipelines.
  • Implement data governance and quality processes to ensure the integrity and accuracy of data throughout its lifecycle.

Qualifications

• 7 to 10+ years in data engineering or a related field with a recent focus on building AI systems.
• Strong understanding of data architecture and data modeling principles, as well as proficiency in SQL and one or more programming languages like Python, Java, C#, or Scala.
• Experience designing and implementing large-scale data systems and infrastructure, with a specific emphasis on integrating AI and machine learning capabilities.
• Experience with cloud-based data technologies like Azure, AWS, or GCP.
• Familiarity with designing and implementing data governance and quality principles, particularly as they pertain to AI models and LLM outputs.
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills, with the ability to identify and resolve data engineering issues and system failures.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to communicate technical information to non-technical stakeholders and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Leadership skills, with the ability to mentor a team of data engineers and manage data engineering projects from start to finish.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to work with complex data sets and systems.
• Ability to stay up to date with the latest technologies and practices in data engineering, AI, and LLMs, and apply that knowledge to improve the company's data infrastructure.
• A Bachelor’s or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or a related field.
• Professional certifications in data engineering technologies (Databricks, Spark, Lakehouse, AirFlow, SQL) and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) are a plus.

Compensation & Benefits

The starting cash compensation range for the Senior Data Engineer role in Bellevue, WA includes a base salary range of $169,200 to $211,500, plus a 10% performance bonus target opportunity.

The maximum of the base salary range for the role is $253,800 per year. Individual pay increases are assessed annually based on multiple factors such as demonstrated skill in the role and context, progress and performance against goals, and increased experience.

Featured Benefits & Perks

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with employee and dependent premiums entirely paid for by Ballmer Group
• 3 weeks of paid vacation annually
• 11 paid holidays, plus paid days off for the weekdays between Christmas and New Year
• 80 hours of paid sick leave annually
• 401(k) with 6% employer contribution
• 2:1 Ballmer Family Giving Match for charitable contributions
• Professional development reimbursement up to $2,000 per year
• Employer-paid life insurance of 3x salary to $1,000,000 ($750k guarantee issue)
• Fertility & Family Building reimbursement to $40,000 (lifetime max)
• Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options
• Parking or transportation (Orca card) up to $250 monthly
• Cash stipend of $300/month (for cell phone, wellness expenses, etc.)

Location & Hybrid Work

The position is based in Bellevue, Washington.

Our organization practices intentional hybrid work. All USAFacts employees are expected to work on-site Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during overlapping core hours of 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Mondays and Fridays remain flexible work-from-home or office workdays.