Lead Data Engineer

Lead Data Engineer role involves driving the design and implementation of our real-time data streaming platform. It includes leading initiatives that enable mission-critical use cases - from real-time analytics to personalized user experiences - by building scalable, low-latency data pipelines using Kafka Streams, Flink, and the JVM ecosystem (Java/Scala). This is a hands-on leadership role: it requires working across engineering, data, and product teams to architect high-throughput systems, mentor engineers, and shape our long-term data strategy.

About your key responsibilities and impact:

• Designing and implementing real-time streaming pipelines using Kafka, Flink, and Kafka Streams;
• Leading architecture and design decisions for the event-driven data platform;
• Mentoring mid-level/senior engineers and fostering best practices in stream processing;
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams (data engineering, product, analytics, data science) to translate business requirements into robust data systems;
• Ensuring data quality, observability, and reliability in streaming data;
• Championing performance, fault tolerance, and exactly-once semantics in streaming jobs;
• Evaluating and adopting new technologies to drive innovation;
• Defining project goals and deliverables with stakeholders;
• Enforcing quality assurance standards and ensuring thorough testing before release;
  Promoting agile methodologies and improving development processes;
• Acting as the primary point of contact between the team and management, ensuring alignment with business goals;
• Maintaining comprehensive documentation for system architecture and technical designs.

Essential professional experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in a similar role with a strong track record of leadership and successful project delivery.
• Proven expertise with Apache Kafka and hands-on experience with Flink, Kafka Streams, or similar real-time systems;
• Strong programming skills in Java, Scala, or Python;
• In-depth understanding of distributed systems, data consistency models, and streaming semantics;
• Experience with CI/CD, containerization, and infrastructure-as-code tools is a plus;
• Ability to motivate and inspire a team, with experience in hiring and retaining top talent;
• Knowledge of team role models and how to create a supportive, inclusive work environment;
• Commitment to mentoring and professional growth of team members;
• Proven ability to deliver projects on time, within scope and budget, with clear goal-setting (KPIs/OKRs);
• Advanced problem-solving skills and the ability to assess risks and mitigate them;
• Ability to implement and monitor team KPIs, identify inefficiencies, and drive process improvements;
• Proficiency in written and verbal communication, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts (e.g., CAP theorem);
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.