The Role
Lead the architecture and development of scalable data pipelines, production datasets, and cloud data infrastructure. Manage schema evolution, backfills, performance optimization, incident response, observability, and reliable customer-facing reporting. Partner with Data Science, Analytics, and Product teams while mentoring engineers and establishing best practices for code quality, testing, security, and system design.
Summary Generated by Built In
Samba connects the advertising industry. Today, a trillion dollars of media flows through platforms that don’t talk to each other, and each one measures its own results. We built the independent alternative: consented first-party data and AI that give the world’s biggest advertisers, publishers, and platforms one clear view across all of it.
The next era of advertising will run on AI agents, and those agents will need data they can trust. We’re building that foundation, and the agents that act on it. Join us and help build what the industry runs on.
You lead the development of scalable, high-performance data pipelines and infrastructure that power Samba analytics and insights. You play a critical role in designing architectural improvements, ensuring best practices, and mentoring a team of engineers, working closely with Data Science, Analytics, and Product teams to deliver production-ready data solutions that drive business impact.
- Lead Architecture: Lead the design and development of scalable, high-performance data pipelines and infrastructure that power Samba's analytics, and resolve complex technical issues in creative and effective ways.
- Manage Production Datasets: Lead the design, build, and maintenance of high-scale production datasets, delivering versioned outputs and reliable customer-facing reports.
- Evolve Schemas Safely: Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of data features, adding attributes, updating business logic, and executing safe rollouts (staging, performance check, production), including complex backfills and reprocessing.
- Engineer Performance and Cost: Architect efficient solutions for data ingestion, transformation, and storage, ensuring performance, reliability, and security, and proactively drive down compute and storage costs.
- Lead Incident Response: Serve as technical lead for production incidents: investigate root causes, implement permanent fixes, and validate data recovery across the ecosystem.
- Improve Observability: Enhance monitoring and observability of data processes, improving debugging, error detection, and system reliability at scale.
- Influence and Mentor: Network with key contacts outside your area and advise others on complex matters, guide new policies and ideas, and mentor engineers to foster a culture of technical excellence.
What You Bring
- Typically 8+ years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree (6+ with a Master's, or 3+ with a PhD), or equivalent practical experience.
- Advanced Python and a deep understanding of distributed data processing frameworks like Apache Spark or PySpark.
- Must-have expertise in Apache Airflow and Databricks for orchestration and scalable data processing.
- Extensive experience with cloud-based data infrastructure (AWS, GCP) and modern data lake architectures.
- Strong knowledge of data modeling, database design, and query optimization for relational and non-relational databases.
- A proven track record of driving best practices for code quality, testing, and software design in data engineering.
- Able to adapt your communication style and use persuasion when delivering messages that relate to the wider business.
Samba is an equal opportunity employer.
Your personal information
We collect personal information directly from you when you apply. Where the law permits, we may also receive it from third parties, such as through background, employment, or reference checks. For details, see Samba’s Applicant Privacy Policy. For EU residents, Samba Inc. is the data controller.
Use of AI in hiring
We may use AI tools to help review applications, analyze resumes, or assess responses. These tools support our recruiting team. People make every hiring decision. To learn more about how we process your data, please reach out.
Skills Required
- Typically 8+ years of related experience, or 6+ years with a master's degree, 3+ years with a PhD, or equivalent practical experience
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience
- Advanced Python experience
- Deep understanding of distributed data processing frameworks such as Apache Spark or PySpark
- Expertise in Apache Airflow
- Expertise in Databricks
- Extensive experience with cloud-based data infrastructure, including AWS or GCP
- Experience with modern data lake architectures
- Strong knowledge of data modeling, database design, and query optimization
- Experience with relational and non-relational databases
- Track record of driving best practices for code quality, testing, and software design in data engineering
- Ability to adapt communication style and use persuasion when communicating with the wider business
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The Company
What We Do
Samba is a media-intelligence company that combines consented first-party viewership data from streaming, linear TV, the web, and video games with AI to map content, audiences, and outcomes. Its platform gives advertisers, publishers, and media platforms insight into audience behavior and supports campaign planning, targeting, measurement, and optimization across channels. Samba’s data and analytics help clients understand audiences and make marketing decisions.
