WorldStrides is the global leader in educational travel and experiential learning. The company was founded in 1967 to provide middle school travel programs to Washington, D.C. and has grown to provide a wide range of programs for more than half a million students annually to over 100 countries around the world. WorldStrides offers experiential learning programs in educational travel, performing arts, language immersion, career exploration, service-learning, study abroad, and sports. Each of these experiences helps students to see beyond the classroom and to see the world – and themselves – in new ways.
Job Description
The Senior ETL Engineer is responsible for the design, development, optimization, and long-term stewardship of enterprise data pipelines, data warehouse, and lakehouse solutions that support reporting, analytics, and advanced data use cases. This role goes beyond individual pipeline delivery, providing technical leadership, mentorship, and architectural collaboration across the data warehousing function.
The Senior ETL Engineer partners closely with business stakeholders, data scientists, analysts, and BI teams to ensure data products are reliable, scalable, secure, and aligned with business strategy. This role plays a critical part in shaping data standards and ensuring the quality and integrity of enterprise reporting data. Key customers include data science, analytics, and marketing teams operating across marketing, operations, customer insights, and finance.
Senior ETL Engineer Job Duties:
Data Engineering
- Design, build, and maintain scalable, high-performance ETL/ELT pipelines supporting analytics, reporting, and advanced data use cases
- Define and enforce data engineering standards, best practices, and reusable patterns for pipeline development
- Lead data modeling efforts to ensure datasets are optimized for analytics, performance, and usability
- Evaluate and recommend improvements to existing data architectures, tools, and processes to support growth, scalability, and cost efficiency
- Leverage AI tools responsibly to improve ETL development productivity and quality, including accelerating pipeline development, test generation, documentation, anomaly detection, and operational troubleshooting
Data Quality, Reliability & Operations
- Establish and enforce data quality, validation, fault-tolerance, and automated testing frameworks across all pipeline stages
- Ensure data integrity, accuracy, freshness, and lineage throughout the data lifecycle
DataOps, Automation & Optimization
- Lead DataOps and CI/CD practices for data pipeline deployment and management
- Drive automation to reduce manual processes in all stages of development
- Continuously optimize pipeline performance through query tuning, architectural improvements, and technology enhancements
- Identify and eliminate waste in data flows, reducing redundant processing and improving overall efficiency
- Evaluate, test, and adopt new tools, platforms, processes, and solutions aligned with modern data engineering best practices
Leadership & Mentorship
- Serve as a technical lead for complex or high-impact data initiatives
- Mentor and coach ETL Engineers, and collaborate on data architecture evolution
- Share knowledge through documentation, design artifacts, and technical guidance
Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
- Partner with business stakeholders to understand business requirements and translate into scalable data solutions
- Lead technical discussions to resolve ambiguous or competing data needs
- Communicate complex concepts clearly to technical and non-technical audiences
- Collaborate with data scientists, analysts, and BI engineers to adopt data products, and improve data usability and trust
- Act as a trusted advisor on data feasibility, trade-offs, risks, and prioritization
Security, Governance & Compliance
- Ensure data pipelines adhere to enterprise security, privacy, and governance standards
- Implement access controls, data protection measures, and compliance requirements
- Support data lineage, auditability, and metadata management initiatives
Senior ETL Engineer Skills & Qualifications:
- Advanced experience with SQL, relational databases, and data warehouse design
- Strong expertise with Microsoft Fabric and modern data platform concepts
- Proficiency in Python for ETL development, automation, and testing
- Deep understanding of data modeling, query optimization, and performance tuning
- Strong knowledge of DataOps, CI/CD, and automated testing for data platforms
- Experience designing and supporting production-grade, enterprise-scale pipelines
- Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills
- Proven ability to lead multiple initiatives and influence without formal authority
Education & Experience
- 5+ years of experience in data engineering, BI development, or analytics engineering
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical or analytical discipline required
Work Perks:
- Fun & driven environment.
- Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage, life, accidental death and dismemberment, accident, critical illness, and disability insurance, FSA healthcare, FSA dependent care, HAS with employer contribution, and generous 401k match.
- 10 paid floating corporate holidays, 1 paid volunteer day & 25 PTO days to start – accrue up to 28 over 3 years, 4 mental health days, and 5 bereavement days.
- Tuition reimbursement up to five thousand, two hundred fifty dollars annually or one thousand dollars towards professional certification annually.
- Opportunities for paid and discounted travel.
- Flexible work schedule providing on-site, remote, and virtual office opportunities.
- Encouraged participation in our Employee Resource Groups and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion council.
- Fitness Center and café onsite at select locations.
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Paid Parental, Caregiver, and Disability leave.
- Team Member Discount Program.
The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount WorldStrides is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.
Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.
The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount WorldStrides is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.
Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.
The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount WorldStrides is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.
Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.
The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount WorldStrides is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.
Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.
WorldStrides, a global organization, is committed to educate and serve communities worldwide. Our commitment is fueled by the passion of our team members and partners to make experiential learning accessible, while also being socially, environmentally, and ethically responsible. Together, we accomplish this by investing in initiatives to promote inclusion, diversity, and sustainability.
As an Equal Opportunity Employer, WorldStrides is committed to building a diverse workforce, supported by an environment that promotes inclusion and belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.
WorldStrides will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States. This is not a position for which sponsorship will be provided. Individuals with temporary visas such as E, F-1, J-1, H-1, H-2, L, B, J or TN, or who need sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, are not eligible for hire. Select seasonal roles may consider students on J-1 or F-1 visas.
Skills Required
- 5+ years of experience in data engineering, BI development, or analytics engineering
- Advanced experience with SQL, relational databases, and data warehouse design
- Strong expertise with Microsoft Fabric and modern data platform concepts
- Proficiency in Python for ETL development, automation, and testing
- Deep understanding of data modeling, query optimization, and performance tuning
- Strong knowledge of DataOps, CI/CD, and automated testing for data platforms
- Experience designing and supporting production-grade, enterprise-scale pipelines
- Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills
What We Do
WorldStrides provides educational travel and experiences to more than 530,000 students a year. Founded in 1967 by a middle school social studies teacher from Chicago, the company has since grown to become a leader in experiential learning for students of all ages throughout their lifetime learning journey. In addition to domestic and international travel and study abroad programs, WorldStrides offerings include performing arts, sports, language immersion, career exploration, and service-learning. Each of these experiences helps students to see beyond the classroom and to see the world – and themselves – in new ways. Our global team is 1,500+ strong, united by a passion for what we do. We work with students, parents, and teachers, and behind the scenes too, to deliver experiences that transform lives. Let's get out there - together! Community Guidelines We are happy to address questions you may have, but in order to foster a vibrant and useful online community, we’ve outlined a few guidelines to be followed when posting on the WorldStrides and affiliated brands' social channels . Any comments that are in violation of the guidelines will be removed, and repeat offenders may be blocked. Comments will be removed if they contain: • Profane, inappropriate, threatening or offensive language; • Violations of copyright or intellectual property rights; • Purposefully untrue or misleading statements; • Comments that are meant to derail or hijack constructive conversations; • Personal information of community members or WorldStrides employees; • Posts that link to potentially harmful sites.
