The Trade Desk is a global technology company and the world’s leading independent platform for digital advertising, with nearly 4,000 employees across more than 30 offices. Our technology helps advertisers reach the right audiences across the open internet — from streaming TV and podcasts to mobile apps, news, and more.
Advertising powers the content people love. By making it more transparent, effective, and responsible, we help support trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and creators worldwide. The world’s brands and agencies rely on us to reach their customers and grow their businesses responsibly.
The scale of our platform brings unique technical challenges — from processing massive datasets in real time to building systems that operate reliably on a global scale. When you work here, your impact is worldwide. We welcome diverse perspectives, encourage curiosity, and build teams that learn from one another. If you’re driven to solve meaningful challenges, we’d love to meet you.
ABOUT THE ROLE
This role sits within the Technology Operations group in Engineering at The Trade Desk and focuses on building reliable, scalable, and well‑governed enterprise data solutions. As a Senior Software Engineer – Data Engineer, you will be an end‑to‑end owner for complex data pipelines, models, and integrations that power analytics, reporting, and internal products.
This is a hands-on senior role with growing technical leadership expectations. You will work independently on ambiguous problems, influence design decisions, and mentor others, while still operating within an established architecture and technical direction.
WHAT YOU WILL DO:
- Own complex data pipelines end to end. Design, build, and operate scalable batch and near‑real‑time ETL/ELT pipelines using Snowflake, Databricks, Spark, and cloud storage.
- Drive data modeling and warehouse design. Define and implement dimensional models, data marts, and curated datasets that balance performance, usability, and governance.
- Raise data quality and reliability. Implement robust data quality checks, validations, monitoring, and alerting to ensure data accuracy, freshness, and trust.
- Collaborate deeply with stakeholders. Partner with product managers, BI teams, data scientists, and internal business teams to translate business needs into well‑designed data solutions.
- Lead design without owning architecture. Proactively propose technical improvements, review designs, and influence standards while aligning with broader platform and architectural direction.
- Mentor and raise the bar. Provide technical guidance through code reviews, pairing, and documentation; help mid‑level and junior engineers grow in ownership and quality.
- Operational excellence. Improve performance, scalability, cost efficiency, and observability of data systems; participate in on‑call and incident response as needed.
WHO YOU ARE:
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, information security, or a related field, or equivalent work experience. Masters degree preferred and 6-8+ years of professional experience in software or data engineering
- Strong expertise in SQL and data modeling for analytics and reporting
- Hands‑on experience with Snowflake and/or Databricks modern data warehouse concepts
- Experience building and operating ETL/ELT pipelines using tools such as Airflow, Dagster, Glue, or similar
- Proficiency in Python, Scala, Java, or similar languages
- Familiarity with Spark–based data processing
- Solid understanding of version control (Git) and CI/CD practices
- Experience with data quality, observability, and operational support
- Strong senior‑level engineer. You can independently deliver complex data solutions and make sound technical tradeoffs, even when requirements are incomplete.
- Pragmatic and detail‑oriented. You care deeply about correctness, reliability, and maintainability—not just shipping code.
- Collaborative and influential. You communicate clearly, build trust across teams, and influence outcomes without requiring formal authority.
- Continuously learning. You stay current on data engineering patterns, tooling, and best practices and apply them thoughtfully
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience working at petabyte‑scale or high‑growth data environments
- Familiarity with governance, security, and compliance (e.g., PII handling, access controls)
- Exposure to containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) or cloud infrastructure patterns
- Experience in AdTech or analytics‑heavy domains
- Comfort working with BI and reporting tools and understanding downstream consumption needs
Variety of technical opportunity is one of the best things about working at The Trade Desk as a software engineer which is why we do not expect you to know every technology we use when you start. What we care about is that you can learn quickly and find solutions to complex problems using the optimum tools for the job. What you know is less important than how well you learn and innovate. We don't need engineers who know all the answers; we need engineers who can invent the answers no one has thought of yet, to the questions yet to be asked.
The Trade Desk does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm recruiters. Fees will not be paid in the event a candidate submitted by a recruiter without an agreement in place is hired; such resumes will be deemed the sole property of The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk is an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.
[LA JOBS ONLY] The Trade Desk will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Ordinance No. 184652.
[SF JOBS ONLY] Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
In accordance with various US state laws, the range provided is the Trade Desk's reasonable estimate of the base compensation for this role. The actual amount may differ based on non-discriminatory factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, and location. All employees may be eligible to become The Trade Desk shareholders through eligibility for stock-based compensation grants, which are awarded to employees based on company and individual performance. The Trade Desk also offers other compensation depending on the role such as variable compensation-based incentives and commissions. Plus, expected benefits for this role include comprehensive healthcare (medical, dental, and vision) with premiums paid in full for employees and dependents, retirement benefits such as a 401k plan and company match, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, well-being benefits, reimbursement for certain tuition expenses, parental leave, sick time of 1 hour per 30 hours worked, vacation time for full-time employees up to 120 hours thru the first year and 160 hours thereafter, and around 13 paid holidays per year. Employees can also purchase The Trade Desk stock at a discount through The Trade Desk’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
The Trade Desk also offers a competitive benefits package. Click here to learn more.
Note: Interns are not eligible for variable incentive awards such as stock-based compensation, retirement plan, vacation, tuition reimbursement or parental leave
As an Equal Opportunity Employer, The Trade Desk is committed to creating an inclusive hiring experience where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Please reach out to us at accommodations@thetradedesk.com to request an accommodation or discuss any accessibility needs you may require to access our Company Website or navigate any part of the hiring process.
When you contact us, please include your preferred contact details and specify the nature of your accommodation request or questions. Any information you share will be handled confidentially and will not impact our hiring decisions.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent experience
- 6-8+ years of experience in software or data engineering
- Strong expertise in SQL and data modeling
- Hands-on experience with Snowflake and/or Databricks
- Experience with ETL/ELT tools such as Airflow, Glue
- Proficiency in Python, Scala, or Java
- Familiarity with Spark-based data processing
- Understanding of version control (Git) and CI/CD practices
- Experience with data quality and operational support
The Trade Desk Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about The Trade Desk and has not been reviewed or approved by The Trade Desk.
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Affordable Benefits — Healthcare premiums are often paid in full for employees and dependents, reducing out-of-pocket costs. Coverage includes medical, dental, and vision alongside mental health and wellness support.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Packages commonly include new-hire stock grants, a generous Employee Stock Purchase Plan, and equity refreshers tied to performance. Feedback suggests equity meaningfully boosts total compensation alongside base pay and bonuses.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, paid holidays, paid sick time, and sabbaticals are available. Paid parental leave and extensive family-planning support broaden time-off and caregiving coverage.
The Trade Desk Insights
What We Do
The Trade Desk is changing the way global brands and their agencies advertise to audiences around the world. Our mission is to transform media for the benefit of humankind. Our media-buying platform helps brands deliver a more insightful and relevant ad experience for consumers — and sets a new standard for reach, accuracy, and transparency.
Why Work With Us
With up to 11 million queries per second and SLAs in the milliseconds, we’re tackling data and software challenges at massive scale. While we’re growing fast, investing in our value based company culture remains one of our top priorities. If you’re talented, driven, and hungry to bring something entirely new and wildly ambitious, let's talk.
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