WHO WE ARE
Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA) is the AI-Powered Marketing Cloud that leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and trillions of consumer signals to make it easier for marketers to acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently. Through the Zeta Marketing Platform (ZMP), our vision is to make sophisticated marketing simple by unifying identity, intelligence, and omnichannel activation into a single platform – powered by one of the industry’s largest proprietary databases and AI. Our enterprise customers across multiple verticals are empowered to personalize experiences with consumers at an individual level across every channel, delivering better results for marketing programs. Zeta was founded in 2007 by David A. Steinberg and John Sculley and is headquartered in New York City with offices around the world. To learn more, go to www.zetaglobal.com.
THE ROLE
As a Senior Data Platform Engineer, you will build and operate the data infrastructure that supports Zeta’s products, analytics, machine learning, and AI systems.
This is a broad platform role. Engineers on the team take ownership across Lakehouse architecture, distributed compute, data quality, governance, lineage, security, access controls, and the operational systems that keep the platform running. Individual focus areas will change with team priorities, and you will contribute across the platform as needed.
The team also develops tooling for type-safe, testable data pipelines and operates Spark workloads on dynamically sized Hadoop clusters backed by EC2 Spot instances. We work closely with data engineers, data scientists, infrastructure teams, and product teams to make data dependable, easy to find, secure to use, and cost-effective to process.
This is a hybrid role based out of either our San Mateo, CA or San Francisco, CA office.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Build and operate Lakehouse, Spark, and distributed data-processing systems.
Improve the performance, reliability, cost, and operational visibility of platform workloads.
Develop capabilities for data quality, governance, lineage, metadata, discoverability, security, and access control.
Build the data context required for trusted reporting, ML models, and AI agents.
Evaluate compute and query engines for read-heavy workloads, assessing cost, performance, reliability, and operational fit.
Assess real-time OLAP technologies and identify appropriate production use cases.
Improve deployment, observability, incident response, developer tooling, and platform operations.
Partner with data scientists and data engineers to improve their experience using the platform.
Contribute fixes and improvements to relevant open-source projects, including Spark, Iceberg, and Airflow.
Mentor engineers through code reviews, pairing, design discussions, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
QUALIFICATIONS
7+ years of software engineering experience.
Strong experience in Python, Scala, Java, or another JVM language.
Experience with Spark or another distributed data-processing framework.
Experience building or operating production data platforms, backend systems, or distributed systems.
Familiarity with at least 1 of these areas: Lakehouse architecture, Apache Iceberg, data quality, governance, lineage, metadata, query engines, or real-time OLAP.
Working knowledge of AWS services such as EC2, S3, Athena, and IAM.
Experience improving production reliability through monitoring, alerting, deployment automation, and incident response.
Strong analytical, communication, and collaboration skills.
Experience with Kubernetes, Terraform, Airflow, Trino, ClickHouse, Starrocks, or Pinot is a plus.
BENEFITS & PERKS
- Unlimited PTO
- Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Employee Equity and Stock Purchase Plan
- Employee Discounts, Virtual Wellness Classes, andPet Insurance And more!!
SALARY RANGE
The salary range for this role is $165,000 - $185,000, depending on location and experience.
PEOPLE & CULTURE AT ZETA
Zeta considers applicants for employment without regard to and does not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Zeta discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
We’re committed to building a workplace culture of trust and belonging, so everyone feels invited to bring their whole selves to work. We provide a forum for employees to celebrate, support and advocate for one another. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion here: https://zetaglobal.com/blog/a-look-into-zetas-ergs/
ZETA IN THE NEWS!
https://zetaglobal.com/press/?cat=press-releases
#LI-YW1
Skills Required
- 7+ years of software engineering experience
- Strong experience with Python, Scala, Java, or another JVM language
- Experience with Spark or another distributed data-processing framework
- Experience building or operating production data platforms, backend systems, or distributed systems
- Familiarity with at least one of Lakehouse architecture, Apache Iceberg, data quality, governance, lineage, metadata, query engines, or real-time OLAP
- Working knowledge of AWS services such as EC2, S3, Athena, and IAM
- Experience improving production reliability through monitoring, alerting, deployment automation, and incident response
- Strong analytical, communication, and collaboration skills
- Experience with Kubernetes, Terraform, Airflow, Trino, ClickHouse, StarRocks, or Pinot
What the Team is Saying
Zeta Global Compensation & Benefits Highlights
How does Zeta Global ensure its pay and bonus plans are competitive?
Zeta Global supports competitive compensation through a mix of base pay, equity, performance incentives, financial benefits and employee feedback-informed rewards. The company’s total rewards approach connects compensation with ownership, financial planning and benefits that support employees’ broader well-being.
- Competitive pay and incentives: Zeta lists competitive pay, equity, performance bonuses and an employee stock purchase plan as part of its compensation and total rewards offerings. Employees also describe compensation as a strength. A software engineer said Zeta offers “good compensation,” “best appraisals and pay raise” and a “supportive work environment,” while a director cited “compensation” as one of the strengths of the company.
- Equity and ownership: Zeta offers company equity and an employee stock purchase plan, giving employees ways to participate in the company’s growth. Its broader financial benefits also include a 401(k) with company match, monthly financial workshops, commuter benefits and insurance coverage, reinforcing compensation as part of a larger financial wellness package.
- Performance-oriented rewards: Employee reviews describe Zeta’s compensation as tied to performance and growth. One employee said, “Zeta pays well,” while another said compensation is “within industry range and revised every year.” A finance analyst cited “great incentives,” and a director described Zeta as a place to “shape your career” with room to move up. (Comparably; Glassdoor reviews; Indeed reviews)
- Benefits that strengthen total rewards: Zeta’s rewards package extends beyond pay through health, dental and vision insurance, mental health benefits, pet insurance, flexible time off, parental leave, adoption assistance, fertility and family-building support, travel assistance for reproductive health procedures, volunteer days and wellness resources. The company also says it uses wellness surveys and employee feedback to shape benefits updates, including expanded parental leave and adoption assistance.
- External signals:
- Compensation sentiment: Employees on external review sites describe Zeta’s compensation as “good,” “great” and competitive, with reviews citing pay raises, incentives, benefits and performance-based earning potential. (Glassdoor reviews; Indeed reviews; Comparably)
- Benefits signals: External profile data lists company equity, performance bonuses, an employee stock purchase plan and a home-office stipend for remote employees.
- Financial wellness: Zeta’s benefits include 401(k) matching, financial workshops, insurance coverage and employee stock purchase participation.
Bottom line: Zeta Global’s compensation approach combines competitive pay, performance incentives, equity, stock purchase access and broad benefits, giving employees both near-term rewards and longer-term financial participation in the company’s growth.
Zeta Global Insights
What We Do
Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA) is the AI Marketing Cloud that leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and trillions of consumer signals to make it easier for marketers to acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently. Through the Zeta Marketing Platform (ZMP), our vision is to make sophisticated marketing simple by unifying identity, intelligence, and omnichannel activation into a single platform – powered by one of the industry’s largest proprietary databases and AI. Our enterprise customers across multiple verticals are empowered to personalize experiences with consumers at an individual level across every channel, delivering better results for marketing programs. Zeta was founded in 2007 by David A. Steinberg and John Sculley and is headquartered in New York City with offices around the world.
Why Work With Us
At Zeta, people have the freedom to think creatively, take initiative, and grow. We value curiosity, innovation, and teamwork, empowering everyone to use AI and technology in smarter ways to drive impact for clients, consumers, and each other while shaping the future together.
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Zeta Global Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
