Principal Data Engineer

About the role

Chime is looking for a Principal Engineer to build a new data platform that scales to support the company's rapid growth. This is an exciting opportunity to be a foundational member of a critical part of Chime’s infrastructure. Reporting directly to the VP of Engineering for the Data Engineering organization, you will lead architecture and provide technical guidance to a team building new data capabilities. This platform has ambitious goals of supporting all the data of the Chime product and internal data needs while also taking into consideration the needs of compliance, governance, analytics, third-party systems etc. supported by a high availability, cloud-based architecture. By combining a mix of vendor based and in-house solutions, this engineer will play a key role in evolving the entire technical data strategy for Chime.

As the team grows, you will serve as a leader, designing elegant code and data architecture that scales to meet Chime's growing needs. You will work across and with teams at Chime to ensure that the platform works seamlessly for the product's needs, and with our partners to ensure they meet ours.

The base salary offered for this role and level of experience will begin at $263,160 and up to $372,800. Full-time employees are also eligible for a bonus, competitive equity package, and benefits. The actual base salary offered may be higher, depending on your location, skills, qualifications, and experience.

In this role, you will

• Architect and build a scalable data foundation for Chime to support diverse data needs, including various upstream and downstream data integrations, batch and real-time insights, and multiple data types
• Work with engineering, product and cross-functional senior leadership across Chime to architect solutions
• Work with technical and non-technical stakeholders and convert conversations to comprehensive solutions
• Write and guide engineers to produce elegant, scalable code, owning complete solutions across the stack. 
• Act as a role-model with impact-focus, innovation, continuous improvement and excellence within the team.
• Implement, create change management for and maintain best practices best practices for data ingestion, creation, enrichment and management, including data modeling, ETL processes, data warehousing, real-time data streaming, processing, storage, efficiency and real time insights.
• Create and execute plans for cost-effective, efficient, resilient, scalable and operational data infrastructure.
• Lead the evolution of  ML platform to help accelerate business impact bootstrapping AI.
• Develop and execute on a multi-milestone strategic roadmap for data infrastructure and engineering that ensures strong data foundation and aligns with the company’s overall business and data strategy.
• Act as a key decision maker to the company-level discovery, vetting and decision-making on critical data architecture and technology

To thrive in this role, you have

• Preferred Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field/ relevant hands-on experience
• 15+ years of experience in data engineering, data architecture, or related roles, with at least 5 years as a Principal Engineer
• Proven track record of designing and managing large-scale data infrastructures in a complex, fast-paced environment with preferable similar experience scaling data in a fast growing late-stage startup.
• Expertise in cloud platforms and big data technologies including proficiency in database management systems, ML and AI systems, data warehousing solutions 
• Experience with data integration tools and techniques, processes and real-time data streaming and processing
• Experience with data governance and security
• The ability to effectively empower and influence partners and teams at all levels
• Recognized as an industry leader/ published work in the data engineering space

A little about us

At Chime, we believe that everyone can achieve financial progress. We created Chime—a financial technology company, not a bank*—on the premise that basic banking services should be helpful, transparent, and free. Through our user-friendly tools and intuitive platforms, we empower our members to take control of their finances and work towards their goals. Whether it's starting a savings account, purchasing a first car or home, launching a business, or pursuing higher education, we're proud to have helped millions unlock their financial potential.

We're a team of problem solvers, dreamers, and builders with one shared obsession: our members. From day one, Chimers have worked tirelessly to out-hustle and out-execute competitors to bring our mission to life. Their grit and determination inspire us to work harder every day to deliver the very best experience possible. We each bring an owner's mindset to our work, refusing to be outdone and holding ourselves accountable to meet and exceed the highest bars for our teams, our company, and our members.

We believe in being bold, dreaming big, and taking risks, while also working together, embracing our diverse perspectives, and giving each other honest feedback. Our culture remains deeply entrepreneurial, encouraging every Chimer to see themselves as stewards of our mission to help everyday Americans unlock their financial progress. 

We know that to achieve our mission, we must earn and keep people's trust—so we hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity in everything we do. These aren't just words on a wall—our values are embedded in every aspect of our business, serving as a north star that guides us as we work to help millions achieve their financial potential.

Because if we don't—who will?

*Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.

What we offer

• 🏢 A thoughtful hybrid work policy that combines in-office days and trips to team and company-wide events depending on location to ensure you stay connected to your work and teammates, whether you’re local to one of our offices or remote
• 💻 Hybrid work perks like backup child, elder and/or pet care, as well as a subsidized commuter benefit
• 💰 Competitive salary based on experience
• ✨ 401k match plus great medical, dental, vision, life, and disability benefits
• 🏝 Generous vacation policy and company-wide Chime Days, bonus company-wide paid days off 
• 🫂 1% of your time off to support local community organizations of your choice
• 👟 Annual wellness stipend to use towards eligible wellness related expenses
• 👶 Up to 24 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents and 12 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birthing parents
• 👪 Access to Maven, a family planning tool, with $15k lifetime reimbursement for egg freezing, fertility treatments, adoption, and more.
• 🎉 In-person and virtual events to connect with your fellow Chimers—think cooking classes, guided meditations, music festivals, mixology classes, paint nights, etc., and delicious snack boxes, too!
• 💚 A challenging and fulfilling opportunity to join one of the most experienced teams in FinTech and help millions unlock financial progress

We know that great work can’t be done without a diverse team and inclusive environment. That’s why we specifically look for individuals of varying strengths, skills, backgrounds, and ideas to join our team. We believe this gives us a competitive advantage to better serve our members and helps us all grow as Chimers and individuals.

We hire candidates of any race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, Veteran status, and any other status. Chime is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Cook County Ordinance, and consistent with Canadian provincial and federal laws. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. 

To learn more about how Chime collects and uses your personal information during the application process, please see the Chime Applicant Privacy Notice.

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