Staff Backend Engineer, Data Platform

Responsibilities

• Own consistency across distributed systems that maintain separate copies of data, including ingestion, retries, reordering, partial failure, and routing.
• Lead canonical schema design and evolution, including migrations, versioning, and effective-dated reference data.
• Define system architecture, systems of record, ownership boundaries, replication strategy, and access control.
• Design validation, permissions, conflict handling, and audit history for concurrent automated and human writes.
• Set data modeling standards and serve as the engineer consulted on changes to shared entities.
• Translate domain-expert needs into data platform capabilities and explain technical tradeoffs for decision-making.
• Establish data standards or architectural practices where they do not yet exist.
• Use AI coding tools heavily while applying judgment about when generated output requires review.

Requirements

• Accountability for a shared data model on which multiple teams depend, including aligning definitions, encoding them in schemas, and maintaining consistency across systems.
• Depth in asynchronous and event-driven service design, including idempotency, concurrency control, and consistency-focused integration patterns.
• Advanced data modeling and schema design experience involving temporal data and audit requirements.
• Sound judgment in making technical-debt tradeoffs and knowing where not to compromise.
• Demonstrated impact on team capability through durable standards and specific examples of engineer growth.
• Strong partnership with non-technical, scientific, or technical domain experts and ability to translate their vocabulary into a data model.
• Hands-on Python experience across the stack or close equivalents, including Postgres, BigQuery, GCS, containerized services, and scheduled jobs on Cloud Run.
• Experience establishing data standards or architectural practices in organizations without them is preferred.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision coverage may be available for full-time employees.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan with company match may be available for full-time employees.
• Flexible paid time off and company holidays may be available for full-time employees.
• Equity or incentive compensation may be available for eligible roles.
• The role is based within Osmo’s offices in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Somerville, Massachusetts; no remote or hybrid arrangement is specified.