Data Engineering Manager

Data Engineering Manager

About WeRoad: Connecting people, cultures, and stories. Founded in 2017, WeRoad is a fast-growing startup that is disrupting the travel industry in Italy, Spain, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland and… the USA! With 200 team members and 4K+ Travel Coordinators, we're a community of travelers who turn every trip into a life-changing experience. We connect like-minded millennials and send them on adventures to 1000+ destinations worldwide. We're on a mission to design and deliver experiences worth living and sharing, through rewriting the rules of the travel industry.

About the role: As Data Engineering Manager, you'll be a hands-on leader — you'll write code, review architecture, and work shoulder-to-shoulder with a small, senior Data Engineering team (1–2 engineers) on the evolution of WeRoad's data architecture: the BigQuery warehouse, the dbt transformation and semantic layers, and the pipelines that turn raw data into trusted, self-service insight across every market. You'll report to the Director of Data Engineering & AI and work hand in hand with the wider Data & BI team, Product, and business stakeholders.

It's a small, high-leverage team, so this is a player-coach role by design: you'll set the technical direction, standards, and roadmap, but you'll also be in the code and in the pipelines yourself whenever it counts. You'll take our data platform from solid foundations to best-in-class: a restructured warehouse and semantic layer, near-real-time serverless ingestion, dashboards-as-code, and AI woven through both how we build and what we ship.

What you'll do:

• Lead and grow our Data Engineering team (1–2 engineers) — owning delivery, quality, and career development.
• Own and evolve WeRoad's data architecture: the layered BigQuery warehouse (raw → marts → serving), the dbt transformation layer, and the semantic layer that defines our metrics.
• Own the ingestion and orchestration stack — Airflow, dlt, and the move to serverless CDC — and the reliability, quality, and observability of our data pipelines.
• Own the self-service BI and reporting toolkit (Tableau, Metabase, and our move to Lightdash / dashboards-as-code) so stakeholders can trust and explore their own data.
• Establish and maintain data governance: data quality, lineage, documentation, PII and access controls, and self-service standards.
• Drive AI across the team — AI-assisted engineering and production AI data pipelines — and its adoption as a standard practice.
• Partner with the Director of Data Engineering & AI, the Data & BI team, Product, and business stakeholders to translate company priorities into a data roadmap.

What you'll bring to the table:

• 5+ years in data engineering / analytics engineering in fast-growing product companies, including designing and evolving cloud data warehouses and pipelines (BigQuery / GCP a strong plus)
• Experience as a manager, leading and mentoring engineers — you know when to delegate, when to manage, and when to be hands-on (it's a small, senior team).
• Strong SQL and hands-on expertise with dbt, modern ELT / ingestion (dlt or similar), and workflow orchestration (Airflow).
• Experience with BI and dashboarding (Tableau, Metabase, Lightdash or similar) and building a semantic / metrics layer on top of the warehouse.
• A track record of establishing data governance — quality, lineage, documentation, PII and access management, and self-service.
• Demonstrable use of AI-assisted engineering and AI in data pipelines, and driving its adoption across a team.
• Excellent communication skills
• Fluent English; comfortable in a fast-paced, multi-market, remote-first environment.

You will love working at WeRoad if:

• You dream big, aim higher, and push yourself beyond limits you didn't think possible. Challenges excite you, and you're hungry for the next win.
• You want to be part of a young, smart, and fun team that shares your passion for travel. You thrive in a community of bold thinkers and doers who challenge and inspire each other.
• You're an entrepreneur at heart, take responsibility from day one, and move fast to make things happen.
• You prefer adventure over routine and embrace the fast-paced, ever-changing ride of a scaleup. You make decisions quickly, test, learn, and adapt—because growth comes from action.
• You believe in the power of people. Our WeRoaders and Travel Coordinators are at the core of everything we do, and you're eager to be part of something bigger.

What we can offer:

• Performance-based bonus – A discretionary annual variable bonus, based on performance and company results.
• A free WeRoad trip every year – Choose your dream destination with €1,400/year travel discount or travel even more as a Travel Coordinator.
• Trust-based holidays – We believe performance is driven by impact, not by hours at a desk. You are encouraged to take the time you need to recharge, beyond contractual minimums, within shared guidelines.
• Opportunities to learn – We invest in your growth with training and learning opportunities.
• New parent support – €3,600/year for 3 years after birth or adoption (or prorated if your child is under 3 when you start at WeRoad).
• Extra benefits – Meal vouchers (€8/day – when applicable), a €1,000 bonus for your wedding or civil union, and a one-off bonus when you hit 5 years with us.
• Fun – A vibrant co-working space, team buildings and meet-ups.
• Hybrid working – Flexible working, and we support you to work from your destination of choice up to 1 month per year.

Ready to apply? At WeRoad, cultural fit matters as much as skills. We assess both the what, what someone brings and the how, how they work and live our values. With multiple steps, we make sure every new joiner is not just a match, but 150% aligned with our Culture. The selection process will consist of:

• Introductory call with Talent Acquisition Lead
• Technical and background-based interview with Hiring Manager
• Case Study and Second technical interview
• Culture Champions step

WeRoad is an equal opportunity employer: we consider for employment all applicants, regardless of their race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, family status, political affiliation, disability, and any other legally protected characteristic. Statistically speaking, women are less likely to apply for roles where they don't fit the job description perfectly. Don't let a checklist hold you back: if you're passionate about the role we encourage you to apply with enthusiasm!