Head of Data Platform Engineering, MD

Role Overview

The Head of Data Platform Engineering will lead the design, build, and operation of a modern, fully cloud-native data platform supporting enterprise-wide analytics, data science, and AI initiatives. This role is ideal for a seasoned engineering leader with a deep background in large-scale data systems, distributed computing, and modern cloud architectures especially Azure. The ideal candidate combines technical excellence, strategic vision, and the ability to scale teams, processes, and platforms that enable data-driven decision making.

Charles River Development empowers investment firms worldwide with a cloud-based platform that streamlines and automates the investment process across asset classes. As part of State Street Alpha®, we bring together data, technology, and services to help clients make confident decisions and scale with agility. Our open ecosystem and global support model enable investment professionals-from portfolio managers to private markets specialists-to navigate complexity and drive innovation. At Charles River, we thrive on collaboration, continuous improvement, and a shared commitment to shaping the future of financial technology.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and execute the long-term vision and architecture for a unified, cloud-native data platform supporting data ingestion, transformation, storage, governance, and access at scale.
• Lead the engineering teams building core components of the data platform: data lakehouse, real-time streaming, metadata catalog, observability framework, and security layers.
• Drive selection and adoption of technologies (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Kafka, Airflow, dbt, Delta Lake, Iceberg, or similar) aligned with business requirements and cloud-native best practices.
• Establish foundations for high-quality data engineering: CI/CD pipelines, IaC (Terraform, CloudFormation), automated testing, schema versioning, and data quality monitoring.
• Partner with Product, Analytics, and ML teams to define data contracts, SLAs, and governance standards that ensure reliability, consistency, and compliance.
• Build, mentor, and scale a multi-disciplinary engineering organization - attracting top data engineers, infrastructure specialists, and SREs.
• Represent the data platform strategy to executive leadership, ensuring alignment with enterprise technology and business goals.

Required Qualifications

• 20+ years of software engineering experience, including at least 10 years in data infrastructure or platform leadership roles.
• Proven record of leading large-scale cloud migrations or greenfield cloud-native data platform builds.
• Deep understanding of distributed data systems, including storage (object stores, data warehouses, lakehouses), compute (Spark, Flink, Presto), and event streaming (Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub).
• Hands-on background in modern DevOps and DataOps practices: CI/CD, container orchestration (Kubernetes), infrastructure automation, and observability.
• Familiarity with security and compliance frameworks (GDPR, SOC 2, HIPAA, etc.).
• Strong people-leadership skills: team building, coaching, and creating high-performance cultures across geographies.
• Experience partnering with analytics, ML, and enterprise application teams to deliver end-to-end data solutions.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to executives.

Preferred Experience

• Prior experience architecting platforms using AWS (Glue, S3, EMR, Redshift) or Azure Data Services (Synapse, Data Factory, ADLS Gen2) or GCP (BigQuery, Dataflow, Pub/Sub).
• Familiarity with modern governance frameworks (Unity Catalog, Collibra, Alation).
• Exposure to AI/ML enablement (feature stores, model registries, data versioning).
• Engineering degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.

Success Indicators

• Delivery of a scalable, reliable, and secure data platform used by analytics, ML, and operational stakeholders across the company.
• Reduction in data latency, increase in data quality, and measurable platform adoption.
• Growth and retention of high-performing engineering talent.
• Clear roadmap execution, cost efficiency, and alignment with business data initiatives.

Salary Range:
$170,000 - $267,500 Annual

The range quoted above applies to the role in the primary location specified. If the candidate would ultimately work outside of the primary location above, the applicable range could differ.

Employees are eligible to participate in State Street's comprehensive benefits program, which includes: our retirement savings plan (401K) with company match; insurance coverage including basic life, medical, dental, vision, long-term disability, and other optional additional coverages; paid-time off including vacation, sick leave, short term disability, and family care responsibilities; access to our Employee Assistance Program; incentive compensation including eligibility for annual performance-based awards (excluding certain sales roles subject to sales incentive plans); and, eligibility for certain tax advantaged savings plans.

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About State Street

Across the globe, institutional investors rely on us to help them manage risk, respond to challenges, and drive performance and profitability. We keep our clients at the heart of everything we do, and smart, engaged employees are essential to our continued success.

We are committed to fostering an environment where every employee feels valued and empowered to reach their full potential. As an essential partner in our shared success, you'll benefit from inclusive development opportunities, flexible work-life support, paid volunteer days, and vibrant employee networks that keep you connected to what matters most. Join us in shaping the future.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we consider all qualified applicants for all positions without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, age, disability, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, citizenship, marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, familial status, military and veteran status, and other characteristics protected by applicable law.

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