Senior Data Engineer

Senior Data Engineer

Are you passionate about data? At WaFd Bank's Enterprise Data Department, we're on a mission to harness the power of data to drive decisions, create exceptional customer experiences, fight fraud, and power AI innovation. We are a small, collaborative group that values generalists over specialists, simple solutions over clever ones, and delivering results over talking. You will have real ownership of the systems you build, direct visibility into how your work affects the business, and the freedom to work across the full stack. If you want to do meaningful work on inside a stable, growing business bank with less bureaucracy and more impact, we'd like to meet you.

Applicants are encouraged to submit a cover letter with their resume. As a Senior Data Engineer, you will have a leading role in designing, building, and maintaining the organization's data repository and integration platforms, data flows (pipelines/integrations), and related systems. In addition to traditional data platform work, you serve as a generalist technical expert advising on solutions, administrating department systems, driving automation, and taking on the heavier technical challenges the department needs solved. You work as part of a small, collaborative team where members support one another, learn new tools and languages quickly, and pitch in wherever the work demands, sharing knowledge openly, mentoring junior staff and partnering across the department to deliver effective solutions that serve the broader organization.

Along with the key functions listed below, you will be expected to uphold the value that WaFd Bank places on simply being kind when working alongside colleagues and servicing our clients.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following:

• Data Platform Engineering and Administration Design, build, and operate the Bank's cloud data platforms, including the data warehouse, databases, and Lakehouse structures that support analytical and business needs. Administer the platform day to day managing compute and storage, role-based access, monitoring, and performance and cost optimization.
• Data Pipeline Engineering Develop, implement, and maintain efficient, automated data pipelines for ETL processes. Build and own integrations that move data between core systems and the data platform through APIs, change-data-capture, and batch feeds, ensuring data flows are reliable, timely, observable, and scalable.
• Data Architecture Work collaboratively and independently to design and implement database objects, including tables, views, and schemas, to support the analytical needs of the business. Transform raw data into a usable format by applying data cleansing, aggregation, filtering, and enrichment techniques, balancing performance, maintainability, and clarity for downstream consumers.
• Data Quality and Governance Develop and implement strategies and tactics to enhance and validate data quality, integrity, and consistency across multiple data sources and systems, including automated data quality checks. Assist with data governance, data classification, and make recommendations to improve organization-wide data management.
• Documentation and Procedures Create and manage documentation and appropriate procedures necessary to enforce standards, communicate best practices, define roles and responsibilities, and sustain ongoing operations. Define and promote effective documentation best practices internally and externally.
• Security / Compliance Adhere to all applicable laws and regulations. Maintain a working knowledge of security threats, laws, and policy for data privacy and protection; design and operate data systems with auditability, appropriate access controls, and sound change management in mind. Take steps to protect organizational data from accidental or unauthorized damage, modification, or disclosure; assist with security and access management.
• Technical Leadership and Support Serve as a go-to technical resource for the department, taking on complex troubleshooting, new technology evaluation, and the heavier technical lifting that spans systems and teams. Provide guidance to end-users, analysts, and stakeholders on data tools and technologies, and mentor junior engineers and analysts.
• Continuous Improvement Stay current with related regulations, best practices, tools, and new technologies; participate in educational opportunities; read industry publications; participate in professional organizations. Use new knowledge and ideas to continuously improve operational efficiencies, procedures, and strategy.
• Team Player Commit to a collaborative mindset and perform other duties as assigned in support of the team.
• Ensuring Regulatory & Operational Excellence Maintain the integrity of WaFd's business needs in all processes and activities. Adhere to bank policies and procedures designed to comply with federal regulations, including but not limited to the Bank Secrecy Act, USA Patriot Act and OFAC regulations. To that end, ensure timely and accurate preparation of reports and other recordkeeping requirements. Complete and pass all assigned eLearning courses and assigned certifications as required. Always adhere to security and compliance procedures. Avoid all real or perceived conflicts of interest and always maintain client privacy and confidentiality.

Qualifications

Personal Attributes:

• You default to action, take ownership, and deliver
• You care about the details and take pride in quality, even when nobody is watching
• You'd rather build a clean, simple solution than an impressive complicated one
• You treat your colleagues and stakeholders as customers whose time and problems matter
• You're comfortable with ambiguity and don't need a detailed playbook to get started

Education/Skills/Training:

• Bachelor's degree (B.A.) in computer science, data science, software engineering, information systems, related quantitative field, or equivalent experience and/or training. A minimum of five years of experience in data engineering, database administration, or similar functions.
• Advanced SQL, including performance tuning, and strong proficiency in Python. Experience with other languages (e.g., Java, Scala, PowerShell) is a plus.
• Hands-on experience operating a modern cloud data platform, ideally Snowflake, including warehouse and compute management, role-based access control, and performance and cost optimization.
• Significant experience with modern ETL/ELT tools and transformation frameworks, workflow orchestration, and integrating data from operational source systems via APIs, change-data-capture, and file or batch feeds.
• Proficiency with version control and Git-based workflows, and hands-on experience building and maintaining CI/CD and infrastructure-as-code.
• Experience building data quality and observability into pipelines, including automated data quality checks, data lineage, freshness monitoring, and alerting.
• Strong, broad knowledge of data management principles, data governance practices, and data modeling, including dimensional modeling.
• Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills, including the ability to determine the source of issues in unfamiliar code or systems and to recognize and resolve recurring problems.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to mentor junior engineers and help set technical standards across the team.

Preferred:

• Experience using, or strong interest in adopting, AI development tools (e.g., Snowflake Cortex, Claude Code, Codex).
• Familiarity with streaming or near-real-time data processing (e.g., Kafka, Kinesis, Snowpipe Streaming, OpenFlow).
• Core banking or financial-services systems experience (e.g., Fiserv/DNA, nCino).
• Familiarity with BI and data visualization tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau).
• Experience in fintech, banking, or another regulated and audited environment (e.g., SOX, GLBA, FFIEC), with the ability to design for auditability and access control.

Benefits

At WaFd Bank you get all of these great benefits!

• Paid time off for vacation, sick days and holidays
• Health insurance
• Stock options
• Bonus programs
• 401(k) plan
• Paid Parental Leave
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Long-term disability
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Employee assistance programs
• Pre-tax health and dependent-care spending plans

EEO Statement

We are committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action. We recruit, hire, train and promote persons in all job titles and ensure that all other personnel actions are administered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, military and/or veteran status, or disability in accordance with Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, which require affirmative action to ensure