Staff Data Engineer

About the Staff Data Engineer at Headspace:

The Staff Data Engineer at Headspace will play a foundational role in building the data platform that powers personalized, ethical, and scalable mental health support. This person will lead the evolution of our privacy-first data infrastructure, enabling better experimentation, AI-ready capabilities, and smarter decision-making across the company. It's a high-impact staff-level role for someone who wants to shape technical strategy, mentor others, and help drive how Headspace delivers more personalized care to millions of members.

What you will do:

• Lead the implementation of a resilient, privacy-first data platform architecture that powers personalization, ethical AI, and accelerates data-driven decisions
• Lead the design, infrastructure, and tooling decisions for platform optimization and consolidation efforts, including the deprecation of legacy and redundant tooling such as Appflow, Prefect, Stitch, Redshift, and Looker
• Develop AI-ready architecture by creating semantic layers that define and standardize business logic, enabling data for Agentic AI, and spearheading new support for ML, experimentation, and onboarding to experimentation pipelines like Statsig
• Mentor other members of the DE and broader data team, particularly around dbt architecture and query performance., Foster a data-first culture that prioritizes excellence, innovation, and collaboration across teams
• Act as a technical thought leader, shaping the company's data strategy and influencing cross-functional roadmaps with data-centric solutions

What you will bring :

Required Skills:

• 6+ years in data engineering, with extensive experience in data platform development, complex data model designing, and data compliance implementation
• Production experience writing performant Python and PySpark code on distributed compute (Spark 3+, Delta Lake)
• Existing experience with Databricks is preferred or experience with Redshift and/or Snowflake
• Demonstrated expertise in architectural patterns for building high-volume ETL pipelines
• Experience with data modeling, Medallion architecture, pipeline design, metrics calculation and technical documentation
• Exceptional oral and written communication abilities, facilitating effective cross-functional collaboration
• BA/BS degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in developing AI-ready architecture, such as creating semantic layers that standardize business logic for Agentic AI enablement
• Exposure to event streaming (Kafka, EventHub) and CDC tools.
• Experience in deployment and infrastructure management using Terraform is a plus
• Prior experience implementing governance, privacy, and security frameworks across a data platform
• Familiarity with the complexities of PII/PHI data, HIPAA, and biometrics data
• Experience migrating or working with DBT for transformations, documentation, and lineage tracking

Location: This role is open to candidates across the US, with preferred locations in San Francisco, CA (hybrid), New York City, NY (remote), and Seattle, WA (remote). Candidates must permanently reside in the US full-time.

If your primary residence is in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, this role follows our hybrid model, with 3 days per week in office to support in-person collaboration. Your recruiter will share more details.

Pay & Benefits :

The anticipated new hire base salary range for this full-time position is $140,400-$195,000 + equity + benefits.


For candidates based in San Francisco, New York City, or Seattle, a separate salary range of $179,400-$224,250 applies, consistent with our location-based compensation philosophy.

Our salary ranges are based on the job, level, and location, and reflect the lowest to highest geographic markets where we are hiring for this role within the United States. Within this range, individual compensation is determined by a candidate's location as well as a range of factors including but not limited to: unique relevant experience, job-related skills, and education or training.
Your recruiter will provide more details on the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.

At Headspace, base salary is but one component of our Total Rewards package. We're proud of our robust package inclusive of: base salary, stock awards, comprehensive healthcare coverage, monthly wellness stipend, retirement savings match, lifetime Headspace membership, generous parental leave, and more. Additional details about our Total Rewards package will be provided during the recruitment process.


About Headspace

Headspace exists to provide every person access to lifelong mental health support. We combine evidence-based content, clinical care, and innovative technology to help millions of members around the world get support that's effective, personalized, and truly accessible whenever and wherever they need it.

At Headspace, our values aren't just what we believe, they're how we work, grow, and make an impact together. We live them daily: Make the Mission Matter, Iterate to Great, Own the Outcome, and Connect with Courage. These values shape our decisions, guide our collaborations, and define our culture. They're our shared commitment to building a more connected, human-centered team-one that's redefining how mental health care supports people today and for generations to come.

Why You'll Love Working Here:

• A mission that matters-with impact you can see and feel
• A culture that's collaborative, inclusive, and grounded in our values
• The chance to shape what mental health care looks like next
• Competitive pay and benefits that support your whole self

How we feel about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging:

Headspace is committed to bringing together humans from different backgrounds and perspectives, providing employees with a safe and welcoming work environment free of discrimination and harassment. We strive to create a diverse & inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, feel a sense of belonging, and do impactful work together.


As an equal opportunity employer, we prohibit any unlawful discrimination against a job applicant on the basis of their race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, family or parental status, disability*, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. We respect the laws enforced by the EEOC and are dedicated to going above and beyond in fostering diversity across our workplace.


*Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act and certain state or local laws. A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are normally done which will ensure an equal employment opportunity without imposing undue hardship on Headspace. Please inform our Talent team by filling out this form if you need any assistance completing any forms or to otherwise participate in the application or interview process.

Headspace participates in the E-Verify Program.

Privacy Statement

All member records are protected according to our Privacy Policy. Further, while employees of Headspace (formerly Ginger) cannot access Headspace products/services, they will be offered benefits according to the company's benefit plan. To ensure we are adhering to best practice and ethical guidelines in the field of mental health, we take care to avoid dual relationships. A dual relationship occurs when a mental health care provider has a second, significantly different relationship with their client in addition to the traditional client-therapist relationship-including, for example, a managerial relationship.


As such, Headspace requests that individuals who have received coaching or clinical services at Headspace wait until their care with Headspace is complete before applying for a position. If someone with a Headspace account is hired for a position, please note their account will be deactivated and they will not be able to use Headspace services for the duration of their employment.


Further, if Headspace cannot find a role that fails to resolve an ethical issue associated with a dual relationship, Headspace may need to take steps to ensure ethical obligations are being adhered to, including a delayed start date or a potential leave of absence. Such steps would be taken to protect both the former member, as well as any relevant individuals from their care team, from impairment, risk of exploitation, or harm.

For how how we will use the personal information you provide as part of the application process, please see: