Staff Data Engineer I

Bain’s NGSS team is building Aura, Bain’s global workforce data and analytics platform, and this Staff Data Engineer I role is embedded in Aura to shape the platform that powers analytics, machine learning, and product experiences. The position focuses on owning data infrastructure end to end, with emphasis on architecture, reliability, scalability, and production operational support.

Data Platform Architecture & Infrastructure

• Own the architecture, reliability, and scalability of Aura’s data platform.
• Design, build, and maintain reliable and scalable data pipelines from raw ingestion through downstream analytics layers, including dashboards and ML features.
• Lead the development of new data infrastructure projects from scratch and own delivery through production.
• Optimize performance and cost across data workflows, including query tuning and storage optimization.

Engineering Excellence & Operational Support

• Establish and maintain data engineering best practices, including testing, documentation, and observability.
• Participate in operational support and continuous improvement of production data systems.
• Establish pipeline alerting and data quality monitors in DBT across the data stack.
• Triage and resolve inbound data questions from business and technical stakeholders, including data discrepancies, pipeline issues, and ad-hoc data requests.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Technical Leadership

• Partner closely with Engineering, Product, Data Science, and AI teams to deliver scalable data solutions.
• Mentor engineers through code reviews and technical guidance.

Required Skills & Experience

• 5-8+ years of experience designing scalable data architecture.
• Associate’s/Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.
• Strong understanding of software engineering best practices, including testing, CI/CD, and code reviews.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives and collaborate across cross-functional teams.
• Advanced SQL skills and deep experience with modern data warehouses, especially Snowflake.
• Proficiency with orchestration tools such as Airflow.
• Experience with DBT for data modeling, transformation, and data quality monitoring.
• Strong Python programming skills.
• Experience working in cloud environments, particularly AWS (S3, Lambda, ECS, RDS, MWAA).
• Familiarity with version control, CI/CD workflows, and Infrastructure-as-Code.
• Experience owning and delivering greenfield projects independently.
• Deep expertise in Snowflake performance tuning and cost optimization.
• Background in analytics or ML data preparation.
• Prior experience embedded in a startup or small data team.
• Familiarity with OpenSearch for log analysis or search-backed data products.

Technologies

• SQL, Snowflake, Airflow, DBT, Python
• AWS (S3, Lambda, ECS, RDS, MWAA)
• OpenSearch

Compensation & Benefits

Location: Chicago, IL (onsite). Salary: USD 141,000 - 169,250 per yearly.

• 4.5% 401(k) company contribution, which increases after 3 years of service and is 100% vested upon start date.
• Bain’s comprehensive benefits and wellness program to support personal independence, protection, and stability for employees and their families.
• Bain pays 100% individual employee premiums for medical, dental and vision programs.
• Generous paid time off, including parental leave, sick leave, and paid holidays.
• Fully vested 401(k) company contribution.
• Paid Life and Long-Term Disability insurance.
• Annual fitness reimbursements.

U.S. Compensation Information

• Compensation includes base salary, an annual discretionary performance bonus, and a 401(k) plan with an annual employer contribution based on years of service and Bain’s best-in-class benefits package.
• The estimated annualized full-time salary range for Illinois is $141,000 - $169,250.
• Annual discretionary performance bonus.
• This role may also be eligible for other elements of discretionary compensation.