Build reliable data infrastructure that powers business impact

Spendesk is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to join our data organization. Reporting to the Head of Data, you’ll build and operate the ingestion, storage, and processing layers that power analytics, product insights, and machine learning. You’ll turn diverse events and operational data into trustworthy, well‑governed datasets, raising the bar on freshness, reliability, security, and cost efficiency. This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy clean interfaces and data contracts, pragmatic architecture, and close collaboration with Analytics Engineering.

About the role

You will design robust batch and streaming pipelines on AWS, own the Bronze/Raw layers, and set standards for performance and reliability. You’ll define and meet SLAs for data freshness and uptime, implement monitoring and incident response, and embed security and governance by default. You’ll partner with Analytics Engineers on the hand‑off to the transformation layer (e.g., dbt) and work with the Head of Data on roadmap and platform consolidation.

About our tech environment

Our data platform is deployed on AWS. We leverage modern data stack components for ingestion, orchestration, transformation, and observability.

• Data platform: dbt (core and Cloud), Snowflake, Looker (original), Metabase, and Amplitude for Product analytics
• Ingestion/exposure: Kafka, Airbyte (cloud), Fivetran, Airflow, Hightouch, Segment
• We use Github for versioning, CI/CD, and Synq for observability

Key responsibilities

Data pipelines & platform

• Design, build, and maintain reliable ETL/ELT pipelines for batch and streaming use cases.
  Implement resilient ingestion from product, third‑party, and operational systems; manage raw/bronze layers with proper schema and partitioning strategies.
• Evolve data architecture and storage layers for scalability, performance, and cost efficiency; contribute to standards for naming, schemas, and data contracts.
• Own operational excellence for pipelines: monitoring, alerting, incident response, and root‑cause analysis with clear runbooks and documentation.
• Optimize performance of large-scale datasets and jobs (tuning, storage formats, indexing/partitioning, workload management).

Quality, security & governance

• Implement data quality controls and tests (freshness, completeness, validity) and establish SLAs for critical datasets.
• Ensure data security, privacy, and access management following least‑privilege principles on AWS (IAM, encryption, data masking).
• Contribute to data cataloging, lineage, and documentation to improve discoverability and trust.

Collaboration & enablement

• Partner with Analytics Engineers to provide clean, reliable raw and staging layers; align on interfaces between ingestion/storage and dbt/semantic models.
• Collaborate with Data Scientists to provision performant feature and model training datasets.
• Work with the Head of Data on platform roadmap, standards, and consolidation efforts; provide clear trade‑offs and recommendations.
• Support stakeholders with infrastructure monitoring dashboards and performance/cost reports.

Required qualifications

Experience & background

• 4–5 years of experience in data engineering or similar backend data roles, with production ownership of pipelines and data platforms.
  Proven track record building and operating data ingestion and processing systems in cloud environments, preferably AWS.
• Experience collaborating with analytics and data science teams to deliver reliable, analysis-ready data.

Technical requirements

• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL; experience with distributed processing.
• Hands-on experience with AWS data services (e.g., S3, Lambda, MSK/Kinesis) and Datadog for monitoring.
• Experience with workflow orchestration (Airflow or equivalent).
• Familiarity with modern warehouses (e.g., Snowflake) and relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL).
• Infrastructure as code and CI/CD experience (Terraform, Docker, GitHub).
• Understanding of data quality practices, testing frameworks, and lineage/catalog concepts.
• Solid grasp of security and governance in data systems (IAM, encryption, PII protection).

Analytics & business skills

• Ability to translate data requirements into scalable technical designs.
• Strong debugging and performance tuning skills with a systematic approach.
• Clear communication of technical concepts to technical and non‑technical audiences; concise documentation habits.

As we are an international team, please submit your application and CV in English.

About Spendesk
Spendesk is the AI-powered spend management and procurement platform that transforms company spending. By simplifying procurement, payment cards, expense management, invoice processing, and accounting automation, Spendesk sets the new standard for spending at work. Its single, intelligent solution makes efficient spending easy for employees and gives finance leaders the full visibility and control they need across all company spend, even in multi-entity structures. Trusted by thousands of companies, Spendesk supports over 200,000 users across brands such as SoundCloud, Gousto, SumUp, and Bloom & Wild. With offices in the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Germany, Spendesk also puts community at the heart of its mission.

For more information: www.spendesk.com/press

About our people & culture
We believe that people do their best work when they’re given the freedom to thrive and grow. That’s why liberation is at the core of everything we do. We empower Spendeskers to take ownership of their work, to navigate ambiguity, and seize every opportunity. Spendeskers come from all over the world (35+ countries and counting!) but we have plenty in common: we're bold, ever-curious, committed to kindness, and tackle every challenge with a positive mindset.

About our benefits
Our culture is built on trust, empowerment, and growth — with benefits to match!

• Flexible on-site and remote policy
• Latest Apple equipment — the tools you need to excel
• Access to Moka.care — for emotional and mental health wellbeing
• Great office snacks — to fuel your day
• A positive team to work with daily!

We also offer location-specific benefits tailored to each market, including health insurance, wellness allowances, commuter support, meal vouchers, and gym memberships — ensuring you're well supported wherever you're based.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Spendesk, we're committed to fostering an environment where all differences are encouraged, supported and celebrated. We're building our culture for everyone, with everyone. Our goal is to attract and build a diverse, equal and inclusive team, where everyone feels welcome and we truly embrace and encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.