Pontera is a fintech company on a mission to help people retire better. Our software platform enables retirement savers to get the help they need managing their 401(k) and other retirement plan accounts as part of a personalized strategy by their trusted financial advisor. 

Pontera is used by financial advisors across the nation– from SMB to Fortune 500 RIA firms, independent broker-dealers, plan custodians, and plan advisors. 

Backed by leading venture capital firms including ICONIQ Growth and Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pontera is built by talented individuals who share a dedication to helping people retire with greater security. 

Our team is fast-growing and driven to become one of the largest fintech companies in the world.  Our culture is built on a people-first principle: in a complex and numbers-driven industry, we never lose sight of the people we serve and work alongside. That’s where you come in.

DESCRIPTION

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Data Engineer to join our growing team. As a Senior Data Engineer, you will own the design, build, and optimization of Pontera’s data platform - powering analytics, and data-driven product features. At Pontera, the Data Engineer plays a crucial role in designing and overseeing all BI and analytics solutions. They collaborate closely with various departments such as Product, R&D, BizDev, and Executive teams to address their data analysis requirements. Additionally, they hold responsibility for essential financial and operational metrics.

This role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact in a fast-paced, high-growth environment while working on meaningful challenges that directly advance our mission.

At Pontera, we leverage a modern data stack that includes Snowflake, DBT, Python and Fivetran, with infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD best practices.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design and maintain scalable data models and schemas in DBT/Snowflake to support analytical and operational workloads.
• Build, optimize, and document robust ELT pipelines in SQL, Python, dbt for batch and near-real-time data ingestion.
• Implement automated data-quality testing, monitoring, and alerting to guarantee trustworthy and timely data.
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams on event instrumentation, schema design, and data governance standards.
• Tune warehouse performance and manage cost efficiency through partitioning, clustering, and workload management.
• Partner with Analytics and Data Science to translate business questions into engineered data solutions.
• Mentor junior engineers and analysts, championing best practices in coding, documentation, and peer review.

REQUIREMENTS

• Experience: 5+ years in a data-engineering role in the tech industry, with a proven track record of scaling data platforms in cloud environments (AWS, GCP, or Azure).

• Technical Skills: Expert SQL and Python; hands-on with Snowflake (or Redshift/BigQuery) and DBT. An advantage- Orchestration tools such as Airflow; familiarity with CI/CD, Docker, and infrastructure-as-code (e.g., Terraform), Familiarity with BI tools (Looker, Tableau) from a data-engineering perspective

• Data Architecture: Deep understanding of dimensional modeling, CDC, and ELT best practices; experience integrating third-party APIs and event streams.
• Quality & Reliability: Demonstrated success implementing data-quality frameworks and building highly reliable pipelines.
• Business Acumen: Experience in FinTech, SaaS, or high-growth startup environments is a plus.
• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to explain complex data concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Collaboration: Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work cross-functionally across Product, Engineering, and Analytics teams.

Nice to Have

• Experience with streaming platforms (Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub).
• Background in ML feature-store design or real-time data serving.
• Familiarity with BI tools (Looker, Tableau) from a data-engineering perspective.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Compensation: $160,000 to $200,000 annually
• Opportunity: Have a major impact at a fast-growing startup that is revolutionizing the FinTech industry
• Team Culture: A collegial, collaborative, fun work environment with frequent team events
• Equity: All new hires are eligible for equity grant participation
• Healthcare: Comprehensive & affordable insurance benefits with a variety of plan options
• Retirement: 401(k) with employer match & e