Principal Data Engineer - Yahoo News

Yahoo serves as a trusted guide for hundreds of millions of people globally, helping them achieve their goals online through our portfolio of iconic products. For advertisers, Yahoo Advertising offers omnichannel solutions and powerful data to engage with our brands and deliver results.

We’re looking for a Principal Data Engineer to drive and deliver critical improvements across our data ecosystem. In this high-impact role, you’ll evaluate our existing data tables and systems, then design and implement scalable, cost-efficient pipelines and infrastructure to meet the evolving needs of teams across Yahoo News. 

Your work will ensure that high-quality, timely data is readily available to power experimentation, product development, and strategic insights across Yahoo’s Home & News surfaces. You’ll partner with key stakeholders to support teams focused on ranking, homepage, apps, weather, and games, playing a key role in shaping the data foundations behind some of Yahoo’s most visible and high-traffic experiences.
 

What You’ll Do

• Audit and optimize existing data systems, pipelines, and storage for performance, scalability, and cost-efficiency.

• Design and build reliable, maintainable data models that support analytics, experimentation, and product development across diverse teams.

• Develop scalable, cost-effective data solutions to improve query performance and minimize system overhead.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with product managers, analysts, and engineers to understand data needs and translate them into high-quality, scalable architectures.

• Establish and enforce standards for data governance, quality, observability, and documentation across the stack.

A Lot About You:

• Hands-on expertise with modern data engineering tools and frameworks, including those for workflow orchestration, data modeling, ELT/ETL pipelines, cloud data warehousing, analytics, and streaming data.

• Skilled at designing and implementing robust, production-grade data infrastructure, with a focus on scalability, maintainability, and performance.

• Strong advocate for infrastructure as code, automation, and reproducibility to ensure operational excellence.

• Proactive and obsessed with optimizing data speed, reliability, and cost efficiency.

• Detail-oriented problem solver with a collaborative mindset, able to work effectively across multiple squads and shifting priorities.

Qualifications

• Proven experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud-native services.

• Hands-on experience with BigQuery and large-scale data processing.

• Experience using Looker or Google Analytics for data dashboarding and user behavior analysis.

• Proficient in building and maintaining data models and orchestrating data workflows using technologies like DBT and Apache Airflow.

• Experience with Terraform to provision and manage cloud infrastructure.

• Has established monitoring and cost controls for data systems in the past.

• Strong skills in Python and SQL, with a focus on building scalable and maintainable solutions.

Demonstrated ability to work effectively cross-functionally, manage multiple priorities, and communicate data solutions clearly.

The material job duties and responsibilities of this role include those listed above as well as adhering to Yahoo policies; exercising sound judgment; working effectively, safely and inclusively with others; exhibiting trustworthiness and meeting expectations; and safeguarding business operations and brand integrity.

At Yahoo, we offer flexible hybrid work options that our employees love! While most roles don’t require regular office attendance, you may occasionally be asked to attend in-person events or team sessions. You’ll always get notice to make arrangements. Your recruiter will let you know if a specific job requires regular