Senior Data Engineer

Over 7,500 companies — from scrappy startups to global brands — use our platform to send billions of emails, push notifications, in-app messages, and SMS every day. Customer.io powers automated communication that people actually want to receive. We help teams send smarter, more relevant messages using real-time behavioral data.

We’re looking for a Senior Data Engineer to strengthen the foundation of our internal analytics and data platform. You’ll focus on building and maintaining our semantic layer, ETL/orchestration, and internal data enablement — powering the work of our data science, analytics, and business intelligence teams.

This is a hands-on role focused on high-quality data modeling and reliable pipelines that drive self-service insights across the company. You’ll collaborate closely with our data scientists and analysts, and with stakeholders across product, engineering, and operations.

What we value

• High agency, high impact — you’re energized by building and improving, not just maintaining the status quo
• Collaboration — you thrive on partnering with analysts, product teams, and data scientists to bring innovative ideas into reality
• Pragmatism — you balance speed with scalability, building solutions that work today and scale over the long haul
• Continuous improvement — you’re always on the lookout for ways to make models cleaner, pipelines more efficient, and governance stronger
• Curiosity — you want to learn, experiment, and evolve the data stack as the company grows and our products evolve
• AI-ready data — you build pipelines and models that don’t just serve today’s reporting needs but are structured and governed to support machine learning and AI use cases tomorrow

What you’ll do

• Build and evolve our semantic layer — design, document, and optimize dbt models that enable trusted business metrics and self-service analytics
• Develop and maintain ETL/orchestration pipelines (e.g., Fivetran, Stitch, dbt Cloud, Airflow) to ensure reliable and scalable data flow
• Partner with data analysts, scientists, and business stakeholders to enable high-quality data access and experimentation
• Improve model performance, maintain documentation and data governance, and drive continuous improvements in reliability and cost efficiency
• Contribute to an AI- and analytics-ready data stack through clean modeling, validation, and best practices

What we’re looking for

• 3–5 years of hands-on experience as a Data Engineer or Analytics Engineer in a fast-paced environment
• Advanced proficiency with SQL, dbt, and Python
• Experience with Snowflake (or similar cloud data warehouses)
• Familiarity with ETL/orchestration tools like Fivetran, Stitch, or Airflow
• Comfortable collaborating with analytics and data science teams on shared modeling and enablement goals
• A problem-solver who balances pragmatism with technical rigor
• Based in the Americas, remote-friendly
• Experience with GCP nice to have, Terraform experience a plus

What success looks like in this role

In your first 3–6 months, you will:

• Deliver reliable, well-documented dbt models that define key business metrics
• Ensure consistent, monitored ETL pipelines across key data sources
• Improve performance and cost efficiency of data workloads
• Enable analysts and scientists to work more efficiently through better data structures and documentation

About the Data Team

We’re building the data foundation to power the next phase of our company’s growth. With our modern stack (Snowflake, dbt, Sigma, Fivetran/Stitch), this role will help level up the team’s capabilities in semantic modeling, orchestration, and cross-functional enablement — all in close partnership with analytics and data science peers.

Disclaimer

The above job description is not an exhaustive list of activities, responsibilities, or requirements. Duties and responsibilities may change at any time with or without notice.

Compensation & Benefits

We believe in transparency. Starting salary for this role is $130,000 (or equivalent in local currency) depending on experience and subject to market rate adjustment.

We know our people are what make us great, and we’re committed to taking great care of them. Our inclusive benefits package supports your well-being and growth, including 100% coverage of medical, dental, vision, mental health, and supplemental insurance premiums for you and your family. We also offer 16 weeks paid parental leave, unlimited PTO, stipends for remote work and wellness, a professional development budget, and more.

See full benefits here →

Our Process

No gotchas, no trick questions - just a clear, human process designed to help both of us make an informed decision.

• 30-minute call with Maria (Recruiter)
• 45-minute call with Hiring Manager
• 30-minute calls with 2 potential team members
• Take-Home Assignment + 45-minute review call

All final candidates will be asked to complete a background check and employment verifications as part of our pre-employment process.

Customer.io recognizes the stifling impact of systemic injustice on diverse communities. We commit to using our influence to increase inclusion and equity within the tech industry. We strive to build an inclusive team culture, implement bias-free hiring practices, and develop community partnerships to expand our global impact.

Zoom is the only video conference platform that we use, virtual interviews will be conducted using the video capability (i.e., not via the chat), and offers will be extended in writing on official Customer.io letterhead. Please be vigilant in all of your job search activity, and if you have any questions please contact jobs@customer.io.

Join us!

Check out our careers page for more information about why you should come work with us! We believe in empathy, transparency, responsibility, and, yes, a little awkwardness. If you’re excited by what you read — apply now.