Senior Data Engineering Lead

Quick overview

Shape the future of e-commerce by architecting ShopGraph, our AI-powered commerce knowledge engine. Lead the technical design and scaling of data systems that process millions of products and power shopping experiences for millions of users. Ideal for experienced data engineering leaders who love solving complex scalability challenges and building innovative data systems.

The challenge

We're scaling ShopGraph to become the world's most comprehensive e-commerce knowledge graph. Right now, we're processing millions of products across 400,000+ stores while enabling real-time personalization and AI-powered shopping features. We need an exceptional data engineering leader to solve complex challenges in:

• Scaling product data ingestion from 400,000+ stores
• Designing intelligent metadata tagging systems
• Optimizing knowledge graph performance
• Enabling real-time personalization features
• Building robust data quality frameworks

About Demand.io

Demand.io is revolutionizing e-commerce through AI-driven platforms powered by ShopGraph, our proprietary knowledge graph. Founded in 2009, we're profitable and growing rapidly with:

• SimplyCodes: AI and community-powered savings platform covering 400,000+ stores
• Product.ai: AI shopping assistant redefining online purchasing
• $1B+ annual e-commerce transaction volume

The opportunity

You'll lead the technical direction of ShopGraph, our core data platform. In this high-impact role, you'll:

• Drive technical strategy and architecture for our knowledge graph
• Lead development of scalable data processing systems
• Design and implement metadata and classification frameworks
• Enable AI-powered personalization features
• Build and mentor the data engineering team

You'll report directly to our Chief Architect and work closely with our product and AI teams to shape the future of e-commerce intelligence.

What you'll do

First 30 days:

• Assess current ShopGraph architecture and scaling challenges
• Develop initial technical strategy for data processing improvements
• Build relationships with key engineering and product teams
• Identify immediate optimization opportunities

First 90 days:

• Implement initial scaling improvements for product data processing
• Design enhanced metadata tagging systems
• Begin knowledge graph performance optimizations
• Establish data quality frameworks
• Start building out the data engineering team

First year:

• Scale product data processing to handle 2x current volume
• Enable real-time personalization features through optimized data access
• Build robust data pipeline monitoring and quality systems
• Develop and mentor a high-performing data engineering team
• Drive technical innovation in our data architecture

About you

Must-haves:

• 8+ years of software engineering with 4+ years focusing on data engineering
• Experience building and scaling knowledge graphs or similar graph databases
• Track record of architecting large-scale data processing systems
• Strong background in metadata systems and taxonomies
• History of technical leadership and mentorship
• Deep understanding of data quality and validation frameworks

Nice-to-haves:

• Experience with e-commerce or marketplace data systems
• Background in product catalog or inventory systems
• Expertise with Neo4j or similar graph databases
• Experience integrating ML/AI with data systems
• Track record of building technical teams

Our technical environment

Core stack:

• Graph database: Neo4j Enterprise
• Vector database: Pinecone
• Data processing: Apache Kafka, Apache Spark
• Languages: Python, Node.js
• Infrastructure: GCP, Kubernetes

Development practices:

• Microservices architecture
• CI/CD with automated testing
• Infrastructure as code
• Data-driven development
• Agile with minimal process

Growth opportunity

As a key technical leader at Demand.io, you'll have:

• Significant autonomy in technical decisions
• Opportunity to shape our data engineering practice
• Leadership role in technical strategy
• Clear path to technical executive positions
• Access to cutting-edge AI/ML technologies

Our engineering culture

• We're deep generalists who love solving hard problems
• We have a strong bias towards action and shipping
• We minimize process and maximize impact
• We collaborate closely across teams
• We work primarily from our Santa Monica office
• We invest heavily in learning and growth

Compensation & growth opportunity

We align individual success with company performance:

• Competitive base salary: $190,000 - $270,000 DOE
• Equity: 0.25% - 0.50% initial grant
• Partners Program: Our unique profit-sharing system

The Partners Program provides substantial monthly cash bonuses tied to company performance. Top performers often earn multiples of their base salary through this program.

"The Partners Program transformed my compensation. As the company grows, you directly share in the success." - Brian Stanback, Chief Architect

Benefits for high performers

• Partners Program with uncapped earning potential
• Clear path to technical leadership
• Learning stipend for conferences and courses
• Access to our GPU cluster and latest AI tools
• 100% coverage of health benefits for you and dependents
• Unlimited PTO
• Generous parental leave
• 401(k) program
• Catered lunches in our Santa Monica office
• Relocation assistance available

Ready to shape the future of e-commerce?

If you're excited about building the technical foundation for the future of AI-powered shopping, we want to hear from you.

Learn more about our products, values, and team at Demand.io.