Senior Data Engineer

Who We Are

At Murmuration, we believe that America’s promise is shaped and reshaped by the best ideas and ideals of its communities and the dreams of the people who believe in a better life for themselves, their families, and each other.

We help organizations build power in their communities in four key ways: we organize a network of values-aligned partners; we provide deep, data-driven insights into people, places, and perspectives; we develop tools that make organizing and engagement easy and more effective; and we offer services that strengthen our partners’ capacity to build power and lead change in their communities.

We envision an America where every community has what it needs to help people lead healthy, free, and dignified lives. We work to redesign the systems and structures we all depend on — how we learn, live, govern, and solve problems — so that they are just, equitable, resilient, and rooted in shared responsibility. By strengthening the ties that hold communities together, we aim for civic life defined by collective action and care, with effective leadership that truly represents everyone.

We are a collaborative, curious, and creative team of organizers, scientists, teachers, technologists, campaign veterans, and more who share the unwavering belief that we can use our gifts in service of transforming America — together. We’ve built our team guided by the belief that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And so we support each other relentlessly — rallying together to face challenges the same way we celebrate each other’s wins.

About the Position

Do you see yourself as a collaborative technical leader who bridges teams, anticipates challenges, and designs scalable data systems that drive impact?

As a Senior Data Engineer, you will design, build, and maintain the core data platform and data pipelines that power Murmuration’s Organizer web application - a tool our users rely on to organize and engage with their communities. You will take ownership of complex projects, from streaming data and live entity resolution to batch load processing, using your advanced knowledge of scalable systems to ensure reliability, scalability, and performance.

As a senior individual contributor, you’ll provide technical leadership for your team: shaping architecture, mentoring others, solving complex coding and data model challenges, and collaborating closely with engineers and product partners to deliver features that directly empower our users to make an impact in their communities.

Job Level:  IC4

What You’ll Do:

• Build and deliver reliable, well-tested, and maintainable data software aligned with specifications and designs;
• Own your work end-to-end, from architecting to coding to releasing to production, with a focus on long-term stability and maintainability;
• Lead feature development, breaking complex implementations into manageable steps and ensuring quality at every stage;
• Serve as an expert on the data platform, representing your team when collaborating with other engineering groups;
• Shape technical direction by presenting and defending design proposals in demos, reviews, and architecture discussions;
• Continuously improve systems by identifying performance optimizations and reducing technical debt;
• Contribute to team practices through Agile ceremonies—refining tickets, leading retrospectives, and demoing your work; and
• Mentor and support junior engineers through code reviews, pair programming, and technical coaching.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or relevant field (Note: Work experience can be substituted for degree requirements);
• 5+ years of experience as a Data/Backend/Software Engineer;
• Strong experience in both functional and object-oriented programing (e.g., Python, Scala, Java);
• Good experience with the AWS data stack (e.g., Lambda, ECS, Glue, Athena, EventBridge etc.);
• Strong SQL and/or NoSQL experience/knowledge;
• Experience building large-scale streaming and batch data pipelines (e.g., Kafka Streams, Apache Flink, Spark Streaming, Spark SQL) with a focus on scalability, performance, accuracy, reliability, and traceability;
• Strong experience with a standard code repository (e.g., Git);
• Good experience with data modeling and physical database design;
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to clearly and adequately define a position and defend it (in writing or verbally);
• Ability to clearly document a design, component, or workflow you have working knowledge of;
• Ability to take a complex implementation proposal and break it into smaller workable implementation components;
• Demonstrable skills both in working independently and in leading projects within a team environment; and
• Practical knowledge of software development lifecycle (SDLC) and agile methodologies.

Nice to Haves:

• Experience with NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB, DynamoDB, Redis, Cassandra);
• Experience supporting a production environment;
• Experience with DevOps, developing CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing;
• Experience with Entity Resolution;
• Experience with JavaScript;
• Demonstrable knowledge in the creation, use, and support of a document database like MongoDB;
• Demonstrable knowledge in the creation, use, and support of an OLAP database like Pinot and/or Snowflake;
• Advanced experience with CI/CD platforms and Infrastructure as Code technologies, such as AWS CDK or Terraform;
• Experience with container technologies, such as Docker or Kubernetes;
• Experience using Big Data technologies (e.g., Spark, Presto, Kafka);
• Experience with orchestration tools such as Airflow or Dagster;
• Experience with graph databases (e.g., Neo4j, Neptune); and/or
• Experience designing and building microservices (e.g., REST, GraphQL).

Talented Engineers come from all walks of life and career. If you are passionate about civic engagement and technology, please apply, even if you do not check every box!

Benefits

Location and Compensation

The Senior Data Engineer role is a full-time, salaried position with a comprehensive benefits package (more detail below). It is based anywhere in the U.S. The starting salary range for this position is $126,000 - $150,000 and is commensurate with experience. This pay range reflects what the organization expects to offer for this position at the time of posting. In alignment with applicable laws, compensation will be determined based on the applicant's skills, qualifications, experience, and the specific requirements of the role. Please note that the organization may adjust this pay range as needed.

Our Culture of Care

We work hard to create a culture of care to ensure that our staff are best equipped to lead happy, healthy, and balanced lives. To that end, we offer a comprehensive benefits package which includes:

• Health, vision, and dental insurance with 100% of premiums covered for you and qualifying family members;
• Retirement benefits with a 5% employer match;
• A flexible unlimited PTO plan;
• Generous paid parental leave;
• Pre-tax commuter benefits;
• A company laptop;
• A flexible remote work environment;
• A home office setup stipend for all new employees;
• Monthly reimbursement for remote work expenses;
• A yearly professional development fund;
• Mental health and wellness benefits through Calm and Better Help; 
• Yearly in-person staff retreats; and
• A welcoming culture that celebrates diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

At Murmuration, we believe a vibrant, representative democracy depends on the inclusion of diverse voices, lived experiences, and perspectives. The best ideas don’t come from a single person or ideology — they emerge at the intersection of different backgrounds, identities, and viewpoints. We are proud of our commitment to building an organization and culture shaped by respect, empathy, and collaboration, where our team’s diversity fuels innovation, civic engagement, and meaningful change. We welcome new colleagues who will help us nurture this collective effort. Join us.

An Equal-Opportunity Employer with a Commitment to Diversity

Murmuration is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and as an organization committed to diversity and the perspective of all voices, we consider applicants equally of race, gender, color, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, disability, political affiliation and national origin. We reasonably accommodate staff members and/or applicants with disabilities, provided they are otherwise able to perform the essential functions of the job.

Note: Murmuration is two organizations working together to pursue our mission of amplifying the power of civic engagement: Murmuration Research Institute, a 501(c)(3) that conducts research to identify, design, and create the data, tools, and insights that build healthier and more equitable communities; and Murmuration, Inc., a 501(c)(4) that supports organizations working across the country on the nation’s most challenging issues with access to data, tools, and research that build healthier and more equitable communities.