Senior Director of Data Engineering

Playwire is a full-service digital innovation partner specializing in online advertising and proprietary technologies to elevate publishing brands. As we continue our rapid expansion, we seek a skilled Senior Director of Data Engineering is responsible for leading Playwire's data and engineering practices, including data analytics, warehousing, business intelligence, predictive machine learning models, and engineering functions. In this role, you will lead the data team, ensuring operational excellence, fosters innovation, and drives alignment between data and engineering initiatives. Reporting to the EVP of Technology, the Senior Director collaborates across teams to deliver solutions that enable decision-making and support the organization’s strategic goals.

Essential Functions

• Oversees the day-to-day operations of the data team, ensuring progress on key initiatives and resolving technical blockers.

• Leads the implementation and optimization of technologies and systems for data management, processing, and engineering infrastructure.

• Collaborates with Playwire's leadership team to align data and engineering strategies with business goals, providing actionable insights and technical recommendations.

• Partners with the Product team to refine processes and deliver and deploy data-driven product solutions including ML based predictive models.

• Establishes best practices for data engineering, ensuring scalable, secure, and efficient systems and processes.

• Provides business intelligence tools and data analysis capabilities to support teams in problem-solving and decision-making.

• Maintains compliance with data and engineering policies, standards, and security measures to protect organizational assets.

• Guides engineering efforts in building robust data pipelines, integrations, and scalable architecture.

• Partners with the Yield Ops team to support experiments and develop predictive systems for revenue optimization.

• Educates teams on data and engineering methodologies, fostering a culture of innovation and technical excellence.

• Manages vendor relationships and contracts for third-party tools, ensuring cost efficiency and integration success.

• Leads project management efforts within the data and engineering teams, including delegation, resource allocation, and adherence to deadlines.

• Identifies and addresses team skill gaps, participating in hiring, development, and mentoring to build a high-performing team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

• 8+ years of experience in data and engineering roles, including leadership responsibilities.

• 2+ years of supervisory experience, with a proven track record of team building and mentorship.

• Hands-on experience with data management and engineering tools, such as SQL, Python, Spark, or similar technologies.
• Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau) and engineering platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP).
• Strong analytical and technical problem-solving skills, with expertise in both data and engineering contexts.
• Proficiency in software development practices, infrastructure management, and scalable system design.
• Familiarity with machine learning workflows and predictive modeling, including partnerships with product teams to deploy models.