Job Description

Our client, Colibri Group is looking for a Director of Engineer, Data & Platforms. Details below...
Position Overview:
The Director of Engineering - Data & Platforms will lead our Data Engineering organization to design and deliver trusted, scalable, and intelligent data platforms. This leader will architect and implement high-quality data ingestion pipelines that seamlessly move and transform data from SaaS applications and in-house transactional systems into a unified data platform. This foundation will power reporting, advanced analytics, and AI/ML solutions--including Generative AI--enabling actionable insights across the business.
With an AI-first mindset, this role goes beyond data delivery to drive the strategic adoption of modern data technologies, automation, and machine learning capabilities across the enterprise. The Director will champion a culture of innovation, data quality, and platform thinking while ensuring operational excellence and reliability
Reporting to the VP of Engineering, the Director is a strategic partner to product, engineering, and business leaders, shaping how data and platforms fuel the next generation of business growth.
What You'll Do

• Develop and execute a multi-year data and platform strategy that accelerates AI/ML adoption, modernizes data infrastructure, and supports enterprise-scale analytics.
• Champion an AI-first culture by identifying and enabling opportunities for predictive analytics, machine learning, and generative AI within the data platform.
• Establish data governance, security, and compliance frameworks to ensure data is trusted, ethical, and compliant with regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with senior leadership across engineering, product, and business teams to align on priorities, outcomes, and investments in data platforms.
• Define and enforce best practices for the development, automated testing, deployment, and monitoring of data ingestion and transformation pipelines.
• Drive standards for data mapping, transformation into analytics-friendly schemas, and rigorous validation processes to ensure data accuracy and reliability.
• Ensure platform reliability, performance, and 100% environment uptime through proactive monitoring and continuous improvement.
• Partner closely with Scrum Masters and the Data Insights team for story refinement, sprint planning, and delivery.
• Maintain strong communication channels with internal and external stakeholders to provide transparency, manage expectations, and accelerate outcomes.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies (cloud, data mesh, streaming, real-time analytics, AI/ML, generative AI) to proactively identify opportunities for innovation.
• Partner with vendors and technology providers to evaluate and adopt tools that accelerate data platform capabilities.
• Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing Data Engineering team as a "player/coach"--balancing strategic leadership with hands-on technical contribution.
• Build a culture of innovation, learning, and continuous improvement where engineers are empowered to experiment with emerging data and AI technologies.
• Break down complex initiatives into actionable workstreams, ensuring clarity of ownership, timelines, and deliverables.

What You'll Need to Succeed

• 7+ years of SDLC experience in ETL/ELT environments using tools such as Fivetran, dbt, SQL, AWS Redshift, Boomi, PowerBI, Git.
• 7+ years designing and optimizing schemas for analytical and AI/ML workloads.
• 7+ years of hands-on experience with AWS Cloud services (AWS Glue, AWS Lambda, Python, etc.).
• Familiarity with ERP and CRM systems (Salesforce, NetSuite, Hubspot, Eloqua).
• 7+ years in a people leadership role managing and scaling high-performing Data Engineering teams.
• Proven track record of delivering successful, enterprise-grade data and platform initiatives.
• Strong background in modern SDLC, CI/CD, and data platform best practices
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, agile environment, managing multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Strategic thinker with strong analytical and problem-solving skills; able to make data-driven decisions and inspire teams to do the same.

About Colibri:
At Colibri, culture is a critical part of our collective success, and we live our values everyday: Love, Joy, Boldness, Teamwork and Curiosity. These values guide our interactions with each other, our customers, and the community as a whole.
We have a rich and storied history. Colibri is one of the pioneers of online professional education, introducing some of the first web-based professional education courses in 2001. Today, the company's family of brands are the leading online professional education platforms in their respective end-markets. We proudly serve >1 million customers annually and employ more than 1,500 mission-aligned professionals.

Skills Required