About the job
Role description
Senior Director - Data Engineering
Location - Remote
Role Overview
The Director / Senior Director of Data Engineering is a dual-mandate role: you are both a hands-on technical leader and a trusted client advisor. You will work alongside our Sales and Solutions teams to win new business — crafting compelling proposals, leading discovery workshops, and shaping data engineering solutions for prospective clients — while also anchoring delivery excellence for strategic engagements. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in front of clients, speaks the language of both business and data infrastructure, and can turn ambiguous client problems into crisp, winning solution narratives.
Key Responsibilities
Pre-Sales & Solutioning
Lead technical discovery sessions and workshops with C-suite and VP-level client stakeholders to understand their data engineering challenges, priorities, and maturity
Design and articulate end-to-end data engineering solutions (architecture, platform, team model, roadmap) tailored to client context
Own the technical sections of RFP/RFI responses, proposals, and SOWs; ensure solutions are differentiated, commercially viable, and deliverable
Build and present compelling demos, PoCs, and reference architectures that accelerate deal closure
Collaborate with Account Executives and Practice leadership to qualify opportunities, shape pursuit strategies, and support pricing
Serve as a subject matter expert at industry events, client briefings, and executive roundtables
Practice & Delivery Leadership
Lead delivery governance for marquee data engineering engagements, ensuring quality, timeliness, and client satisfaction
Mentor and guide a team of data engineers and architects across projects
Define and evolve Tredence's data engineering offerings, accelerators, and point of view across modern data stack topics (cloud data platforms, lakehouse, data mesh, real-time pipelines, DataOps)
Partner with horizontal practices (Data Science, AI/ML, Analytics) to design integrated solutions
Identify and pursue expansion opportunities within existing accounts
Thought Leadership
Develop POVs, whitepapers, and solution frameworks that position Tredence as a leader in data engineering
Stay current on market trends — cloud platform roadmaps, emerging tooling, competitive landscape — and translate them into client-relevant narratives
Required Qualifications
12–18 years of overall experience in data engineering, data architecture, or data platform roles, with at least 3–5 years in a client-facing, pre-sales, or solutions consulting capacity
Demonstrated success in leading or significantly contributing to large deal pursuits ($2M+) in a services/consulting environment
Deep hands-on expertise across the modern data stack: cloud data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Redshift), orchestration (Airflow, dbt), streaming (Kafka, Spark Streaming), and cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
Strong experience designing data architectures including data Lakehouse, data mesh, data warehouse modernization, and real-time/event-driven pipelines
Proven ability to engage and influence senior client stakeholders (CTO, CDO, VP Engineering) — translating technical concepts into business outcomes
Experience owning or co-owning proposal responses, architecture blueprints, and executive presentations
Strong understanding of data governance, data quality, and DataOps practices
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in Retail, CPG, or Technology verticals (aligned to Tredence's core industries)
Familiarity with AI/ML platform integration and MLOps in the context of data engineering
Cloud certifications (AWS Solutions Architect, GCP Professional Data Engineer, Azure Data Engineer, Databricks or Snowflake certifications)
MBA or equivalent business acumen developed through client advisory roles
Prior experience at a top-tier analytics/data consulting firm or Big 4
What Success Looks Like in Year One
Actively contributed to 3–5 new logo or expansion pursuits, with at least 2 wins
Established as a trusted technical advisor with 2–3 strategic client accounts
Delivered at least one reusable solution accelerator or offering framework for the Data Engineering practice
Recognized internally as a go-to leader for complex solutioning and client escalations
