Senior Data Engineer

At Scribd (pronounced “scribbed”), our mission is to spark human curiosity. Join our team as we create a world of stories and knowledge, democratize the exchange of ideas and information, and empower collective expertise through our three products: Everand, Scribd, and Slideshare. 

We support a culture where our employees can be real and be bold; where we debate and commit as we embrace plot twists; and where every employee is empowered to take action as we prioritize the customer.

When it comes to workplace structure, we believe in balancing individual flexibility and community connections.  It’s through our flexible work benefit, Scribd Flex, that employees – in partnership with their manager – can choose the daily work-style that best suits their individual needs. A key tenet of Scribd Flex is our prioritization of intentional in-person moments to build collaboration, culture, and connection. For this reason, occasional in-person attendance is required for all Scribd employees, regardless of their location.

So what are we looking for in new team members? Well, we hire for “GRIT”. The textbook definition of GRIT is demonstrating the intersection of passion and perseverance towards long term goals. At Scribd, we are inspired by the potential that this can unlock, and ask each of our employees to pursue a GRIT-ty approach to their work. In a tactical sense, GRIT is also a handy acronym that outlines the standards we hold ourselves and each other to.  Here’s what that means for you: we’re looking for someone who showcases the ability to set and achieve Goals, achieve Results within their job responsibilities, contribute Innovative ideas and solutions, and positively influence the broader Team through collaboration and attitude.

About the Team:

Scribd’s Data Platform team builds the data pipelines, storage layers and developer tooling that power analytics, experimentation, ML and product features across Scribd, Everand and Slideshare. We’re midway through a multi-year investment to modernize our data architecture for fully governed, properly-modeled data that every team can trust and build upon.

At Scribd, we leverage deep data insights to inform every aspect of our business, from product development, experimentation, to understanding our subscriber engagement and tracking key performance indicators. You'll join a data engineering team tackling complex challenges within a rich domain encompassing three distinct brands – Scribd, Everand, and Slideshare – all serving a massive user base with over 200 million monthly visitors and 2 million paying subscribers. You'll have the opportunity to make a real impact as we are heavily investing in improving our core data layer and this exciting new role puts you right at the forefront of this initiative.

What You'll Do:

As a pivotal member of the team, you will design data models and build core data layers in our Databricks/Delta Lake lakehouse, owning batch and streaming pipelines end-to-end. That means architecting performant ETL workflows, optimizing them, and delivering cost-efficient and reliable data products. You’ll partner with Analytics Engineering, ML, and Product teams to translate ideas into governed, reusable data products, while mentoring peers and codifying best practices that keep our platform scalable and trustworthy.

You’ll also operate what you build, defining SLAs, monitoring, data quality checks, and on-call playbooks, while collaborating closely with Analytics Engineering, ML and Product teams to translate business ideas into scalable data products. Along the way, you’ll mentor peers, document best practices and surface performance or cost insights that help us keep the platform fast, governed and reliable.

You will also contribute to architecture initiatives encompassing data warehousing, data pipeline development, data integrations, and data modeling. You will help shape Scribd’s data strategy, guiding stakeholders in how they consume and act on data.

Required Skills:

• 4+ years of experience in data engineering, with a strong background in data architecture, data modeling, and data management, building and scaling robust data systems for complex business domains.

• Advanced SQL and expert-level Python or Scala; deep Spark know-how (optimizing, partitioning, Z-order, adaptive execution, etc.)

• Hands-on experience with modern lakehouse tech: Databricks / Delta Lake, Airflow, Parquet/Avro, Unity Catalog.

• Proven track record designing data models & schemas that serve multiple downstream use cases (analytics, ML, APIs)

• Comfort owning services end-to-end including monitoring, cost metrics, and incident response

• Clear, empathetic communicator able to explain trade-offs to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders.

Desired Skills:

• Experience in Ad-tech / Payments / Subscription data domains, or high-traffic digital products (> 100 MAU).

• Experience developing standards for database design and implementation of various strategic data architecture initiatives around data quality, data management policies/standards, data governance, privacy and metadata management

• Experience using automation and CI/CD tooling like Git, GitHub,Docker,Jenkins, Terraform, etc.

• Strong grasp of AWS data platform services and their strengths/weaknesses.

• Experience and working knowledge of Streaming (Kafka/Kinesis).

• Working experience integrating with BI frameworks like Qlik, ThoughtSpot, Looker, Tableau, etc.

At Scribd, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package and is determined within a range. Our pay ranges are based on the local cost of labor benchmarks for each specific role, level, and geographic location. San Francisco is our highest geographic market in the United States.

In the state of California, the reasonably expected salary range is between $146,500 [minimum salary in our lowest geographic market within California] to $228,000 [maximum salary in our highest geographic market within California]. 

In the United States, outside of California, the reasonably expected salary range is between $120,500 [minimum salary in our lowest US geographic market outside of California] to $217,500 [maximum salary in our highest US geographic market outside of California]. 

In Canada, the reasonably expected salary range is between $153,000 CAD [minimum salary in our lowest geographic market] to $202,500 CAD [maximum salary in our highest geographic market]. 

We carefully consider a wide range of factors when determining compensation, including but not limited to experience; job-related skill sets; relevant education or training; and other business and organizational needs. The salary range listed is for the level at which this job has been scoped. In the event that you are considered for a different level, a higher or lower pay range would apply. This position is also eligible for a competitive equity ownership, and a comprehensive and generous benefits package.

Are you currently based in a location where Scribd is able to employ you?
Employees must have their primary residence in or near one of the following cities. This includes surrounding metro areas or locations within a typical commuting distance:

United States:

Atlanta | Austin | Boston | Dallas | Denver | Houston | Jacksonville | Los Angeles | Miami | New York City | Phoenix | Portland | Sacramento | Salt Lake City | San Diego | San Francisco | Seattle | Washington D.C.

Canada:

Ottawa | Toronto | Vancouver

Mexico:

Mexico City

Benefits, Perks, and Wellbeing at Scribd

*Benefits/perks listed may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Scribd and the geographical location where you work.

• Healthcare Insurance Coverage (Medical/Dental/Vision): 100% paid for employees

• 12 weeks paid parental leave

• Short-term/long-term disability plans

• 401k/RSP matching

• Onboarding stipend for home office peripherals + accessories

• Learning & Development allowance

• Learning & Development programs

• Quarterly stipend for Wellness, WiFi, etc.

• Mental Health support & resources

• Free subscription to Scribd + gift memberships for friends & family

• Referral Bonuses

• Book Benefit

• Sabbaticals

• Company-wide events

• Team engagement budgets

• Vacation & Personal Days

• Paid Holidays (+ winter break)

• Flexible Sick Time

• Volunteer Day

• Company-wide Employee Resource Groups and programs that foster an inclusive and diverse workplace.

Access to AI Tools: We provide free access to best-in-class AI tools, empowering you to boost productivity, streamline workflows, and accelerate bold innovation.

Want to learn more about life at Scribd? www.linkedin.com/company/scribd/life

We want our interview process to be accessible to everyone. You can inform us of any reasonable adjustments we can make to better accommodate your needs by emailing accommodations@scribd.com about the need for adjustments at any point in the interview process.

Scribd is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply, and believe that a diversity of perspectives and experiences create a foundation for the best ideas. Come join us in building something meaningful.