Principal Data Engineer

WHAT YOU WILL DO

At onXmaps, we build apps that enable millions of people to plan their adventures and navigate the outdoors with confidence. Central to this mission is how we collect, process, and present data—terabytes of it from thousands of sources—through our maps and contextual app features. As a Principal Data Engineer, you will design and build the next generation of these systems in Google Cloud, tackling the challenges of managing data at scale. Success in this role means leading by example in the systems you design and the code you write while mentoring senior engineers and influencing engineering leadership.

To excel, you must be an exceptional communicator, able to understand complex business needs and effectively drive change across teams and stakeholders. This is a unique opportunity to join a growing and successful company while playing a pivotal role in shaping one of the greatest pillars of our success—the data and insights our users rely on most.

This position serves as a Principal Engineer within the Content domain at onXmaps and reports directly to the Senior Director of Engineering. You play a key role in shaping the future of how we manage data at scale.

As an onX Principal Data Engineer, your day to day responsibilities would look like:

(Essential Job Duties)

• Develop and drive a technical roadmap that aligns with business opportunities by understanding the fundamentals of the business.
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly and effectively, including goals and expectations, through excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Extremely high technical competency with distributed systems and data processing. We expect you to not only design and collaborate across teams, but to also be a very strong contributor that leads by example. You should earn the respect of highly skilled peers and senior engineers by regularly writing and reviewing code.
• Strong coaching skills for both code and technical architecture proposals.
• Recommend process and tool improvements based on industry standards, patterns and practices, and direct experience.
• Foster a “one team” culture through cross-functional collaboration and engineering alignment, contributing to best practices, reducing technical debt, and addressing operational inefficiencies.
• Collaborate with engineering, design, and product management to plan and deliver large-scale features aligned with technical and product roadmaps.
• Serves as a thought leader, drives large-scale transformations, represents the organization in industry forums, and provides long-term technical guidance.
• Has a visionary understanding of emerging technologies and expertise in aligning technology with business strategy. Recognized as an influencer in the tech community.
• Drive organization-wide initiatives, develop technical roadmaps, and recommend improvements to architecture, security, scalability, and performance.
• Communicate project statuses, risks, and concerns to stakeholders and technical leadership, while managing stakeholder relationships effectively.

LOCATION

onX has created a thriving distributed workforce community across several US locations. This position can be performed from an onX corporate office, “Basecamp,” or “Connection Hub.” 

• Corporate Offices: onX was founded in Montana with offices in Missoula and Bozeman. If you prefer to work in an office at least part of the time this is a great option.
• Basecamps: Basecamps are established virtual workforce communities where a sizable number of distributed team members group for work, volunteering, socializing, and adventure.  
  • Our current Basecamps are located within a 90-mile radius of the following: Austin, TX; Charlotte, NC; Denver, CO; Kalispell, MT; Minneapolis, MN; Portland, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; and Seattle, WA. 
• Connection Hubs: Connection Hub locations are smaller, emerging communities of distributed team members. 
  • Our current Connection Hubs are located within a 60-mile radius of the following: Boise, ID; Charleston, SC; Dallas/Fort Worth, TX; Phoenix, AZ; Richmond, VA; Spokane, WA; and Vermont.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

• 12+ years of industry experience. You are a recognized leader in the field. Publications, patents, or significant contributions are preferred.
• Strong understanding of various data engineering tools and patterns including ETL / ELT, batch processing, stream processing, event-driven architecture, Airflow, Spark, etc. You should have direct experience implementing a couple architectures at scale.
• Experience with a variety of data storage including relational and non-relational databases such as PostgreSQL and Big Table, as well as flat file storage formats such as Parquet
• Experience and expertise with Go. Familiarity with other systems programming languages
• Experience and expertise processing data in a cloud environment. We use Google Cloud.
• You have effectively mentored or managed senior engineers leading to their success and yours
• A shared passion for, and the ability to demonstrate onX’s Company Values.
• Permanent US work authorization is a condition of employment with onX. 
• Ability to travel quarterly for multiple days to a corporate office or other onX strategic location, such as a Basecamp. 

ADDED BONUSES

Though not required, we would be thrilled to consider candidates with any of the following:

• An interest and aptitude for Geospatial data and algorithms.
• Strong knowledge and experience with GCP offerings like Big Table, Big Query, Data Flow, hosted Kubernetes, and Cloud SQL
• Expert with Postgres and the PostGIS extension
• Although managing is not a requirement for this role, strong candidates will have management experience and an interest in directly managing a small number of engineers 

COMPENSATION

onX is committed to compensating all employees fairly and equitably for their contributions. For this position, applicants can expect to make between $190,000 to $240,000 upon hire. The pay range will vary based on experience, skills, certifications, and education among other factors as required in the job description. In addition, full-time onX employees are eligible for a grant of common share options with a vesting schedule and a potential annual bonus of 10% based on company performance.

WHAT WE ARE OFFERING YOU

• Competitive salaries, annual bonuses, equity, and opportunities for growth
• Comprehensive health benefits including a no-monthly-cost medical plan 
• Parental leave plan of 5 or 13 weeks fully paid
• 401k matching at 100% for the first 3% you save and 50% from 3-5%
• Company-wide outdoor adventures and amazing outdoor industry perks
• Annual “Get Out, Get Active” funds to fuel your active lifestyle in and outside of the gym
• Flexible time away package that includes PTO, STO, VTO, quiet weeks, and floating holidays

PERFORMANCE ESSENTIALS

In this role, success is driven by cognitive abilities such as concentration and problem-solving, essential for our computer-centric tasks. onX will explore reasonable accommodations to ensure that individuals with diverse abilities can fully engage in and contribute to the essential physical and mental functions of the job. If you need assistance or accommodation, please contact us at [email protected]. 

Position open until filled. 

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