Principal Data Engineer (I)

Every career journey is personal. That's why we empower you with the tools and support to create your own success story. Be challenged. Be heard. Be valued. Be you ... be here. Job Summary The Principal Data Engineer is the leading technical voice in data engineering. This role champions strategic initiatives for advanced data platform solutions, acting as the primary technical liaison with leadership to ensure alignment on data strategies. Responsibilities include spearheading the design and implementation of innovative data platform technologies, offering strategic direction on industry-standard tools and architectures, and leading collaborations with enterprise partners. This position also oversees agile workflows, data product optimization, and comprehensive performance monitoring to support enterprise analytics and reporting. Essential Job Functions Oversee and champion strategic initiatives for advanced data solutions. Act as the primary technical liaison with leadership, ensuring alignment on data strategies - (15%) Serve as the leading voice on cutting-edge data technologies. Spearhead the design and implementation of agile practices, fostering innovation and guiding the team on the latest industry trends and data platform solutions. - (15%) Possess deep expertise in industry leading Data Engineering tools. Provide oversight on adopting and leveraging tools ensuring alignment with enterprise cloud strategies. - (15%) Formulate and lead strategic collaborations with enterprise partners to enhance and expand data capabilities. Drive consensus and gain endorsement from governance teams, ensuring successful planning and execution of innovative data initiatives. - (15%) Define and advocate the strategic vision for data product/service, overseeing backlog management and market research to deliver pioneering solutions. Lead the architecture and optimization of advanced data solutions, focusing to drive efficiency. - (15%) Assume end to end responsibility for ensuring efficient workflows through the agile product management cycle. Prioritize technical design and delivery, while setting benchmarks for success criteria, testing, configuration, and coding standards. - (15%) Oversee comprehensive monitoring, reporting, and forecasting of data platform performance and costs. Continuously refine the business case to support strategic decision-making and resource allocation for assigned functions. - (10%) Minimum Qualifications Bachelor’s Degree r equivalent experience. 15+ years of work experience and knowledge of the major industry toolsets used in Data Engineering. Experience with relational (Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle), columnar (NoSQL), Hadoop Distributed File System/HDSF (Azure ADLS, AWS EMS, Databricks), and graph databases. Experience with ETL/ELT (Azure ADF, AWS Glue, Informatica) and on premise and cloud based data solutions. Experience developing systems intended for cloud deployments (AWS, EKS, lambda’s, etc.). Exposure Azure data environment and familiarity with associated tools would be added advantage. Experience in modelling a third normal form, Star / Snowflake Data Warehouse system. Good experience in Data Profiling and Analysis Preferred Qualifications Master’s Degree in Computer Science or STEM field or equivalent experience. 17-19 years of work experience required in Data Engineering, DevOps, automated testing, statistical process controls, cloud engineering, data warehousing. Experience developing systems intended for cloud deployments (AWS, EKS, lambda’s, etc.). Exposure Azure data environment and familiarity with associated tools would be added advantage. Skills Agile Methodology Apache Hadoop Cloudera Data Platform (CDP) Data Analysis Data Engineering Documentations Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) Platform Technologies Python (Programming Language) Solutions Design Structured Query Language (SQL) Commercial Acumen Reports To : Senior Director and above Direct Reports : 0 Work Environment Normal office environment, hybrid. Travel Ability to travel up to 10% annually Other Duties This job description is illustrative of the types of duties typically performed by this job. It is not intended to be an exhaustive listing of each and every essential function of the job. Because job content may change from time to time, the Company reserves the right to add and/or delete essential functions from this job at any time. About Bread Financial® At Bread Financial, you’ll have the opportunity to grow your career, give back to your community, and be part of our award-winning culture. We’ve been consistently recognized as a best place to work nationally and in many markets and we’re proud to promote an environment where you feel appreciated, accepted, valued, and fulfilled—both personally and professionally. Bread Financial supports the overall wellness of our associates with a diverse suite of benefits and offers boundless opportunities for career development and non-traditional career progression. Bread Financial® (NYSE: BFH) is a tech-forward financial services company that provides simple, personalized payment, lending and saving solutions to millions of U.S. consumers. Our payment solutions deliver growth for some of the most recognized brands in travel & entertainment, health & beauty, technology, electronics, jewelry, home and specialty apparel through our co-brand and private label credit cards and pay-over-time products providing choice and value to our shared customers. Additionally, we offer Bread Financial general purpose credit cards and saving products that empower our customers and their passions for a better life. Bread Financial proudly marks 30 years of success in 2026. To learn more about our global associates, our performance and our sustainability progress, visit or follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn . All job offers are contingent upon successful completion of credit and background checks. Bread Financial is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Job Family: Information Technology Job Type: Regular