Director of Data Engineering (M4)

Apply Job Type Full-time Description At ClassLink , we believe learning should be accessible, engaging, and empowering for every student, every educator, everywhere. That’s why we build secure, intuitive tools that empower more than 26 million students and educators worldwide. From simplifying access with single sign-on, to advancing equity with usage analytics, to automating secure rostering, our platform helps schools focus on what matters most: teaching and learning. We’re not just building tools, we’re building what’s next in education. By removing barriers and enabling data-driven decisions, our solutions help educators lead with confidence and students thrive in and out of the classroom every day. Our team is driven by purpose and grounded in three core values: Strive to Grow - always learning, improving, and innovating. Deliver Worthwhile Experiences - for our users, our partners, and each other. Contribute with Heart - putting people first in everything we do. These values shape how we work, innovate, and support the communities we serve. If you’re ready to do work that makes a real difference, and grow alongside a team that values collaboration, support, and continuous improvement. ClassLink is the place for you. ClassLink is hiring a Director of Data Engineering . This role provides strategic and technical leadership for ClassLink’s Data Engineering organization, setting the vision, architecture, and strategy for scalable, secure, and reliable enterprise data platforms. Partnering with product, engineering, analytics, security, and executive leadership, this role aligns data investments with business priorities and advances AI-enabled applications, automation, data quality, and platform reliability. The Director builds high-performing teams, develops engineering leaders, establishes standards and governance, and fosters a culture of technical excellence and continuous improvement. Success requires exceptional leadership, deep expertise in modern data engineering and platform architecture, strategic thinking, and the ability to influence technology direction across the organization. Key Responsibilities: AI-Enabled Data Engineering & Technical Excellence Develop and execute the enterprise data engineering roadmap aligned with ClassLink's strategic technology and business objectives. Define the long-term technical direction for enterprise data platforms, cloud-native data services, AI-enabled data engineering, data integration, and modern data architectures that support analytics, automation, and AI-powered products. Establish engineering standards, architectural principles, and governance frameworks that improve data quality, security, reliability, scalability, and maintainability. Evaluate emerging technologies, AI capabilities, cloud services, and engineering methodologies to drive innovation and organizational effectiveness. Accountability & Results Oversee the design, architecture, and evolution of enterprise data platforms, ETL/ELT pipelines, APIs, integrations, and cloud-native data services. Guide the design and optimization of enterprise cloud data warehouse platforms (including Snowflake), data models, metadata management, and enterprise data architecture. Ensure data engineering solutions support business requirements while meeting enterprise standards for security, performance, scalability, resiliency, and operational excellence. Drive adoption of modern engineering practices, automation, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, and cloud-native architectures across the Data Engineering organization. Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement Lead initiatives that improve data platform reliability, operational resilience, engineering productivity, and delivery efficiency through automation, AI-assisted engineering, and continuous improvement. Establish operational metrics, monitoring, observability, alerting, capacity planning, disaster recovery, and service reliability practices for enterprise data platforms. Develop governance processes for data quality, documentation, compliance, data lifecycle management, and operational reporting. Identify opportunities to modernize platforms, automate manual processes, optimize infrastructure, and improve engineering effectiveness across the organization. Collaboration & Communication Partner with Product Management, Engineering, Architecture, Infrastructure, Security, Analytics, and executive leadership to define data priorities and deliver strategic initiatives. Translate business objectives into enterprise data architecture, implementation roadmaps, engineering priorities, and investment strategies. Represent Data Engineering in technology leadership forums, architecture reviews, strategic planning, and cross-functional governance activities. Foster strong partnerships across technical and business organizations to ensure enterprise data capabilities support organizational growth and innovation. People Leadership & Team Development Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing Data Engineering organization by providing strategic direction, performance coaching, mentoring, and professional development opportunities. Build organizational capability through hiring, succession planning, workforce planning, and leadership development. Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, continuous learning, and engineering excellence. Establish performance expectations and ensure consistent execution, operational discipline, and alignment with organizational values and strategic priorities. This role is remote with quarterly in-person strategy meetings. NOTE : This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employees may be asked to perform other related duties as assigned to meet the ongoing needs of the organization. Requirements Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience. 10+ years of progressive experience in data engineering, software engineering, platform engineering, or cloud-native application development. 5+ years of experience leading Data Engineering teams, technical leaders, or enterprise data platform initiatives. Demonstrated success developing enterprise data engineering strategy, technical roadmaps, and organizational engineering standards. Deep expertise in Python, SQL, ETL/ELT architectures, REST APIs, distributed systems, and enterprise data integration. Extensive experience designing and optimizing cloud data warehouse platforms (such as Snowflake), relational databases (such as PostgreSQL), and modern enterprise data platforms. Strong experience with AWS cloud services and cloud-native architectures; Experience implementing modern engineering practices including AI-assisted software development, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, observability, automation, and Agile delivery methodologies. Strong understanding of data governance, metadata management, data quality, security, compliance, and enterprise architecture principles. Proven ability to influence executive leadership, drive organizational change, and align technology strategy with business objectives. Exceptional leadership, communication, strategic planning, and organizational development skills. Preferred: Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related discipline. Experience leading enterprise data modernization or cloud transformation initiatives. Expertise with AI-enabled data engineering, intelligent automation, machine learning data pipelines, or advanced analytics platforms. Experience with event-driven architectures, streaming technologies, or real-time data processing platforms. Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform), Kubernetes, platform engineering, or Site Reliability Engineering practices. AWS Professional or Specialty certifications, Snowflake certifications, Azure certifications, or equivalent cloud credentials. Experience participating in enterprise architecture governance, technology strategy, or executive leadership planning. Experience building and developing high-performing engineering organizations in a SaaS or technology environment. Experience implementing enterprise data governance, data catalogs, lineage, master data management, or data mesh principles. Experience with Azure and Google Cloud Platforms This role is remote with quarterly in-person strategy meetings. Benefits: Generous Paid Time Off : 4+ weeks of vacation and 13+ paid holidays Parental Leave : 12 weeks fully paid for all parents Retirement : 401(k) with 0.5:1 company match Comprehensive Health Coverage : Medical, dental, and vision plans Insurance : Company-paid life, short-term disability, and long-term disability, plus voluntary options including supplemental life, accident, and pet insurance Perks: Volunteer Time Off: Give back through ClassLink Cares paid volunteer days Lifelong Learning: Tuition reimbursement for continued education Growth & Development: Coaching and internal programs to support career and personal growth Supportive Culture: A workplace that values curiosity, compassion, and continuous learning Connection & Community: Annual company retreats and team events with bright, fun coworkers At ClassLink, we believe the best ideas come from bringing together diverse perspectives. We are committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve and fostering a workplace where every team member feels valued, respected, and empowered to grow. ClassLink is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome candidates of all identities, backgrounds, and experiences, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic. ClassLink is powered by passionate people dedicated to improving learning in classrooms everywhere. We do this by creating and delivering great products and having fun along the way. Learn more about us at www.classlink.com . Salary Description 165,000.00-180,000.00 plus bonus