Data Engineering Manager

At DATAPAO, data ignites passion, community fuels collaboration, and growth knows no bounds. We are a leading Data Engineering and AI consulting company backed by Databricks and recognized for our unmatched delivery standards and rapid growth. We have been named Databricks EMEA Emerging Business Partner of the Year (2024), achieved the Golden Tier status in the Databricks Partner Program, and made three consecutive appearances on the Financial Times FT1000 list.

We are now looking for an Engineering Manager (Data) to join us remotely in Spain. You will help us further expand our world-class data engineering team and work with our EMEA customers to help them solve their data engineering, ML, ML Ops, and cloud migration puzzles.

What will you do?

In the following 12-18 months, we will grow our data engineering and AI team from ~40 to ~65. Hence, we're looking for an Engineering Manager to lead one of our data engineering teams comprising 5-6 consultants. In this role, you will oversee project delivery, manage and mentor the team, and ensure the successful execution - often by staying hands-on yourself - of data engineering, ML/MLOps, and cloud migration projects for our EMEA customers. In our current operating model, you will be expected to split your time between team management and being hands-on in project delivery.

Your Team: Core Data Engineering

This team is responsible for building and optimizing scalable, high-performance data pipelines that enable seamless data movement, transformation, and storage across enterprise customer environments. This includes designing, implementing, and maintaining ETL/ELT workflows, ingesting structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data from systems like Oracle, Snowflake, and Redshift. The team is experienced in big data processing for both batch and streaming workloads and using modern data storage formats such as Delta Lake, Iceberg, and Hudi. The team collaborates closely with the cloud, infrastructure, and data governance teams to ensure data reliability, observability, and monitoring through modern tooling. Key focus areas include building enterprise data platforms, enabling real-time and batch analytics workloads, and migrating legacy systems to modern cloud environments. Depending on your seniority and our current business needs, you will either take over an existing team or build up a new team from scratch.

What does it take to fit the bill?

Consulting and Technical Skills

• Consultant mindset & passion for customer experience - you prioritize your work with the customer in mind, and you seek to advise (rather than purely execute) your customers on the best-in-class technical solutions;

• Solid software engineering foundations - you are a stack-agnostic software engineer with a strong understanding of how distributed systems work. Additionally, you are familiar with (and keen to follow) best-in-class software engineering principles; 

• Data & Cloud are part of your engineering journey - you have played a role in teams that designed and implemented data-intensive applications and have strong SQL and NoSQL hands-on experience. Exposure to real-time data processing systems, Apache Spark, and/or the big data ecosystem is an advantage;

• You thrive when having to solve problems and take ownership  - you solve problems on your own and advise others on how to do the same. Moreover, you have a natural predisposition to identify and fill organizational gaps, be it processes or documentation gaps, customer communication mismatches, or resource allocation deficiencies.

Leadership skills

• Motivated to lead and grow people - whether you're already experienced in managing teams, or you've grown into leadership through informal experience such as leading a project team or owning delivery for a group of people, you're ready to take on the responsibility of leading and supporting a team;

• Mentoring people excites you - this could mean you've already co-created goals and development plans with a team, or you've supported and mentored colleagues informally and are excited to grow this into a more structured leadership role;

• Keen to build strong teams and culture - you may have already helped hire and grow high-performing teams, or contributed to team culture and collaboration in less formal ways, such as onboarding new colleagues or driving process improvements - either way, you're ready to help raise the bar across your team and the wider organization;

• Excellent communication skills - you can adjust your communication style, articulate technical concepts to all types of audiences, and ensure transparent communication across all levels.

What will the selection process look like?

• Screening Interview (~60 minutes) - our Technical Recruiter will run it. The purpose is to get to know you better and assess how you match the role's core requirements. This is also your chance to learn more about DATAPAO and our business model; 

• Technical Interview (~90 minutes) - this round will be run by two senior data engineers. This session covers cloud fundamentals, core data engineering concepts, hands-on coding, and a problem-solving exercise.

• Cultural & Leadership Block (~120 minutes) - our Head of People and Head of Consulting will run this stage. The scope is to assess your leadership philosophy & skills and the likelihood of settling well into our community. It might consist of two back-to-back 60-minute blocks, or we might as well run it in a single ~120-minute block.

What do we offer?

You'll have the rare opportunity to join DATAPAO at a time when you can still meaningfully impact our growth trajectory and organizational success. Furthermore, as our first-ever Spain hire, you could meaningfully contribute to expanding our local presence and, eventually, establishing a physical hub in this geography.

Surely, we know everyone needs a little something to do their best work. Here is a list of some other extras we offer:  

• The chance to work remotely - as we don't have a physical office in Spain yet, we offer a fully remote setup for the time being. However, given our strong community emphasis, we'd expect you to spend one month in our Budapest hub during onboarding and visit the office for one week every quarter;

• World-class educational benefits - there’s no shortage of learning opportunities at DATAPAO, meaning that you'll get access to Databricks' public and internal courses to learn all the tricks of Distributed Data Processing, MLOps, Apache Spark, Databricks, and Cloud Migration from the best. Additionally, we'll pay for various data & cloud certifications, you'll get dedicated time for learning during work hours, and access to our internal library; 

• Flexible PTO days - we’re flexible with how many days you take off if that does not conflict with customer success and the work getting done;

• Fully paid Medical Leave for up to 15 days per year - because when you’re unwell, we want you to focus on recovery and not worry about your paycheck;

• Comprehensive private health insurance plan via Allianz - offered via our EOR (Employer of Record) provider, Remote.com. Remote will be your official employer in Spain for the foreseeable future until we establish our own legal entity in Spain;

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) via Allianz & Remote - life always happens! And we'd like to be there for you when it counts the most. Through EAP, we offer our employees access to psychology, financial, and legal consulting services via phone or in person;

• Top-notch working equipment - working comfortably means working well. You will get a MacBook Pro and a sign-up bonus of 500 EUR gross (to be paid with your first payroll) to set up your home office or whatever else is needed to give your best;

• The chance to make an impact in a high-transparency culture - open feedback and no politics are things we value a lot at DATAPAO. Additionally, you'll get the chance to work in the field of data & AI and shape the future of a rapidly growing tech company.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Given that we are still sorting our way in Spain, this list will likely get an update in the following months, and we're also committed to growing it with us over time.

The gross salary for this position ranges from 70.000 to 88.000 EUR/year, depending on your assessed seniority level during the selection process.

Please note that currently we are unable to support transfer or offer full sponsorship for Skilled Worker visas as we’re just setting foot into Spain.

Want to know more about us?

DATAPAO is a Databricks Gold Partner covering the full data and AI journey - architecture, delivery, and enablement - for global brands that refuse to settle for "good enough." We don't hand over a slide deck and walk away: our engineers embed directly with client teams, and our training arm has turned 20,000+ professionals into Databricks experts worldwide.

We're backed by Databricks itself - the creators of Apache Spark - and act as their delivery and training partner across Europe. That partnership has earned us Databricks EMEA Emerging Partner of the Year, and a spot on the Financial Times FT1000 list of Europe's fastest-growing companies for the third year running (2026).

We've delivered 200+ projects for clients like Norsk-Hydro, Richter, Egis, Schufa, GetYourGuide, TechnoAlpin, and Logically, to name a few. As trainers, we've taught teams at NASDAQ, Imperial Brands, Accenture, Shell, UBS, Danske Bank, Pfizer, ASDA, Heineken, Hays, and Citigroup how to put data to work - not just talk about it.

Curious to see us in action? Check these out:

• Databricks Data + AI Summit 2026: The Biggest Announcements Explained (EN) by Máté Gulyás

• How Databricks Builds Production AI (EN) by Brooke Wenig, Head of AI FDE at Databricks - Data+AI Summit 2026

• TechnoAlpin × Datapao: How TechnoAlpin Modernized Its Data Platform on Databricks - a client's take on working with us

You can alsofollow us on LinkedIn for all the good stuff, or just hit our recruitment team at [email protected]

We're firm believers in scaling up a team without judgment or prejudice. What we really care about is working with the best people out there, no matter their background. And you should also not worry if you don't tick every box in the requirements. If you're passionate about data and learning new things, you'll fit right in, and we'd love to hear back from you.

When we hear back from you, we'd like you to know that we are committed to your privacy and keeping your data safe. We do not share your data with any third parties (except those we use to run our recruitment process) and retain your application for 2 years unless you ask us otherwise. We use your data solely for recruitment purposes, such as letting you know about new career opportunities at DATAPAO and/or managing your application. But if you want to know more about how we store and manage your data, check our privacy policy.