Principal Data Engineer

Description

Ledgebrook is an AI-native specialty insurance platform. When a business needs coverage that is custom and complex, its broker comes to us, and our underwriters give them an answer, often in hours rather than weeks.

We built our technology from scratch, with AI in it from the first line of code. The technology helps price the risk; the underwriter uses their judgment to decide. There are always two hands on the wheel.

We are insurance industry insiders, and we eat our own cooking: Ledgebrook writes the policy and shares the risk through our own carrier, Ledgebrook Specialty, rated A- (Excellent) by AM Best. We work exclusively through wholesale brokers.

Our vision: to make the wheels of insurance spin faster.

At Ledgebrook, everything we do is driven by our culture: Care, Strive, Thrive Together. To succeed in modernizing the industry, we must first succeed in changing the way we do business. Talent density is our north star-fewer, better people working together as one. To that end we’ve replaced all individual incentives with generous equity packages-we play as a team, we win as a team. Everyone benefits handsomely from Ledgebrook’s success.

About the Role

We're seeking a Staff Data and Analytics Engineer who operates at the intersection of deep technical craft and organizational leverage. You'll set the technical direction for our data platform, raise the bar for how we build, and make everyone around you more effective.

You'll own the architecture, establish the standards others build on, and drive outcomes that span engineering, actuarial, finance, and product. When something is broken or missing, you're the one who identifies it, proposes the solution, and sees it through.

You'll work in a modern data stack with python, Airflow, dbt, Terraform, and Snowflake. Your decisions will shape how we scale underwriting intelligence, pricing models, and operational infrastructure for years.

What You’ll Do:

• Architect the Data Platform - Own the end-to-end design of our data infrastructure. Make the foundational calls on pipeline architecture, data modeling patterns, and platform evolution across Snowflake, dbt, Airflow, and Terraform.
• Define Engineering Standards - Establish and enforce practices around data quality, testing, observability, and deployment that the rest of the team builds on. Your patterns become the defaults.
• Enable Data-Driven Decisions at Scale - Design semantic layers and data models complex enough to support underwriting, finance, and executive strategy. Simple enough that analysts can use them without hand-holding.
• Drive Data Governance - Own the governance posture: data contracts, SLAs, lineage, and documentation. Make trusted data a property of the system, not a manual effort.
• Shape the ML and AI Foundation - Partner with data science and engineering leadership to ensure the platform supports advanced analytics, ML pipelines, and AI initiatives.
• Elevate the Team - Mentor engineers, conduct rigorous code and design reviews, and actively close skill gaps. Your leverage is measured in part by how much better the people around you get.
• Partner at the Leadership Level - Engage directly with actuarial, underwriting, finance, and product leaders to translate business complexity into technical roadmap. You're a peer to stakeholders, not a ticket-taker.

About you

We love working with people who are eager to learn constantly and genuinely excited about the chaotic, rewarding process of building a company from the ground up.

You’ll be a great fit if you bring:

• A Strong Moral Compass: You believe in doing the right thing, period. We have a strict zero-tolerance policy for toxic behaviors
• Customer-First Empathy: You are passionate about delivering an exceptional experience to everyone you work with, both inside and outside the company
• Intellectual Curiosity: You naturally question the status quo and love finding innovative ways to solve problems
• A Growth Mindset: You possess a hunger for continuous learning and want to constantly expand your skillset
• Urgency & Prioritization: You can pivot quickly and balance the need to get things right with the speed of getting them done right now
• A Solution-Oriented Outlook: When things go wrong, you don't look for blame-you immediately focus on how to fix it
• Transparent Communication: You value honesty, clarity, and open feedback
• Team-First Energy: You want to win together as a high-performing team and actively build connections across our remote locations

Requirements

Must Haves:

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering or analytics engineering
• Expert-level command of Python and SQL, with a history of production systems that others maintain and build on.
• Deep hands-on experience with Airflow, dbt, Terraform, and Snowflake (or equivalents) in production environments.
• Demonstrated ability to own platform architecture decisions end-to-end: design, tradeoffs, delivery, and iteration.
• Track record of driving cross-functional alignment on technical direction without relying on positional authority.
• Experience building and enforcing data quality, observability, and governance frameworks at scale.
• Comfort operating in high-ambiguity environments where you define the path, not just walk it.

Nice to Have

• Experience in insurance, fintech, or other regulated domains.
• Familiarity with Power BI, Tableau, Looker, or other BI tools.
• Experience designing for compliance and data governance requirements (SOC 2, CCPA, etc.).
• Prior experience building data infrastructure at a high-growth startup for growth stage.

Tech Stack:

• Languages: Python, SQL
• Data Stack: Snowflake, dbt, Apache Airflow (AWS MWAA)
• Cloud Infrastructure: AWS, Terraform
• Tools: GitHub, Jira, Confluence, Slack

Benefits

U.S & Canada Benefits

• Full remote flexibility and asynchronous work culture.
• Unlimited PTO and fully paid sick leave.
• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus HSA and FSA options.
• Additional financial protection and retirement benefits, including a 401(k), company-paid life insurance, and disability coverage.

Poland Benefits:

• Completely remote, flexible schedule, and monthly coworking gatherings
• Fully paid LuxMed Family package
• Access to the Helping Hand platform, including therapy sessions
• Unlimited paid time off

For Candidates Applying From The U.S. and Canada:

Please note: This position is open only to candidates who are authorized to work in the United States or Canada without the need for current or future employer-sponsored work authorization. We are unable to offer sponsorship at this time.

For Candidates Applying From Poland:

Please note: This position is open only to candidates who are authorized to work in Poland without the need for current or future employer-sponsored work authorization. We are unable to offer sponsorship at this time.

Ledgebrook may use Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) as part of the job application process, including to assist us in evaluating your application. AI is used as a support tool, and hiring decisions are made by human recruiters. By submitting your information, you acknowledge that the company may use AI tools as part of our evaluation. If you need a reasonable accommodation or alternative review process because of a disability or other legally protected basis, contact [email protected]. Requesting an accommodation will not negatively affect your application.

Compensation

Compensation:

• Base Salary Range $180,000-$220,000 This is a good-faith compensation range based on what Ledgebrook reasonably expects to pay for this position at the time of this posting. Actual compensation may vary based on a variety of relevant factors including experience, qualifications, geographic location and other relevant factors.
• Employees in this position are eligible to participate in Ledgebrook’s equity incentive program.