Data Engineer II

At NerdWallet, we’re on a mission to bring clarity to all of life’s financial decisions and every great mission needs a team of exceptional Nerds. We’ve built an inclusive, flexible, and candid culture where you’re empowered to grow, take smart risks, and be unapologetically yourself (cape optional). Whether remote or in-office, we support how you thrive best. We invest in your well-being, development, and ability to make an impact because when one Nerd levels up, we all do.

Data engineers are the builders behind the insights that drive smarter decisions. They design and scale reliable data pipelines and models that power analytics, experimentation, and strategic decision-making across the company. As a Data Engineer II, you’ll tackle complex, data challenges -partnering closely with your Data Org members. You’ll combine technical expertise with clear communication and thoughtful collaboration to ensure our data systems are not only technically sound, but also deeply aligned with NerdWallet’s strategic goals.

You’ll work directly within a product vertical - shaping the data that drives business decisions, product innovation, and user experiences. This is a unique opportunity to see your work translate into real-world outcomes, accelerating NerdWallet’s mission through data that’s closer than ever to the business.

You’ll design, develop, and maintain data systems and pipelines that serve as the foundation for analytics and product innovation in a fast-paced, ever-evolving environment. The right candidate is comfortable adapting to shifting priorities.

This role sits within Data Org and reports to a Senior Manager of Data Engineering. You’ll join a passionate team of Nerds who believe clean, scalable data is at the heart of helping consumers make smarter financial decisions.

Where you can make an impact:

• Lead well-scoped data assets - accurate, reliable, documented, aligned to stakeholder needs.

• Build and improve pipelines using established patterns, focused on maintainability, scalability and quality.

• Solve moderately complex problems independently; escalate when tradeoffs or dependencies call for broader input.

• Strengthen pipeline reliability and observability - monitor jobs, investigate failures, improve tests, prevent recurrence.

• Communicate clearly with cross-functional partners on requirements, assumptions and progress.

• Break down ambiguous work, ask thoughtful questions and partner with senior engineers on the path forward.

• Prioritize by impact, urgency, risk - communicate tradeoffs as scope or timing shifts.

• Apply sound judgment on implementation; seek feedback to sharpen design and execution.

• Write clean, tested, documented code; adopt modern practices, including AI-enabled tooling.

• Grow technical depth over time - take on harder workstreams, learn from feedback, reviews and mentorship.

Your experience:

• 3+ years in data engineering, analytics engineering, software engineering, or related.

• Hands-on with modern data stack tools: AWS, Snowflake, dbt, Airflow, Databricks, or similar.

• Strong SQL; working proficiency in Python for pipeline development, transformation, automation, debugging.

• Comfortable with AI-assisted tools like Cursor or GitHub Copilot.

• Working knowledge of relational databases, data modeling, query performance.

• Experience building and troubleshooting pipelines in production.

• Familiarity with data quality, monitoring, logging, testing, observability.

• Logical problem-solving - define issues, investigate anomalies, draw sound conclusions.

• Comfortable within established patterns, alert to opportunities to improve them.

• Strong written and verbal communication, clear across engineering, analyst, and business audiences.

• Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, Engineering, related field, or equivalent experience.

Where:

• This role will be remote (based in the U.S.).

• We believe great work can be done anywhere. No matter where you are based, NerdWallet offers benefits and perks to support the physical, financial, and emotional well being of you and your family.

What we offer:

Work Hard, Stay Balanced (Life’s a series of balancing acts, eh?)

• Industry-leading medical, dental, and vision health care plans for employees and their dependents

• Rejuvenation Policy - Flexible Vacation Time Off + 11 holidays + holiday company shutdown

• New Parent Leave for employees with a newborn child or a child placed with them for adoption or foster care

• Mental health support

• Paid sabbatical after 5 years for Nerds to recharge, gain knowledge, and pursue their interests

• Health and Dependent Care FSA and HSA Plan with monthly NerdWallet contribution

• Monthly Wellness Stipend, Cell Phone Stipend, and Wifi Stipend (Only remote Nerds are eligible for the Wifi Stipend)

• Work from home equipment stipend and co-working space subsidy (Only remote Nerds are eligible for these stipends)

Have Some Fun! (Nerds are fun, too)

• Nerd-led group initiatives - Employee Resource Groups for Parents, Diversity, and Inclusion, Women, LGBTQIA, and other communities

• Hackathons and team events across all teams and departments

• Company-wide events like NerdLove (employee appreciation) and our annual Charity Auction

• Our Nerds love to make an impact by paying it forward - Take 8 hours of volunteer time off per quarter and donate to your favorite causes with a company match

Plan for your future (And when you retire on your island, remember the little people)

• 401K with 4% company match

• Be the first to test and benefit from our new financial products and tools

• Financial wellness, guidance, and unlimited access to a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) through Northstar

• Disability and Life Insurance with employer-paid premiums

If you are based in California, we encourage you to read this important information for California residents linked here.

NerdWallet is committed to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law, so all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.

NerdWallet will consider qualified applicants with a criminal history pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act and the San Francisco Fair Chance Act, which requires this notice, as well as the Los Angeles Fair Chance Act, which requires thisnotice.

NerdWallet participates in the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services E-Verify program for all US locations. For more information, please see:

• E-Verify Participation Poster (English+Spanish/Español)

• Right to Work Poster (English) / (Spanish/Español)