Data Platform Engineer

QED (https://qed.ai) is a tech company focused on public health and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. We build the digital infrastructure and AI used at the intersection of aid and scientific inquiry, including surveillance of HIV/malaria/TB, and nutrient analysis of crops and soils, working at national-scale in several African countries. Our funding comes from multiple philanthropic and governmental organizations, including the Global Fund, Gates Foundation, and the CDC.

We are looking for a mid/senior Data Platform Engineer (backend) to join our team in Warsaw. Desired skills include

• experience designing and maintaining data pipelines using ETL and/or ELT approaches, with the ability to reason about trade-offs rather than defaulting to a single pattern
• understanding of data pipeline reliability concepts, including idempotency, backfills, and handling late or corrected data
• ability to structure data systems into clear layers (e.g. raw, cleaned, curated) and reason about their different purposes and guarantees
• experience deciding between batch, micro-batch, and streaming approaches based on latency, correctness, and operational complexity
• strong background in software engineering, version control, writing readable code and tests, robust design, and basic data structures and algorithms
• ability to conceive logical software architectures and express yourself clearly, both verbally and in writing
• willingness to tackle a wide array of problems and technologies
• willingness to participate in regular design sessions, code reviews, and working in teams
• development primarily on UNIX-based or OSX-Darwin platforms
• working proficiency (≥C1) in speaking, reading, and typing English (≥45 words per minute)
• willingness and interest in working with people from other cultures
• emotional resilience and social intelligence
• and you have to care about the work that you do
• and you have to be optimistic at least sometimes, although pessimism tends to be useful

Below are additional skills that are a bonus, but are not required

• understanding of analytical data modeling concepts, including how to transform raw data into analytics-ready datasets and define clear data semantics for downstream consumers
• experience with Python, Django, DBT, Dagster, Luigi or Clickhouse
• experience with containerization (Docker), Terraform, Kubernetes or Nix
• knowledge and experience with data warehousing, online analytical processing, metadata management, dimensional modeling, and relational database theory
• experience with programming and/or math competitions
• product-oriented mindset
• willingness to go on an adventure
• domain knowledge and/or interest in the sustainable development goals, particularly in public health, agriculture, and assisting developing countries

What can you expect

• unusual, socially conscious projects
• significant ownership
• a mix of product, internal platform, and client integration work
• ability and encouragement to explore technologies other than your main expertise
• optional travel to learn more about problems we're trying to solve

Requires a full-time commitment physically based in Warsaw, Poland, with a hybrid of remote and in-person work throughout the week. We expect at least 2-3 days per week in the office. The working hours are flexible, for example you do not need approval to take out a small chunk in the middle of the day to handle some personal business.