Senior Data Engineer

About Calliper

At Calliper, we believe that data should be for the many, not the few. Data is one of the most valuable assets companies have. Yet, most struggle to unlock its potential. We're here to change that.

We help companies win by making better decisions with data, faster. Calliper is a mission control centre for the whole company - making data accessible and actionable for everyone.

Aggregate fragmented sources. Remove noise. Align teams.

This is Collaborative Analytics.

We're a fast-growing startup backed by Sequoia and 35+ operator angels and late-stage startup founders who have first-hand experienced the challenges of building data-driven organisations. See a short demo of what we are building here.

As a company, we deeply care about our people and the culture we’re building. Learn more about us here.

How big will your impact be here?

You will be able to work on greenfield projects and shape core services that power Calliper. Here’s some of what you will drive:

• Own data architecture: Lead the design and implementation of Calliper's data processing infrastructure. Develop ELT pipelines to support sleek data visualisations and generating business's insights.
• Build world-class data environment. Identify and implement enhancements like improving processing performance, automating workflows, implementing data streaming, and designing for scalability.
• Set up and optimise API integrations. Partner with the data science team to implement advanced models and analytics across the whole product and connecting us with new SaaS services.
• Plan system expansion. Execute expansion as needed to support Calliper's growth and data science needs. Build out the roadmap on how the data stack evolves with the team.

How can you grow in this role?

A great Data Engineer will be able to step up into a Team Lead role as the company scales. This means that you will have the opportunity to:

• Get more involved in hiring and building a world-class, global engineering team
• Coach and mentor team members from many different backgrounds to grow in both their technical and leadership skills
• Enhance deployment processes across security, data pipelines, and CI/CD, to allow us to be faster, more secure and robust
• Work on the longer-term strategic vision of Calliper, communicating with senior leadership, product management and operations

Requirements

What are we looking for in you?

• Mission-driven. We are looking for missionaries, not mercenaries. Empowering teams with better data insights and enabling more cross-functional collaboration is something we are deeply passionate about
• Excited by the culture we are building. Culture is very important to us, and we want you to be committed to working hard to help us create a long-lasting, high-performance culture
• CS Degree? Bootcamp? Self Taught? Whatever... We aren’t precious about titles, and whilst a traditional engineering background might be great, so will many others. The important thing is you love to ship high-quality products fast and can’t live without getting user feedback
• Customer-centric. You enjoy speaking directly with customers and understanding their problems. You share your work early, whether it’s a draft of a proposal or the MVP of a customer-facing feature. You’re happy putting something out there when it’s “70% done”‍
• Some startup experience. You should be aware of what you’re getting yourself in for with an early-stage company. Things can be intense and stressful and then thrilling and euphoric all in the same day, so you need to be ready for the emotional rollercoaster. Also, you are comfortable when faced with a lot of ambiguity, both technically and organisationally. You’re happy to tackle problems without a clear definition or solution

What makes engineering at Calliper different?

• Distinct and strong engineering culture. We’re basing this on a handful of principles we’ve committed to as a team. Most importantly, we want everyone to have a voice in defining and evolving our engineering culture
• Exciting data and machine learning challenges. As a data company, we’re always trying to push the quality bar and impact of the algorithms we develop for our customers. However, it’s not just about the quality of data science, we also work really hard to package them in sleek, interactive and low latency product experiences
• Protected deep work sessions. Throughout the week we make time to shield the team from distractions and reactive work. Close Slack and turn off your notifications and ship some high-quality work
• Strong advocation for great developer experience. We like using services that take care of undifferentiated work. Obviously, there are a handful of areas of the product where we need to build something custom ourselves, but in most cases, we are happy to pay for what’s already tried and tested
• No BS. No ego. Just direct communication and an honest search for truth. We want to always be improving as a team and individuals, so we leave ego at the door and always try to be intellectually honest
• Tight processes, clear goals and limited chaos. We are considerate and intentional with what we are building, so we always have a clear view of the roadmap and priorities. Startups are hard enough we don’t want to do crazy pivots every month

What is the stack you will start with?

We are in the process of shipping an MVP and made some intentional technical choices. Currently, we are working with the following technologies:

• Python3 with type hints
• Snowflake as a data warehouse
• Postgres as a hot data storage
• Prefect for running jobs
• Ariadne GraphQL + FastAPI for serving the chart data
• Pandas, numpy, SQL for data transformations

What are Calliper's values?

We strive to be thoughtful and intentional with the culture we build at Calliper.

🏆 Take ownership, deliver work you’re proud of.

Having high personal standards and delivering quality work is very important to us. We care about the details.

⛩ Choose simplicity, bring order to the chaos.

Less is more, don’t try to overcomplicate things and always find out how things can be reduced to their core.

📣 Create transparency, communicate proactively and authentically.

Be honest and upfront about what’s working and what’s not. When you disagree with something, speak your mind.

🏗. Find leverage, create lasting impact.

Find ways to make your work to continue delivering value after it’s been shared - deliver compounding returns.

How will your recruitment process work?

We're excited to meet you! 🥳

We’re mindful and respectful of your time, so we want to be as upfront as possible on how things will work. Please note, we are also open to doing a trial period where we can work with you as a consultant so we can get to know each other better.

1. Code assessment. We’re a small team of senior hires. We intentionally curated this screen to quickly highlight candidates with skills that match our requirements for the role.
2. Introduction call (30 mins). We can tell you more about us and the role, and we want to learn more about your background, ambitions, and values. This is as much about selling ourselves to you as you telling us how awesome you are.
3. Take home task (8-12 hours over a week). What better way to find out if we would enjoy working together than actually working together. We will give you an open-ended, fun task to showcase your skills and collaborate with us on a practical take-home task. This is a compensated task.
4. Technical deep-dive (1 hour). We want to give you a taste of some of the technical challenges we have ahead of us and give you a chance to show off how you would tackle them. We will dive into a bit of live coding (no algorithms!) and systems design. This is your time to shine!
5. Values Interview (45 mins). Now that we have established that you have not only the potential to be a strong cultural fit, but also are a proficient and pragmatic engineer, this will be a chance for you to meet the wider team and get to know your potential future colleagues.
6. Final conversation (30-60 mins). A final opportunity to review whether everyone is happy with the fit and discuss salary and equity options.

💜 We strongly encourage candidates of all different backgrounds and identities to apply. We believe that our team is stronger with a variety of perspectives, and we’re eager to further diversify our company. If you have a background that you feel would make an impact at Calliper, please consider applying. We’re committed to building an inclusive, supportive place for you to do the best work of your career.

Benefits

What perks can you expect if you join us?

We’re not Google but want to provide you with everything you need to feel productive and empowered to operate at your best.

🌍 Remote-First

We love working together and getting together but are remote-first as a policy. Work anywhere in a European timezone.

🌴 4 Weeks Holiday Minimum

We encourage and enforce team members to take time away from work.

🌿 Personal Goals Support

Up to £500 funding per year is offered to pursue personal growth or wellness projects (from marathons to meditation camps).

🖥️ Home Office Budget

Get the best computer, desk, chair, headphones, or whatever else you need to work from home comfortably with a generous budget.

🥪 Lunch & Learn Tuesdays

Have lunch with us every Tuesday, with great talks from colleagues and industry leaders.

✈️ Bi-Annual Adventures

Twice a year we do a stimulating team-building activity to evolve and grow as a team. This could be anything from climbing a mountain to a treasure hunt.