Head of Data Infrastructure

About the Role

Beacon Software acquires and operates vertical market SaaS companies across North America, running a portfolio of 25+ software businesses spanning campground management, election platforms, field safety tools, proptech data, workforce scheduling, and more. Data is central to how we operate—used to run portfolio companies better, underwrite new acquisitions, and build AI-powered capabilities into our products. This role is the first dedicated data infrastructure hire at the Beacon holding-company level. You will architect, own, and build the infrastructure that makes this possible, designing the platform from scratch and setting patterns for how data flows across a growing portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Central data platform: Design and build Beacon's lakehouse, warehouse, and pipeline architecture. Unify data across 25+ portfolio companies into a coherent platform that accommodates diverse source systems, data quality, and maturity levels.
• Ingestion strategy: Connect diverse source systems (SaaS apps, transactional DBs, Stripe, Salesforce, custom APIs) into a low-latency data layer. Build an operating model that scales onboarding efficiency from portco 5 to portco 50.
• Modeling and transformation standards: Define data modeling standards, transformation logic (dbt, Spark, or equivalent), and lineage practices for the entire portfolio. Ensure the canonical model enables cross-portco queries (e.g., "show me sales across all portcos") and prevents fragmentation as the platform grows.
• Real-time and batch frameworks: Establish processing frameworks for operational analytics, AI feature engineering, and executive reporting. Determine when to use batch vs. streaming, with discipline in decision-making.
• Multi-tenant isolation and security: Implement per-portco data, compute, and credential boundaries. Manage cross-cloud (AWS and Azure) connectivity and regional residency for regulated verticals. Design KMS scoping, IAM, and audit surfaces for defensibility.
• Infrastructure-as-code for the data stack: Own Terraform or Pulumi modules for cloud provisioning, cost management, and observability. Prioritize correctness, repeatability, and maintainable module design.
• AI and feature serving partnership: Collaborate with AI and product teams to build feature stores, vector infrastructure, and low-latency serving layers for embedded intelligence in portfolio products.
• Vendor stack ownership: Evaluate and own cloud warehouse, orchestration, cataloging, and BI tooling. Make build vs. buy decisions with long-term leverage in mind. Lead the active evaluation between Snowflake and Databricks.
• Acquisition diligence: Serve as the senior technical voice in acquisition diligence, assessing target companies' data maturity and integration complexity.

Requirements

• Technical depth: Hands-on background in distributed systems, query engines, or cloud data platforms. Proficiency in production Python, SQL, and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Pulumi). Deep familiarity with modern lakehouse/warehouse internals (Iceberg, Delta, Parquet, Snowflake, Databricks). Strong grasp of streaming architectures (Kafka, Kinesis, Flink) and CDC patterns.
• Operating style: Excitement for writing code and reviewing PRs. Thrives in small-team, high-autonomy environments with minimal process. Balances strong opinions with adaptability. Translates infrastructure complexity into plain language for operators and GMs. Comfortable scoping work across diverse business contexts.
• Experience building for both analytical and operational workloads at scale.

What This Role Is Not

• Not a heads-down IC role with no scope—you will set technical direction for data infrastructure across the entire portfolio.
• Not purely strategic—you will write code, review PRs, and engage with systems daily.
• Not a maintenance role—the platform is net-new, and you will design it from scratch.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary plus meaningful equity in Beacon, calibrated to top-of-market tech companies.

Schedule

Beacon HQ is in San Francisco (CA). Hybrid expected. Remote considered for the right candidate, with regular travel to San Francisco (CA) or Toronto (CN) for in-person design and review sessions.

Values at Beacon Software

• Humility: We acknowledge that being wrong is part of finding the right answer. We hold strong beliefs loosely and actively seek new ideas from anyone.
• Honesty: We prioritize truth-seeking in business problems and believe trust is earned over time through human relationships.
• Hunger: We play to win, hold ourselves to high standards, and take pride in responsibility to our team, partners, and customers.
• Horizon: We aim to build a generational software company, managing expectations for long-term compounding growth.

AI in Our Hiring Process

Beacon Software uses AI-enabled tools to assist with screening, reviewing, organizing, and highlighting applications that match key requirements. AI does not make hiring decisions—every application is reviewed by a team member, and all decisions are made by humans. We use AI to support efficiency and consistency, not to replace human judgment.