Senior Manager, Data Engineering

KIPP Public Schools is a national network of tuition-free public charter schools preparing students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. With 279 schools, nearly 16,500 educators, and nearly 210,000 students and alumni, our mission is to create joyful, academically excellent schools in partnership with families and communities. Our vision is that every child grows up free to create the future they want for themselves and their communities.

The KIPP Foundation supports KIPP public charter schools by developing outstanding educators, providing tools and resources for excellent teaching and learning, promoting innovation, and facilitating the exchange of insights and ideas across KIPP and other public schools and organizations.

About Our Values

• Excellent Results for Students: We value results over effort and maintain high expectations for ourselves, our teams, and our students. We drive outcomes by operating with agility, removing barriers, and prioritizing student-centered solutions.
• Collective Impact: We embody a one-team mindset, working collaboratively across teams, aligning goals, and leveraging strengths. We build trust-based relationships and ensure inclusive decision-making.
• Courageous Action: We demonstrate unwavering belief in students' potential and a commitment to addressing systemic inequities. We approach challenges with resilience, adaptability, and a solutions-focused mindset, fostering a psychologically safe environment.

About the Role

This role is responsible for creating, managing, and optimizing data engineering pipelines, managing data platform operations, and partnering closely with stakeholders to drive requirements-gathering and define data solution architecture. The Senior Manager, Data Engineering will lead sprint planning, project execution, and continuous improvement of data solutions, reporting to the Senior Director of Data Management & Governance.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive end-to-end delivery of data architecture and pipeline solutions, including planning, requirements-gathering, design, build, and testing.
• Design and evolve the semantic layer to serve as the well-governed single source of truth for business intelligence.
• Lead sprint planning and operations, manage sprint execution, release planning, and delivery to ensure timely outcomes.
• Track and analyze sprint delivery metrics, operational efficiency, and DevOps performance to support continuous improvement.
• Design and operationalize a data quality framework with proactive monitoring, alerting, root cause analysis, and impact assessments.
• Establish foundational capabilities for MLOps, Machine Learning, and feature engineering, including ML/AI platform integration.
• Manage and continuously improve data architecture and pipelines, establishing clear monitoring standards and operational controls.
• Partner with Analytics, Application Development, IT Operations, Product Management, and Regional Data teams to execute project plans and manage priorities.
• Ensure transparency into progress, risks, and dependencies through consistent tracking and communication.
• Guide team members on developing data solutions, promoting strong data quality practices, and maintaining up-to-date documentation.
• Manage and develop one or more team members (FTEs or contractors), providing clear expectations, feedback, and coaching.

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional experience in data engineering, infrastructure engineering, or a closely related technical field.
• Experience with SQL-based data platforms (e.g., SQL Server) and modern cloud-based data warehouse/lakehouse platforms (e.g., Fabric/OneLake, Snowflake, Databricks).
• Demonstrated experience managing agile sprint operations, DevOps metrics, and proficiency in JIRA or similar tools for project and sprint planning.
• Experience with version control and CI/CD workflows using Git and platforms like Bitbucket, GitHub, or Azure DevOps.
• Strong technical proficiency in SSIS, Spark, PySpark, and SQL.
• Experience managing data platform operations, building/managing ETLs and pipelines, and mentoring data engineers.
• Understanding of Machine Learning workflows and ML/AI enablement for data platforms.
• Experience with SQL Server and MS Fabric/OneLake preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in data engineering, computer science, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred.

Skills and Mindsets

• Mission and Student Focus: Demonstrates passion and commitment to KIPP’s mission and core values.
• Self-Management: Co-creates ambitious goals, monitors progress, and leverages organizational understanding to drive outcomes.
• Work Management: Drives work through clear action planning, manages competing priorities, and executes project plans effectively.
• Process Management: Builds and aligns goals with organizational priorities, develops knowledge management systems, and codifies processes.
• Problem-Solving: Generates solutions independently, anticipates risks, and develops proactive solutions.
• People Management & Development: Develops and coaches teammates, sets performance and development goals, and provides actionable feedback.
• Technical Proficiency: Knowledge of SQL, Spark, PySpark, cloud-based data platforms, CI/CD, ETL/data pipelines, version control, SSIS, agile sprint operations, and machine learning principles.

Schedule

Full, exempt role with low travel requirements (10% or approximately 20 days per year).

Location

Preferred but not mandatory to be based in a KIPP Foundation office (NYC or Chicago). Remote work is also an option.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $104,000 - $123,500, based on factors such as external market data, internal equity, and relevant experience.

Benefits

• 25 holidays plus 18+ flexible PTO days (increases with tenure).
• 100% paid parental leave.
• 100% coverage of employee medical/dental/vision premiums; 75% coverage for employee + family.
• Wellness benefits including fitness reimbursements, discounted tickets to attractions, backup care support, and an employee assistance program.
• Financial security benefits including a 401K retirement plan with 4% match, employer-sponsored legal plans, life/disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts.