Senior Lead Software Engineer - Data Platform

At Klaviyo, we value the unique backgrounds, experiences and perspectives each Klaviyo (we call ourselves Klaviyos) brings to our workplace each and every day. We believe everyone deserves a fair shot at success and appreciate the experiences each person brings beyond the traditional job requirements. If you’re a cl...

Senior Lead Software Engineer - Data Platform

The Data Platform organization owns the foundational data systems that power analytics, AI/ML, and product use cases across Klaviyo. This Senior Lead role is anchored in the Data Lake domain, while working broadly across Data Platform to support and align with adjacent teams.

You are passionate about building platforms for the long term and can balance technical quality, engineering velocity, and business impact across multiple teams.
You have 12+ years of software engineering experience and deep knowledge of distributed systems, data platform architecture, and large-scale analytical processing.
You bring deep expertise in one or more core Data Platform problem spaces such as lakehouse architecture, data ingestion and transformation, distributed compute, data warehousing, platform reliability, or developer-facing data infrastructure, while maintaining strong system-level thinking across interconnected areas.
You have independently led large, ambiguous, multi-quarter programs and have a track record of making clear architectural calls, breaking through technical obstacles, and leading teams through critical operational moments.
You have strong hands-on experience with the kinds of systems this role touches, including Iceberg-based storage, Spark or EMR-based compute, Airflow-based orchestration, Python-based data platform tooling, modeled data systems, and AWS-hosted infrastructure.
You understand how to build and operate trustworthy data platforms, including schema evolution, materialization patterns, observability, backfills, repairs, audits, access controls, and cost-aware platform operations.
You are highly effective at driving outcomes through influence and technical leadership rather than direct authority, and you communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical partners.
You are passionate about mentoring other engineers and creating the patterns, guidance, and opportunities that help senior engineers and leads grow.
You enjoy improving how systems and teams work, whether through better architecture, tooling, workflows, or operating practices.
Experience with custom built databases and CDM-style modeled data layers, especially transforming landing data into durable, queryable business entities.
Experience building or extending managed table frameworks such as Materialized Views and related operational tooling.
Experience with data governance, ownership, discoverability, residency, or regulated-data programs such as GDPR or HIPAA.
Experience building platform automation for backfills, repairs, optimization, autoscaling, and agentic support for engineers operating complex data systems.

Core technologies and platform components used by the Data Lake team include:
 
Iceberg S3 tables for the foundational storage layer.
Spark / EMR for large-scale analytical compute.
Airflow for orchestration, scheduling, and workflow tracking.
Materialized Views and Python-based platform frameworks for managed Iceberg tables and related data tooling.
Landing-table loaders and CDM tables for ingestion and modeled data transformations that support KDB.
Audit and operational automation for maintenance, observability, backfills, repairs, optimization, autoscaling, and access controls.
AWS-hosted infrastructure supporting the lakehouse platform and its surrounding systems.
Massachusetts Applicants:
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
Our salary range reflects the cost of labor across various U.S. geographic markets. The range displayed below reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all our US locations. The base salary offered for this position is determined by several factors, including the applicant’s job-related skills, relevant experience, education or training, and work location.
In addition to base salary, our total compensation package may include participation in the company’s annual cash bonus plan, variable compensation (OTE) for sales and customer success roles, equity, sign-on payments, and a comprehensive range of health, welfare, and wellbeing benefits based on eligibility. 
Your recruiter can provide more details about the specific salary/OTE range for your preferred location during the hiring process.