Senior Data Engineer - Madison, WI

What we're building and why we're building it. · Every month, millions of people use Fetch, earning rewards for buying brands they love, and a whole lot more. Whether shopping in the grocery aisle, grabbing a bite at the drive-through or playing a favorite mobile game, Fetch empo ...

Job description

What we're building and why we're building it.
Every month, millions of people use Fetch, earning rewards for buying brands they love, and a whole lot more. Whether shopping in the grocery aisle, grabbing a bite at the drive-through or playing a favorite mobile game, Fetch empowers consumers to live rewarded throughout their day. To date, we've delivered more than $1 billion in rewards and earned more than 5 million five-star reviews from happy users.

It's not just our users who believe in Fetch: with investments from SoftBank, Univision, and Hamilton Lane, and partnerships ranging from challenger brands to Fortune 500 companies, Fetch is reshaping how brands and consumers connect in the marketplace. When you work at Fetch, you play a vital role in a platform that drives brand loyalty and creates lifelong consumers with the power of Fetch points. User and partner success are at the heart of everything we do, and we extend that same commitment to our employees.

At Fetch, we value curiosity, adaptability, and the confidence to explore new tools, especially AI, to drive smarter, faster work. You don't need to be an expert, but you should be ready to learn quickly and think critically. We welcome learners who move fast, challenge the status quo, and shape what's next, with us. Ranked as one of America's Best Startup Employers by Forbes for two years in a row, Fetch fosters a people-first culture rooted in trust, accountability, and innovation. We encourage our employees to challenge ideas, think bigger, and always bring the fun to Fetch.

Fetch is an equal employment opportunity employer.
**Meet Fetch Engineering:****
At Fetch, our engineering philosophy emphasizes innovation, adaptability, and informed decision-making. Our engineers thrive in complex environments, making decisions grounded in critical thinking and data, even in uncertain situations. We value proactive problem-solving and focus on driving meaningful impact while maintaining high technical standards.

You will work alongside talented engineers across product, data, and machine learning disciplines who are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of technology and encouraging each other to grow. Fetch may not be the right fit for everyone, but if you are passionate about solving challenging problems, building scalable systems, and navigating complex data ecosystems, Fetch could be a great place for you.

**About The Role:****
Fetch is looking for a Senior Data Engineer to join a cross-functional product team, working closely with machine learning engineers, backend engineers, and product managers to build robust data infrastructure that powers Fetch's recommendation and audience targeting systems.

In this role, you will take ownership of critical data infrastructure components, including data transformation pipelines, real-time event ingestion systems, and the data contracts that ensure reliability across our platforms. Your work will enable downstream services and applications to access high-quality, low-latency data at scale, processing terabytes of data daily.

This position requires deep technical expertise in building scalable, reliable data systems, along with strong collaboration skills to translate cross-functional requirements into durable and well-designed solutions.

**What You'll Do At Fetch (Role Responsibilities):****

• Design, build, and operate scalable data pipelines using batch and real-time processing technologies such as Apache Spark, Kafka, Flink, or managed cloud streaming services to process terabytes of data daily
• Build data infrastructure that ingests real-time events and stores them efficiently across databases, data warehouses, and data lakes within AWS
• Establish and enforce data contracts with backend engineering teams by implementing schema management, data quality checks, and monitoring to ensure pipeline reliability
• Make data accessible and consumable for operational services, analytics platforms, and data-intensive product features, balancing latency, freshness, and accuracy requirements
• Collaborate closely with backend engineers, machine learning engineers, and product partners to understand data access patterns, system constraints, and quality expectations
• Take ownership of significant portions of the data platform architecture, driving design decisions and technical prioritization
• Develop tools, frameworks, and recommended patterns that enable rapid development of data products and consistent pipeline deployments
• Mentor engineers on data engineering best practices and raise the overall quality bar across the organization
• Stay current with emerging technologies in data processing and infrastructure, evaluating their applicability and impact on Fetch systems

**Focus Areas By Team:*
Recommendation Systems Team***
In this role, you will focus on building data infrastructure that powers Fetch's recommendation systems. You will partner closely with machine learning engineers to design and implement the platforms and pipelines that enable personalized recommendations at scale.

Key Areas Of Focus Include:

• Building and maintaining feature store infrastructure to support efficient feature development, discovery, and reuse across recommendation models
• Designing and operating low-latency feature serving systems that power real-time recommendation APIs for both training and inference workloads
• Implementing monitoring and quality checks to ensure feature freshness, accuracy, and consistency
• Collaborating with ML engineers to understand feature access patterns, model requirements, and latency and throughput needs

*Audiences Team*
In this role, you will focus on building data infrastructure that powers Fetch's advertising audience systems. You will work closely with backend engineers and data analysts to enable large-scale audience analysis and export workflows.

Key Areas Of Focus Include:

• Designing, building, and maintaining stream-processing pipelines in close collaboration with backend engineering teams
• Developing data models and storage structures that support efficient analysis and downstream exports
• Implementing monitoring, validation, and data quality controls across pipelines
• Defining and maintaining SLAs and SLOs for data availability and correctness
• Documenting data models, pipelines, and engineering conventions
• Partnering with data analysts to support analytical queries and business logic for specific audience use cases

**In Your Toolbox (Minimum Requirements):****

• 5+ years of professional experience in data engineering, building and operating production data systems at scale
• Proven experience designing, building, and maintaining scalable batch and real-time data pipelines capable of processing terabytes of data daily
• Hands-on experience with modern data processing frameworks such as Apache Spark, Kafka, Flink, Open Table Formats, and modern OLAP databases
• Strong foundation in data architecture principles, including data modeling, schema design, and tradeoffs between latency, reliability, and cost
• Proficiency in at least one modern programming language such as Go, Python, Java, or Rust, along with strong SQL skills
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation in a production environment
• Familiarity with CI/CD processes and modern software development lifecycle practices, with an emphasis on shipping incrementally and improving systems over time
• Experience implementing data quality controls, including validation, monitoring, and anomaly detection
• Ability to take ownership of projects with guidance, driving designs from initial architecture through implementation and adoption
• Comfort presenting technical designs, participating in peer reviews, and constructively challenging decisions
• Strong collaboration skills with experience working closely with software engineers, machine learning engineers, data analysts, and product partners
• Undergraduate or graduate degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experience

At Fetch, we'll give you the tools to feel healthy, happy and secure through:

• Equity: We offer employees equity in Fetch, so that everyone can benefit from Fetch's growth.
• 401k Match: Dollar-for-dollar match up to 4%.
• Benefits for humans and pets: We offer comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans for everyone including your pets.
• Continuing Education: Fetch provides ten thousand per year in education reimbursement.
• Employee Resource Groups: Take part in employee-led groups that are centered around fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace through events, dialogue and advocacy. The ERGs participate in our Inclusion Council with members of executive leadership.
• Paid Time Off: On top of our flexible PTO, Fetch observes 9 paid holidays, as well as our year-end week-long break.
• Robust Leave Policies: 20 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers, 14 weeks for secondary caregivers, and a flexible return to work schedule.
• Calvin Care Cash: Employees who are welcoming new family members will also receive a one time $2,000 incentive to assist employees with covering the cost of childcare, clothing, diapers and much more
• Flexible Work Environment: Collaborate with your team in one of our stunning offices in Madison, Birmingham, or Chicago. Or you can work fully remotely from anywhere in the US. We'll ensure you are equally equipped with the hardware and software you need to get your job done in the comfort of your home.

Fetch is an equal opportunity employer that embraces diversity, inclusion, and respect for all individuals. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Our commitment to inclusivity ensures that everyone is treated with dignity and has the opportunity to succeed based on their talent, skills, and potential.

Fetch also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities or those with sincerely held religious beliefs, as required by law. If you need assistance with the application process or require an accommodation, please contact us