Ascend · 2 weeks ago
Data Engineering Lead
San Francisco, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Lead/StaffAscend21 is transforming the global insurance industry by integrating AI automation with fintech solutions. The Data Engineering Lead will be responsible for architecting and managing the data infrastructure that supports decision-making across the company, ensuring the reliability and scalability of data products essential for financial operations.
FinanceFinTechInsuranceInsurTechSoftware
Responsibilities
Develop a deep understanding of Ascend’s data sources, existing pipelines, and downstream use cases across Finance, Product, and Engineering
Build strong working relationships with key stakeholders to understand current pain points, risk areas, and future data needs
Evaluate the current data stack and workflows, identifying gaps in reliability, observability, and scalability
Begin defining the architectural vision and technical standards for a modern, high-integrity data platform
Design and begin implementing core components of the Modern Data Stack, including ingestion, transformation, and orchestration
Establish data modeling standards using dbt, with clear, version-controlled definitions for core financial and operational metrics
Introduce foundational data quality and observability frameworks, including automated testing for freshness, schema evolution, and reconciliation
Partner closely with Product Engineering to improve production data exports and ensure analytics infrastructure scales alongside product development
Own and operate a trusted Single Source of Truth that defines Ascend’s core KPIs at the infrastructure level
Run scalable, production-grade data pipelines that support high-volume financial transactions with accuracy and auditability
Act as the technical authority on data architecture and tooling, evaluating and evolving orchestration, governance, and reverse ETL solutions
Mentor future data hires and establish best practices across data modeling, CI/CD, documentation, and peer review
Translate complex financial and business logic into reliable, performant data structures that enable confident decision making across the company
Qualification
Required
Technically rigorous and systems minded
Experience in architecting and owning data infrastructure
Full lifecycle management of data platforms
Ability to ingest raw, high-volume transactional data
Experience with data modeling and orchestration layers
Strong understanding of data sources and existing pipelines
Ability to evaluate data stack and workflows for reliability, observability, and scalability
Experience in defining architectural vision and technical standards for data platforms
Design and implement core components of the Modern Data Stack
Establish data modeling standards using dbt
Introduce data quality and observability frameworks
Partner with Product Engineering for data exports and analytics infrastructure
Own and operate a trusted Single Source of Truth for core KPIs
Run scalable, production-grade data pipelines
Act as technical authority on data architecture and tooling
Mentor future data hires and establish best practices
Translate complex financial and business logic into reliable data structures
Benefits
Competitive base salary and meaningful equity in a fast-growing company
100% health premiums covered for you and your dependents
401k with employer matching options
Unlimited PTO
Monthly company-paid commuter benefit options
Parental and family leave
Lunch provided when in office
Dog-friendly office!
Company
Ascend
Ascend is a developer of an insurance payments platform that offers automated payments in financing, collections, and payables.
Founded in 2021
51-200 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Ascend has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (11)
2024 (16)
2023 (12)
2022 (9)
2021 (11)
2020 (6)
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$285.5MKey Investors
Index VenturesFirst Round Capital
2022-01-27Series A· $30M
2022-01-27Debt Financing· $250M
2021-09-15Seed· $5.5M
Leadership Team
Andrew Wynn
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Recent News
Government Technology US
2025-12-06
Company data provided by crunchbase