Engineering Manager - Data Platform & Analytics (Databricks)

Job Description

Fluent is building the next-generation advertising network, Partner Monetize & Advertiser Acquisition. Our vision is to build an ML/AI-first network of advertisers and publishers to achieve a common objective — elevating relevancy in E-commerce for everyday shoppers.

As our Engineering Manager - Data Platform & Analytics, you will lead the teams responsible for Fluent's data infrastructure and business intelligence capabilities. You will own the full data lifecycle from ingestion through reporting — managing our Data Engineering team that builds and maintains pipelines, and our Analytics/BI team that transforms data into actionable business insights.

This role combines deep technical platform expertise with business acumen, requiring you to drive our Databricks platform strategy while ensuring the organization has reliable, high-quality data and reporting to make informed decisions.

This role is fully remote in the United States or Canada (Ontario), with occasional travel to NYC.

What You'll Do

Data Platform & Engineering

• Own Databricks platform strategy: architecture decisions, Unity Catalog migration, cost optimization, and operational excellence.
• Drive data pipeline development: real-time and batch pipelines using PySpark, Spark Structured Streaming, and Delta Lake.
• Establish data quality standards: validation frameworks, monitoring, alerting, and SLA management.
• Partner with Data Architects to translate Enterprise Data Models into performant physical implementations.
• Integrate streaming infrastructure: Kafka-based event-driven ingestion and processing.

Analytics & Business Intelligence

• Build reporting capabilities: dashboards, KPIs, and self-service analytics for internal and client-facing use.
• Drive data storytelling: executive presentations, client reporting, and strategic business insights.
• Develop metrics frameworks: campaign performance, audience quality, and platform health KPIs.
• Support ad-hoc analysis for campaign optimization and business questions.

Leadership & Management

• Lead and grow DE and Analytics teams: hiring, mentoring, performance management, and career development.
• Coordinate with offshore partners to extend team capacity and manage distributed development workflows.
• Partner cross-functionally with Data Science, Product, and Client Success to align data capabilities with business needs.
• Champion engineering best practices: code reviews, CI/CD, testing, documentation, and observability.

Requirements

Must-Haves

• 6+ years of experience in Data Engineering or Analytics, with at least 2 years managing or leading teams.
• Deep Databricks expertise: Workflows, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, and platform administration.
• Strong Spark experience: PySpark, Spark SQL, and understanding of distributed processing internals.
• Business intelligence expertise: dashboard development, KPI frameworks, and analytics tooling (Tableau, Looker, Power BI, or similar).
• Experience with streaming architectures: Kafka, event-driven processing, and real-time pipelines.
• Proven people management skills: hiring, mentoring, performance management, and team development.
• AWS experience: S3, IAM, and cloud infrastructure fundamentals.
• Strong communication skills for partnering with technical and business stakeholders.

Nice-to-Haves

• Ad tech or marketing tech data platform experience.
• Experience managing offshore or distributed engineering teams.
• Data governance and cataloging experience.
• Cost optimization experience for cloud data platforms.
• Client-facing analytics and reporting experience.
• Experience with medallion architecture (Bronze/Silver/Gold) patterns.

About Us

Fluent, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLNT) is a commerce media solutions provider connecting top-tier brands with highly engaged consumers. Leveraging diverse ad inventory, robust first-party data, and proprietary machine learning, Fluent unlocks additional revenue streams for partners and empowers advertisers to acquire their most valuable customers at scale. Founded in 2010, Fluent uses its deep expertise in performance marketing to drive monetization and increase engagement at key touchpoints across the customer journey. For more insights visit:https://www.fluentco.com/

Benefits

At Fluent, we like what we do, and we like who we do it with. Our team is a tight-knit crew of go-getters; we love to celebrate our successes! In addition, we offer a fully stocked kitchen, catered lunch, and our office manager keeps the calendar stocked with activity filled events. When we’re not eating, working out, or planning parties, Fluent folks can be found participating in networking events, and bonding across teams during quarterly outings to baseball games, fancy dinners, and a variety of activities. And we have all the practical benefits, too…

• Competitive compensation
• Ample career and professional growth opportunities
• New Headquarters with an open floor plan to drive collaboration
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Pre-tax savings plans and transit/parking programs
• 401K with competitive employer match
• Volunteer and philanthropic activities throughout the year
• Educational and social events
• The amazing opportunity to work for a high-flying performance marketing company!

Salary Range: $160,000 to $225,000 base, + competitive bonus. The base salary range represents the low and high end of the Fluent salary range for this position. Actual salaries will vary depending on factors including but not limited to location, experience, and performance.

Candidates may be at risk of targeting by malicious actors seeking personal information. Fluent recruiters will only reach out via LinkedIn or email with an @fluentco.com domain. Any outreach by Fluent via other sources (e.g. text, other domains etc) should be ignored.

Fluent participates in the E-Verify Program. As a participating employer, Fluent, LLC will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization. Fluent, LLC follows all federal regulations including those set forth by The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC). The OSC enforces the anti-discrimination provision (§ 274B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1324b.