Principal Data Engineer/Architect

Scribd, Inc. is on a mission to advance human understanding. Our four products — Scribd®, Slideshare®, Everand™, and Fable — help billions of people across the globe move beyond access and into insight, application, and expertise.

CULTURE AT SCRIBD, INC.

We support a culture where our employees can be real and be bold; where we debate and commit as we embrace plot twists; and where every employee is empowered to take action as we prioritize the customer.

We believe the best work happens when individual flexibility is balanced with meaningful community connection. Scribd Flex empowers employees to choose the workstyle and location that support their best performance, while committing to intentional in-person moments that strengthen collaboration and culture. Occasional in-person attendance is required for all Scribd, Inc. employees, regardless of location.

So what are we looking for in new team members? At Scribd, Inc., we hire for “GRIT.” Traditionally defined as the intersection of passion and perseverance toward long-term goals, GRIT reflects the mindset we expect from every employee. For us, it also serves as a practical framework for how we work: setting and achieving Goals, delivering Results within your role, contributing Innovative ideas and solutions, and strengthening the broader Team through collaboration and attitude.

This posting reflects an approved, open position within the organization.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Scribd’s Data Platform team builds the data pipelines, storage layers, and developer tooling that power analytics, experimentation, ML, and product features across Scribd, Everand, and Slideshare. We’re in the middle of a multi-year investment to modernize our data architecture, with a strong focus on building well-modeled, governed, and trusted data that teams across the company can rely on.

At Scribd, data drives everything—from product decisions and experimentation to understanding subscriber behavior and key business metrics. This role sits at the center of that effort and will play a critical part in shaping how data is structured, governed, and leveraged across the organization — including how data powers emerging AI-driven experiences.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

As a Principal Data Engineer/Architect, you will serve as a technical leader across data modeling, data engineering standards, and platform evolution.

You will

• Define and own Scribd’s enterprise data modeling standards, including grain, keys, relationships, and schema design
• Design conceptual, logical, and physical data models that translate complex business domains into reusable datasets
• Lead the evolution of our medallion architecture (Bronze → Silver → Gold) and define what belongs in each layer
• Establish best practices for building reliable, idempotent, and cost-efficient data pipelines
• Define standards for partitioning, incremental processing, data validation, and performance optimization
• Partner with the Data Platform team to shape the tooling and infrastructure roadmap to support scalable data product development
• Define and evolve data ingestion patterns, including rebuilding and scaling our Bronze layer
• Own and drive Scribd’s data governance strategy, including data contracts, lineage, ownership, and quality standards
• Ensure data is trusted, discoverable, and well-documented across the organization
• Partner closely with Product, Analytics, Data Science, and Engineering teams to translate business needs into scalable data solutions
• Act as a bridge between business concepts and technical implementation, ensuring consistency in metrics and data definitions
• Mentor and coach engineers on data modeling and data engineering best practices, and review designs for quality and consistency
• Influence technical direction through hands-on contributions and architectural leadership
• Help define and build Scribd’s AI enablement layer, enabling natural language interaction with data
• Ensure data models and metadata provide the context required for accurate and trustworthy AI-driven insights
• Drive adoption of AI-assisted development workflows, improving developer productivity while maintaining data correctness and governance
• Establish guardrails to ensure AI-generated pipelines and queries remain reliable and aligned with standards

REQUIRED SKILLS

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering or data architecture
• Deep expertise in data modeling, including:
• defining table grain
• designing fact/dimension or normalized models
• managing relationships and schema evolution
• Advanced SQL skills and strong experience with Python or Scala
• Proven experience building scalable, reliable data pipelines
• Strong understanding of:
• incremental processing
• partitioning strategies
• performance optimization
• data correctness and idempotency
• Experience working with modern data platforms such as Databricks/Delta Lake, Snowflake, or BigQuery
• Experience defining and implementing data governance, quality, and lineage practices
• Proven ability to translate business requirements into technical data solutions
• Experience mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction across teams

PREFERRED SKILLS

• Experience designing and evolving medallion architectures
• Experience building or scaling data ingestion frameworks and Bronze layers
• Familiarity with streaming systems (Kafka, Kinesis, etc.)
• Experience building semantic layers or curated datasets for analytics and BI
• Experience working in subscription, payments, or consumer product domains

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At Scribd, Inc., your base pay is one part of your total compensation package and is determined within a range. Our pay ranges are based on the local cost of labor benchmarks for each specific role, level, and geographic location. San Francisco is our highest geographic market in the United States.

In the state of California, the reasonably expected salary range is between $203,000 [minimum salary in our lowest geographic market within California] to $300,000 [maximum salary in our highest geographic market within California].

In the United States, outside of California, the reasonably expected salary range is between $167,000 [minimum salary in our lowest US geographic market outside of California] to $285,000 [maximum salary in our highest US geographic market outside of California].

In Canada, the reasonably expected salary range is between $212,500 CAD[minimum salary in our lowest geographic market] to $268,000 CAD[maximum salary in our highest geographic market].

We carefully consider a wide range of factors when determining compensation, including but not limited to experience; job-related skill sets; relevant education or training; and other business and organizational needs. The salary range listed is for the level at which this job has been scoped. In the event that you are considered for a different level, a higher or lower pay range would apply. This position is also eligible for a competitive equity ownership, and a comprehensive and generous benefits package.

WORKING AT SCRIBD, INC.

Are you currently based in a location where Scribd, Inc. can employ you? Employees must have their primary residence in or near one of the following cities. This includes surrounding metro areas or locations within a typical commuting distance:

United States

Atlanta | Austin | Boston | Dallas | Denver | Chicago | Houston | Jacksonville | Los Angeles | Miami | New York City | Phoenix | Portland | Sacramento | Salt Lake City | San Diego | San Francisco | Seattle | Washington D.C.

Canada

Ottawa | Toronto | Vancouver

Mexico

Mexico City

Benefits at Scribd, Inc.

• Scribd Flex (flexible work model)
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• Mental health support and disability coverage
• Generous paid time off, including vacation, sick time, holidays, winter break, volunteer time, and sabbaticals
• Paid parental leave and family support benefits
• Retirement matching and employee equity
• Learning and development programs and professional growth opportunities
• Wellness and home office stipends
• Complimentary access to the Scribd, Inc. suite of products
• Enterprise access to leading AI tools

Get to Know Scribd, Inc. About Scribd, Inc. https://www.scribdinc.com/about Life at Scribd, Inc. https://bit.ly/ScribdonLinkedin

We want our interview process to be accessible to everyone. You can inform us of any reasonable adjustments we can make to better accommodate your needs by emailing accommodations@scribd.com about the need for adjustments at any point in the interview process.

Scribd, Inc. is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply, and believe that a diversity of perspectives and experiences create a foundation for the best ideas. Come join us in building something meaningful.