Principal Data Engineer

Why UKG:

At UKG, the work you do matters. The code you ship, the decisions you make, and the care you show a customer all add up to real impact. Today, tens of millions of workers start and end their days with our workforce operating platform. Helping people get paid, grow in their careers, and shape the future of their industries. That’s what we do.

We never stop learning. We never stop challenging the norm. We push for better, and we celebrate the wins along the way. Here, you’ll get flexibility that’s real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Because at UKG, your work matters—and so do you.

About the Team

You will join our Data Warehouse, Business Intelligence, and Analytics team, which builds trusted data products for finance and business partners on Google Cloud. We are an artificial intelligence (AI)-forward team, using modern tools to redefine how data engineering is done.

About the Role

As a Principal Data Engineer, you will be the senior technical leader for our cloud data platform — setting architecture and standards, solving the hardest problems, and leading how we use AI to reinvent data engineering.

• You will set the architecture, engineering standards, and reusable frameworks the team builds to on Google Cloud and BigQuery.
• You will lead how the team adopts generative and agentic AI to reinvent how we discover, build, test, and document data.
• You will design and deliver AI-powered data solutions, such as natural-language access to data and data agents, in production.
• You will solve the most complex problems and act as the technical point of escalation across programs.
• You will partner with business, finance, and leadership stakeholders to shape strategy and own trusted outcomes.
• You will mentor senior and lead engineers and raise the team's engineering and AI capability.

About You

Basic Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering and data warehousing, with a track record of technical leadership.
• Deep hands-on expertise with Google Cloud and BigQuery, and advanced SQL and Python.
• Experience architecting and delivering large-scale, production data platforms.
• Hands-on use of generative and agentic AI tools, such as Claude or Codex, in real delivery work.
• Experience setting engineering standards and mentoring senior engineers.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience building AI-powered data capabilities, such as natural-language access to data or data agents.
• Experience with finance or accounting data, data governance, and data lineage.
• Familiarity with the Microsoft Azure data stack, which is helpful for legacy migration.
• Google Cloud certification, such as Professional Data Engineer or Cloud Architect.

Company Overview:

UKG is the Workforce Operating Platform that puts workforce understanding to work. With the world's largest collection of workforce insights, and people-first AI, our ability to reveal unseen ways to build trust, amplify productivity, and empower talent, is unmatched. It's this expertise that equips our customers with the intelligence to solve any challenge in any industry — because great organizations know their workforce is their competitive edge. Learn more at ukg.com.

UKG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace, including the recruitment process.

Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process

For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email [email protected]