Senior Engineering Manager - Machine Learning Data Enablement

How you'll make an impact
Build and lead a high-performing team spanning data integration, data quality, metadata, and ML-critical data infrastructure for online inference and offline training, including standing up new dedicated integration capacity where needed.
Set and execute the technical strategy aligned to measurable north star metrics such as increasing data evaluation velocity and reducing time to production.
Drive robust data quality and reconciliation frameworks, including retro vs. production checks, ingress-level monitoring, and drift detection to prevent launch issues and downstream model degradation.
Champion a company-wide shift toward data contracts and SLAs, ensuring data producers adopt clear ownership, quality standards, and monitoring practices for ML-critical datasets.
Establish clear end-to-end ownership across the third-party and internal data lifecycle, eliminating fragmented workflows and implicit accountability.
Accelerate third-party data onboarding by operationalizing standardized vendor intake, secure retro ingestion, templated integrations, and configurable microservices that reduce engineering lift and cycle time.
Unlock internal data for ML innovation by improving metadata coverage, lineage standards, ownership contracts, and ML discoverability across high-impact internal domains

What we're looking for

Minimum requirements
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or Mathematics, or a related field (or its equivalent) + 8 years of engineer experience, including at least 3 years of direct people management experience
Owned production data pipelines that enable both offline training and online inference
Proven experience building and scaling data systems in modern stacks (e.g., Databricks/Spark, Python, SQL, AWS, streaming systems, orchestration frameworks) and distributed systems architecture.
Demonstrated ownership of complex cross-functional initiatives spanning engineering, ML, and business stakeholders, including delivery under peer pushback and dependency negotiation.
Experience designing and enforcing data quality frameworks and observability for production systems, including reconciliation, drift detection, and incident/postmortem operating loops.

Preferred qualifications
10+ years in data engineering AND ML platform OR ML data platform roles, with 5+ years managing engineering teams. (strongly preferred(
Experience with feature stores and real-time feature delivery or equivalent feature transformation interfaces used in inference.
Strong knowledge of lakehouse architecture and big data processing frameworks.
Familiarity with DevOps and infrastructure-as-code practices (Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD).
Experience in fintech or other regulated environments where explainability, auditability, and controls matter.
Ability to translate complex technical tradeoffs into business impact and influence cross-functional strategy.

At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location-with our "digital first" philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.