Senior Member Technical Staff (Data + Backend)

Company Description

At Nielsen, we are passionate about our work to power a better media future for all people by providing powerful insights that drive client decisions and deliver extraordinary results. Our talented, global workforce is dedicated to capturing audience engagement with content — wherever and whenever it's consumed. Together, we are proudly rooted in our deep legacy as we stand at the forefront of the media revolution. When you join Nielsen, you will join a dynamic team committed to excellence, perseverance, and the ambition to make an impact together. We champion you, because when you succeed, we do too. We enable your best to power our future.

Job Description

We are looking for a talented Lead Software Engineer with strong programming skills to join our dynamic team. If you are passionate about technology and eager to work on challenging projects, we want to hear from you!

Job Purpose

• Develop and enhance our flagship Video, Audio, Automotive and Sports metadata software solutions.
• Design applications with a Platform-first mentality where scale, consistency and reliability are at the core of every decision.

As a Lead Engineer, you will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining high-quality, large scale data platforms. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to define, design, and ship new features, while also ensuring the performance, quality, and responsiveness of our data pipelines and applications.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain scalable and robust data pipelines and systems.
• Architect and implement solutions for managing & processing large-scale datasets with fast refresh cycles, ensuring high performance, scalability & accuracy.
• Write clean, maintainable & extensible code following best practices & standards.
• Conduct design and code reviews to ensure high-quality deliverables and adherence to best practices.
• Ensure robust data governance by implementing and maintaining frameworks for data lineage, quality, traceability and consistency across systems.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex issues, ensuring reliability, availability, observability, minimal downtime and SLA compliance.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including data scientists, engineers & product managers, to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Stay up-to-date with emerging technologies, including advancements in GenAI & leverage AI-driven tools, frameworks & LLMs to augment solutions & skill-sets.
• Mentor and guide junior engineers, fostering a culture of learning, innovation & continuous improvement within the team.

Skills and Expertise

• Advanced programming skills in Python, Java, or Scala, with strong understanding of algorithms, data processing, stream analytics and event-driven architectures.
• ​​Experience in working with distributed data systems such as Spark or Flink. 
• Proven experience in designing, building and maintaining scalable RESTful APIs and services, along with solid understanding of backend patterns and frameworks.
• Experience with one or more Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Deep understanding of distributed storage systems (HDFS, S3), modern file formats (Parquet, Arrow) and Lakehouse architectures (Delta Lake, Paimon)
• Knowledge of database systems, including NoSQL stores (Cassandra, MongoDB), relational databases (Postgres, MySQL) and data orchestration tools (Airflow).
• Expertise in designing, building and tuning systems for high throughput, low latency, resilient and cost-efficiency architectures.
• Working proficiency with Agile development methodologies and CI/CD practices.
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker, K8s) and Dataviz tools is good to have.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 8 to 10 years of professional experience in Backend and Data Engineering, with hands-on expertise in managing large-scale datasets and real-time event processing.
• Excellent problem-solving skills, resourcefulness & creative thinking to work effectively in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
• Adept at articulating complex technical concepts and solutions, ensuring clarity and alignment across diverse technical and non-technical audiences.

Additional Information

Please be aware that job-seekers may be at risk of targeting by scammers seeking personal data or money. Nielsen recruiters will only contact you through official job boards, LinkedIn, or email with a nielsen.com domain. Be cautious of any outreach claiming to be from Nielsen via other messaging platforms or personal email addresses. Always verify that email communications come from an @nielsen.com address. If you're unsure about the authenticity of a job offer or communication, please contact Nielsen directly through our official website or verified social media channels.