Principal Data Engineer

Description

Your way to impact

This position will report to the Head of Credit Internal Data and will require a significant amount of collaboration across all business, technologies, product & platform teams within PayPal and its associated business entities.

We are helping rethink how we use data to make credit decisions at PayPal to fulfill the needs of our customers (both internal and external). We drive the creation of delightful, frictionless, and compliant payment experiences while maximizing the value of our data. In this role you will get an opportunity to support the implementation and adoption of the Enterprise Data Management & Governance (EDG) program across the company.

Your day to day

In your day to dayrole you will

Work independently or as a team member. Proactively remove obstacles to ensure timely delivery of product and goals

Write clean and solid code that scales over PB of data and enforce engineering excellence in the organization

Improve data management efficiency through AI capabilities, better process and best practices

Embed Privacy-by-Design principles into all data solutions and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

Provide expertise across the data product development lifecycle—spanning data engineering, architecture, and analytics—to design and deliver reusable, accessible, and high-quality data solutions.

Design data structures and taxonomies that support standardization, integration, and alignment with business processes.

Deliver technical leadership through analytical thinking, innovation, and detailed specifications.

Drive data product execution and adoption through a metrics-based approach

Define and communicate data strategy for credit products, aligned with PayPal’s technical direction, evolving credit strategies, and the external data ecosystem

Strong product sense to identify data challenges and opportunities, and assess the impact of data-driven solutions

Leverage enterprise frameworks, governance tools, and reusable architecture patterns for Credit Risk and cross organizations

Foster influential cross-functional relationships through collaboration, proactive planning, and decisive leadership to design scalable solutions across platforms and products.

Technical Leadership Qualities :

Strong collaboration skills and ability to influence across all organizations and levels within the company

Ability to communicate clearly and succinctly to all levels within the organization- translating the organizations goals into execution plans & metrics

Possess the ability to connect, engage and lead with empathy

Motivate others through a shared vision and confidence that empowers employees and teams to perform at their best

Demonstrate ability to delegate work

Operate with transparency and honesty in all interactions

What do you need to bring-

12+ years of experience in enterprise data management, with deep expertise in data governance, architecture, modelling, and platform design

Proven experience enabling data products at scale within large, cross-functional organizations

Strong business acumen and interest to deeply understand of PayPal’s credit use cases, data producers, and consumer needs.

Strong technical acumen with the ability to quickly grasp the technical details of products and systems

Expertise in data modelling using domain-driven design principles and a strong grasp of data architecture best practices.

Proficient in building and optimizing data platforms and pipelines using streaming and batch processing, including Lambda and Kappa architectures

Technical proficiency data management stacks and techniques such as Python, SQL, BigQuery, Airflow, Spark, Kafka, and data modelling, with experience in integrating ML / AI into scalable data solutions.

Experience with cloud-based data platforms, preferably GCP, and associated services

Demonstrated success in supporting ML / AI workloads (e.g., feature stores, training pipelines, model monitoring) and integrating AI into data workflows

Familiarity with AI-enhanced data systems (e.g., automated data discovery, quality monitoring, ML-assisted ETL)

Able to independently drive complex and ambiguous problem-solving efforts, balancing technical and strategic trade-offs

Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across engineering, risk, product, and compliance teams.

Adaptive, self-motivated, and comfortable navigating shifting priorities while maintaining focus on the end-to-end impact of data across systems.

Bonus Qualifications

Proven experience bridging the gap between data engineering and machine learning engineering.

Experience in financial services, with a strong preference for exposure to the credit risk domain.

Education :

BS or advanced degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical field.

Preferred Qualification :

Subsidiary :

PayPal

Travel Percent :

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits :

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset—you. That’s why we offer benefits to help you thrive in every stage of life. We champion your financial, physical, and mental health by offering valuable benefits and resources to help you care for the whole you.

We have great benefits including a flexible work environment, employee shares options, health and life insurance and more. To learn more about our benefits please visit .

Who We Are :

to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and / or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at .

Belonging at PayPal :

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please .

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.