Director, Data Engineering

About EAB

At EAB, our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We work with more than 2,800 institutions to drive transformative change through data-driven insights and best-in-class capabilities. From kindergarten to college to career, EAB partners with leaders and practitioners to accelerate progress and drive results across enrollment, student success, institutional strategy, data analytics, and advancement. We work with each partner differently, tailoring our portfolio of research, technology, and marketing and enrollment solutions to meet the unique needs of every leadership team, as well as the students and employees they serve.

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The Director of Data Engineering for Navigate360 leads the team responsible for implementing Navigate360 data integrations across partner campuses. This role oversees delivery for Navigate Student Success, EAB’s foundational student success technology, while charting and scaling implementation practices for newer Navigate Enrollment CRM and Advancement CRM offerings. The role combines people leadership, technical and operational judgment, and a partner-first mindset to help campuses realize successful, durable implementations. Working at the intersection of data, product, and customer outcomes, this leader establishes clear operating processes, removes barriers, and ensures the team delivers reliable integrations that create value in practice.

This position is ideally based out of EAB’s Washington, D.C. office or Richmond, VA office. It is also open to remote work within the continental U.S.

This hire may be required to travel to EAB’s central office in Washington, D.C. on a quarterly basis, and occasionally visit partners to firm up engagement and kick off high-touch projects. The current travel expectation does not exceed 12 days per year. 

• →Lead, coach, and develop a team of data engineers implementing Navigate modules for partner campuses; set clear expectations, priorities, and delivery standards.
• →Own the implementation approach for Navigate Student Success and help define scalable delivery practices for newer Navigate Enrollment CRM and Advancement CRM offerings.
• →Establish repeatable processes, playbooks, and quality controls that enable the team to deliver high-quality data integrations consistently at scale.
• →Unblock partner-facing and technical challenges throughout implementation projects, escalating and coordinating decisions as needed to protect partner outcomes.
• →Partner with Product on data-integration issues, requirements, and product enhancements that improve implementation quality and the partner experience.
• →Collaborate closely with Launch and Partner Success teams to align implementation plans, manage risk, and support successful partner adoption and outcomes.
• →Guide solution design for integrations, data mapping, validation, reconciliation, and data quality across all Navigate implementations.
• →Oversee delivery planning, capacity, and project health across the team; use organized, methodical processes to manage competing priorities and drive predictable execution.
• →Foster a culture of technical excellence through mentoring, thoughtful code and design review, documentation, and continuous improvement of team practices.
• →Represent the Data Engineering team with internal and external stakeholders, communicating progress, tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations with clarity and credibility.

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent work experience
• 8+ years of database programming experience, including advanced SQL
• 3-4+ years leading, managing, or serving as a team lead for data engineering teams
• Experience delivering data integration, warehousing, or analytics solutions in partner-facing or customer implementation environments
• 2+ years of Python programming experience for relational data management, including commonly used data-management libraries
• Deep understanding of how data flows across systems, including ETL pipelines, data mapping, validation, and reconciliation
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical and partner challenges, make sound decisions, and unblock teams
• Experience ensuring data integrity through standard rules, procedures, testing, validation, and quality controls
• Highly organized, process-oriented, and effective at managing multiple priorities in a changing environment; strong written and verbal communication skills

• Master’s degree in a related field or equivalent work experience
• Experience working directly with external partners and executive stakeholders to solve problems, build trust, and drive successful implementations
• Practical knowledge of data warehouse design, scalable data pipelines, integrations across platforms, and complex stored procedures
• Experience leading teams through growth, change, and continuous improvement, including developing repeatable operating processes
• Ability to work collaboratively across Product, Launch, Partner Success, and technical teams to accomplish shared partner outcomes in a fast-paced environment
• Commitment to a continual learning environment and to a dynamic, welcoming culture of fairness, authenticity, and belonging in support of EAB’s mission, values, and aspiration

If you’ve reached this section of the job description and are unsure of whether to apply, please do! At EAB, we welcome new perspectives and learn from each other’s unique experiences. We would encourage you to submit an application if this is a role you would be passionate about doing every day.