Staff Data Engineer

Why PlayStation?PlayStation isn’t just the Best Place to Play — it’s also the Best Place to Work. Today, we’re recognized as a global leader in entertainment producing The PlayStation family of products and services including PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®VR, PlayStation®Plus, acclaimed PlayStation software titles from PlayStation Studios, and more.PlayStation also strives to create an inclusive environment that empowers employees and embraces diversity. We welcome and encourage everyone who has a passion and curiosity for innovation, technology, and play to explore our open positions and join our growing global team.The PlayStation brand falls under Sony Interactive Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Staff Data Engineer (ICDS)San Mateo, CAPlayStation® is for The Players.With over 150 million customers in 109 countries, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is committed to using data to understand The Players: our customers, better than anyone else. Using the amazing networked power of PlayStation®5 and our other PlayStation systems, we learn how they use them for gaming, and also how they use the networked services like streamed games, music, video, and how they pay, and how we can improve their customer experience. We work with game developers, marketing, R&D, PlayStation®Store, and many other parts of Sony to constantly improve our customer experience and maximize our business potential.The ICDS DE team has grown rapidly over recent years in response to an increasing need for the business to leverage data to inform and shape key decisions, and to identify new opportunities. Currently, there are approximately 170 staff within the ICDS DE team, split between London and California, made up of high-quality data professionals covering architecture and platform support, data processing, and technical program managementDue to team expansion, ICDS DE is looking to recruit talented, highly driven individuals who have excelled in previous roles and are looking for a new challenge in a dynamic and rewarding environment.ICDS delivers data that powers Analytics, Data sciences, Marketing, ML, and multiple other teams across the companies and offices that make up the PlayStation business:  high quality, valuable to the user, accessible, and continuously improving.ICDS Staff Data EngineerWe are looking for a Staff Data Engineer to join the ICDS Player DE team within the Sony PlayStation environment.A Staff Data Engineer is required to own and evolve large-scale streaming and batch data platforms, providing technical leadership and architectural direction across the data ecosystem.Based in our San Mateo offices, the team provides data services for various global business units associated with Sony PlayStation.ResponsibilitiesTechnical Leadership & Architecture Lead the design and evolution of large-scale batch and real-time data platforms using Apache Spark, Flink, and DatabricksDefine streaming and event-driven architectures (low-latency, exactly-once, high-throughput) using Flink and ScalaSet architectural standards for data reliability, scalability, observability, and cost efficiencyOwn end-to-end system design for mission-critical data products, from ingestion to consumption Data Pipeline Development Build and maintain high-performance data pipelines in Scala and Python for both batch and streaming workloadsDevelop real-time processing jobs (windowing, stateful processing, joins) using FlinkOptimize Spark jobs for performance, cost, and data correctness on DatabricksImplement robust data quality checks, schema evolution, and fault tolerance Platform & Operations Excellence Drive best practices for CI/CD, automated testing, and deployment of data pipelinesEstablish monitoring, alerting, and SLAs for data systemsLead efforts in capacity planning, performance tuning, and cost optimizationPartner with SRE / Platform teams on reliability, scaling, and incident responseEnsure code is fully scalable, maintainable, and performant Cross-Functional Collaboration Work closely with product managers, analytics, ML, and backend teams to translate business requirements into scalable data solutionsEnable downstream use cases including analytics, reporting, experimentation, and machine learningInfluence data modeling and contract design to ensure long-term platform sustainabilityWork proactively to address project requirements, and articulate issues and challenges with enough lead time to address project delivery riskRequires the ability to work in a global and multi-cultural environment. Team members are in multiple geographies, resulting in time constraints due to time zones differences and a requirement for occasional travel Mentorship & Influence Mentor senior and mid-level data engineers; raise the technical bar across the organizationLead technical reviews, design discussions, and post-incident analysesInfluence data engineering strategy across multiple teams or domainsAct as a go-to expert for streaming systems, Spark optimization, and distributed data processing Governance, Security & Compliance Ensure data platforms adhere to security, privacy, and compliance requirementsDefine best practices for data access control, lineage, and auditingDrive standardization around data formats, schemas, and lifecycle management Experience BS Degree in Engineering or Masters, Computer Science or equivalent experience3-5+ years in a technical leadership or staff-level role (design ownership, mentoring, architecture decisions)10-12+ years of hands-on experience building and operating large-scale data pipelines and platforms10-12+ years of relevant industry experience, including ownership of complex, high-impact data systems used at scale10-12+ years of experience in database development, programming (Scala,Python) design, and analysis10-12+ years of experience with distributed framework like Spark, Flink5-7+ years of experience with streaming services – Flink, Kafka10-12+ years of experience with data and ETL programming (Databricks, Ab Initio)7-10+ years of experience with AWS services (EKS, S3, EC2, Kinesis, DynamoDB, Glue, Deequ, etc)7-10+ years of experience in SQL and a variety of database technologies – Snowflake, Teradata and Oracle.Experience in designing and architecting medium to complex systems, well versed with design standards & frameworkExpertise in data modeling for analytics and operational use casesExperience with data lakes / lakehouse architectures (e.g., Delta Lake)Strong understanding of schema evolution, data versioning, and data governanceExperience with automation, configuration management, orchestration, enterprise schedulers Skills Required (essential): Recognized as a technical authority in data engineering within one or more domains (batch, streaming, lakehouse, analytics platforms)Deep hands-on expertise with Scala, Python, Spark, Flink, and Databricks, applied to production systems at SIE scaleStrong understanding of distributed systems design, trade-offs, and failure modesAbility to independently design complex, ambiguous systems with long-term sustainability in mindDemonstrates end-to-end ownership of critical data platforms or services, from design through production operationsDrives engineering best practices for reliability, performance, cost efficiency, and data correctnessAnticipates risks and proactively addresses scalability, operational, and data quality concernsHolds a high operational bar, ensuring systems meet SLAs and business expectationsLeads or significantly influences architecture and design decisions across teams or programsSets technical direction and standards for data platforms, pipelines, and toolingEvaluates and introduces new technologies when they provide clear business or platform valueEnsures architectural decisions align with SIE platform, security, and compliance standardsWorks effectively across multiple teams, disciplines, and organizations (product, analytics, ML, platform, finance)Translates business and product strategy into scalable data solutions that enable revenue, engagement, and operational insightsActs as a trusted technical partner for stakeholders beyond the immediate teamMentors’ senior and mid-level engineers; raises the overall technical barLeads design reviews, technical forums, and incident postmortemsInfluences outcomes through technical credibility, data-driven decision-making, and clear communicationModels SIE engineering values and best practicesEstablishes standards for monitoring, alerting, observability, and on-call readinessDrives improvements in CI/CD, automation, and developer productivity for data engineeringChampions cost-awareness and efficiency across data platforms #LI-KS1 Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about how we process your personal information, and your data protection rights. At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location. Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.  In addition, this role is eligible for SIE’s top-tier benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, matching 401(k), paid time off, wellness program and coveted employee discounts for Sony products. This role also may be eligible for a bonus package. Click here to learn more.The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below.$216,200—$324,400 USD Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.Equal Opportunity Statement:Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond. PlayStation is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.

Created: 2026-03-04