JobsAmerican Family Insurance

Lead Data Engineer

American Family Insurance · Madison, WI

Posted Sep 16, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Sep 20, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

Behavioral

Tell me about a time you led a data engineering team through a project that was behind schedule. What did you do to get it back on track?

whether the candidate can actually lead people under pressure, not just write code

Describe a time you found a serious data quality or data integrity problem after something was already in production. What did you do?

ownership of data integrity across the full lifecycle, not just build-and-move-on

Tell me about a time you had to explain a technical data limitation to a non-technical business stakeholder who wasn't happy with the answer.

communication skill across the technical-to-business gap this role explicitly requires

Describe a situation where you had to balance giving your team autonomy against stepping in to make sure quality standards were met.

management style and comfort with technical oversight without micromanaging

Tell me about a time you had to push back on an architecture decision made by another team that would have created problems for your data platform down the line.

confidence providing technical oversight across teams, a core accountability listed in the posting

Technical

Walk me through how you would design a data pipeline in GCP that ingests data from multiple source systems into a data warehouse, including how you'd handle schema changes over time.

depth of hands-on GCP and data warehousing experience versus surface familiarity

How would you structure an ETL workflow in Python for a dataset that's too large to fit in memory, and what would you do differently if it needed to run daily versus in real time?

real ETL design chops and understanding of batch versus streaming tradeoffs

What's your experience with dimensional modeling and star schemas, and can you describe a case where you chose one modeling approach over another?

whether data modeling knowledge is theoretical or applied

How do you decide when to build a reusable library versus write a one-off solution for a specific project?

engineering judgment and contribution to shared code, which the posting calls out directly

Tell me about a project where you used infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform or Docker. What problem were you solving?

whether infrastructure automation experience is real or just listed on a resume

What's an example of using a machine learning toolkit like sklearn or SparkML in a pipeline you built, and what was your role versus the data science team's role?

clarity on where engineering responsibility ends and modeling begins

Situational

Say two of your engineers disagree on the right approach to a Spark job that keeps failing on large datasets. How do you handle that conversation?

ability to resolve technical disagreements while keeping the team moving

If you inherited a legacy data pipeline with no documentation and the person who built it just left, what's your first week of work look like?

practical approach to unfamiliar systems and whether they prioritize documentation, a stated job duty

A business stakeholder asks for a change that would compromise data security or privacy to save time. How do you respond?

judgment on data governance in a regulated industry like insurance

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The full job description

As published by American Family Insurance.

This position collects, stores, processes and builds applications within our big data platform. Responsible for integrating these applications with the architecture used across the organization. Position Compensation Range: $131,000.00 - $220,000.00 Pay Rate Type: Salary Compensation may vary based on the job level and your geographic work location. Relocation support is offered for eligible candidates. This position has approval to transfer a valid H1 visa. Primary Accountabilities • Leads an engineering team to meet project deadlines and priorities. • Supervises assigned data engineering team members & activities. • Ensures the quality, completeness, security, privacy, and integrity of data throughout the data lifecycle. • Documents critical workflows and operational support aspects of team’s responsibilities • Develops deep understanding of data sources, granularity, availability, and limitations. • Provides proactive technical oversight and advice to application architecture and development teams fostering re-use, design for scale, stability, and operational efficiency of data/analytical solutions. • Creates maintainable, scalable code to load and manipulate data in the data warehouse. • Facilitates communication upward and across project teams and business stakeholders. Specialized Knowledge & Skills Requirements • Demonstrated experience providing customer-driven solutions, support or service. • Must have GCP experience for this positon. • In-depth knowledge of SQL or NoSQL and experience using a variety of data stores (e.g. RDBMS, analytic database, scalable document stores) • Extensive hands-on Python programming experience, with an emphasis towards building ETL workflows and data-driven solutions.  • Able to employ design patterns and generalize code to address common use cases.   • Capable of authoring robust, high quality, reusable code and contributing to the division’s inventory of libraries. • Expertise in big data batch computing tools (e.g. Hadoop or Spark), with demonstrated experience developing distributed data processing solutions. • Knowledge of open source machine learning toolkits, such as sklearn, SparkML, or H2O. • Solid data understanding and business acumen in the data rich industries like insurance or financial • Applied knowledge of data modeling principles (e.g. dimensional modeling and star schemas). • Strong understanding of database internals, such as indexes, binary logging, and transactions. • Experience using tools for infrastructure-as-code (e.g. Docker, CloudFormation, Terraform, etc.) • Experience with software engineering tools and workflows (i.e. Jenkins, CI/CD, git). • Practical experience authoring and consuming web services. Licenses: •Not Applicable. Travel Requirements •Up to 10%. Physical Requirements •Work that primarily involves sitting/standing. Working Conditions •Not Applicable. Additional Information • To ensure a strong start, all employees participate in our New Employee Orientation during their first week.  This experience is held in person at our Madison, WI Headquarters or one of our AmFam core locations to help you connect with our mission, meet key team members and build relationships that support your growth.  At times, sessions may be delivered virtually based on scheduling and availability.  • Offer to selected candidate will be made contingent on the results of applicable background checks • Offer to selected candidate is contingent on signing a non-disclosure agreement for proprietary information, trade secrets, and inventions • Sponsorship will not be considered for this position unless specified in the posting We provide benefits that support your physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing. You will have access to comprehensive medical, dental, vision and wellbeing benefits that enable you to take care of your health. We also offer a competitive 401(k) contribution, a pension plan, an annual incentive, 9 paid holidays and a paid time off program (23 days accrued annually for full-time employees). In addition, our student loan repayment program and paid-family leave are available to support our employees and their families. Interns and contingent workers are not eligible for American Family Insurance Group benefits. We are an equal opportunity employer. It is our policy to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws pertaining to non-discrimination, non-harassment and equal opportunity. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. American Family Insurance is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please email AskHR@AmFam.com to request a reasonable accommodation. #LI-BC2

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