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Senior Manager Data Engineer (Databricks, Pyspark, Snowflake)

Capital One · Chicago, IL · Full time

Posted Sep 25, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 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.

About your past

You review pipeline code and architecture designs as a manager. What do you look for first, and what do you let the team decide?

What they are checking: Whether they stay technical without becoming a bottleneck or taking away engineers' ownership.

Tell me about an engineer you mentored who grew noticeably under you. What did you actually do?

What they are checking: Whether mentoring is something they practice with specific actions, not a line on a resume.

Tell me about a major technology transformation you led. How did you keep the old system running while you moved to the new one?

What they are checking: Whether they have run a real migration and handled the risk of running two systems in parallel.

What would you do

Your team supports data scientists and analysts who all want new datasets now. How do you decide what gets built?

What they are checking: Whether they can prioritize by business value and reuse while managing frustrated internal customers.

A production pipeline feeding a customer-facing process fails overnight. Walk me through what your team does in the first hour.

What they are checking: Whether they have a calm incident process covering impact, communication, fix and follow-up.

How do you keep an Agile data team from accumulating tech debt while still hitting delivery dates?

What they are checking: Whether they make tech debt visible and negotiate time for it rather than ignoring it.

About the work

Walk me through a lakehouse architecture you've led on Databricks. Why did you make the storage and table format choices you made?

What they are checking: Whether they understand the design tradeoffs behind the platform, not just how to use it.

When would you put a workload in Snowflake versus keeping it in Databricks?

What they are checking: Whether they can choose platforms based on workload shape, cost and users instead of habit.

A PySpark job that used to run in twenty minutes now takes three hours. How do you and your team track down why?

What they are checking: Whether they can still diagnose skew, shuffles and data growth hands-on while leading a team.

How do you build data quality checks into pipelines so bad data doesn't reach a model or a report?

What they are checking: Whether they treat data quality as an engineering requirement with automated checks, not a manual cleanup.

How do you handle sensitive customer data in a cloud data platform at a bank?

What they are checking: Whether they think about encryption, access control, tokenization and audit as part of the design.

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The full job description

As published by Capital One.

Senior Manager Data Engineer (Databricks, Pyspark, Snowflake) Do you love building and pioneering in the technology space? Do you enjoy solving complex business problems in a fast-paced, collaborative, inclusive and iterative delivery environment? At Capital One, you'll be part of a big group of makers, breakers, doers and disruptors who solve real problems and meet real customer needs. We are seeking Data Engineering leaders who are passionate about building high-performing teams, driving technical strategy and marrying data with emerging technologies. In this role, you’ll be at the forefront of mentoring engineering talent and leading major technology transformations across Capital One. What You’ll Do: • Lead high-performing Agile teams in designing, developing, testing, and supporting scalable data engineering solutions across full-stack and cloud platforms • Influence a team of developers, data analysts and data scientists with deep experience in machine learning, distributed microservices, lakehouse architecture, and full-stack systems • Maintain hands-on technical engagement by reviewing architecture designs, data models and pipeline code across Python, Spark, Databricks, and Snowflake environments • Share your passion for staying on top of trends in data, experimenting with and learning new technologies, participating in internal and external technology communities, and mentoring other members of the data community • Collaborate with product managers and software engineers to deliver robust cloud-first data solutions that drive powerful experiences to help millions of Americans achieve financial empowerment • Architect and enforce common data engineering design patterns to ensure code quality, maintainability, and reusability across data platforms and pipelines • Serve as an ambassador for the data engineering team, communicating technical concepts and data outcomes clearly to both internal and external stakeholders to drive alignment and shared understanding • Oversee the design and health of data platforms and pipelines, establishing standards for scalability, resilience, data quality and operational efficiency • Lead, mentor, and grow a diverse team of data engineers, acting as a force-multiplier to elevate talent density, foster technical career development, and drive engineering best practices • Lead and execute large-scale, transformative data initiatives from end to end, independently driving critical architectural decisions and evaluating platform choices, such as Snowflake versus Databricks, based on technical and business requirements Basic Qualifications: • Bachelor's Degree or higher in Computer Science or a related quantitative field (Statistics, Economics, Operations Research, Analytics, Mathematics, Engineering) • At least 6 years of experience in application development (Internship experience does not apply) • At least 3 years of people management experience • At least 2 years of experience driving technical delivery of roadmap features • At least 4 years of experience programming with at least one of the following languages: Python, Java, or Scala • At least 4 years of experience designing and developing data pipelines • At least 2 years of experience in data modeling and designing end-to-end data solutions using both relational and non-relational database systems Preferred Qualifications: • Master’s Degree in Computer Science or a related field • 9+ years of experience in application development with demonstrated proficiency in Python, SQL, Scala, or Java • 5+ years of hands-on experience designing, deploying and operating data workloads in at least one public cloud environment (AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud) • 5+ years of experience building or supporting distributed data or compute workloads using tools such as EMR, Spark, Glue, or Databricks • 5+ years of experience designing, implementing, and operating real-time or streaming data pipelines • 3+ years of experience working on data observability (e.g., Monte Carlo, Splunk) or data orchestration tools (e.g., Airflow, Dagster) • 5+ years of experience working with unstructured or semistructured data using NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB) • 5+ years of experience designing and supporting data warehousing solutions (e.g., Snowflake, Redshift) • 3+ years of experience working in an Agile development environment • 3+ years of experience developing user-centric reusable data products Capital One will consider sponsoring a new qualified applicant for employment authorization for this position. The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Capital One is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked. Chicago, IL: $209,000 - $238,500 for Sr. Manager, Data Engineer Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter. This role is also eligible to earn performance based incentive compensation, which may include cash bonus(es) and/or long term incentives (LTI). Incentives could be discretionary or non discretionary depending on the plan. Capital One offers a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive set of health, financial and other benefits that support your total well-being. Learn more at the Capital One Careers website . Eligibility varies based on full or part-time status, exempt or non-exempt status, and management level. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days. No agencies please. Capital One is an equal opportunity employer (EOE, including disability/vet) committed to non-discrimination in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Capital One promotes a drug-free workplace. Capital One will consider for employment qualified applicants with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable laws regarding criminal background inquiries, including, to the extent applicable, Article 23-A of the New York Correction Law; San Francisco, California Police Code Article 49, Sections 4901-4920; New York City’s Fair Chance Act; Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Records Screening Act; and other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding criminal background inquiries. If you have visited our website in search of information on employment opportunities or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Capital One Recruiting at 1-800-304-9102 or via email at RecruitingAccommodation@capitalone.com . All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations. For technical support or questions about Capital One's recruiting process, please send an email to Careers@capitalone.com Capital One does not provide, endorse nor guarantee and is not liable for third-party products, services, educational tools or other information available through this site. Capital One Financial is made up of several different entities. Please note that any position posted in Canada is for Capital One Canada, any position posted in the United Kingdom is for Capital One Europe and any position posted in the Philippines is for Capital One Philippines Service Corp. (COPSSC).

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