Lead Data Engineer

Our client is looking for a highly experienced Lead Data Engineer to join their team and take ownership of their AI-centric data architecture and backend systems. This is a high-impact, hands‑on role with a clear path toward a Manager or Director position as the company scales. The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise across modern data infrastructure, a strong grasp of AI‑native backend systems, and the leadership instincts to help grow an engineering team.

• Design, build, and scale enterprise‑grade backend and data infrastructure
• Architect and maintain large‑scale distributed data systems supporting high‑volume processing and storage
• Lead the development of AI application backends and data pipelines
• Partner with engineering and product leadership to drive technical strategy
• Mentor engineers and contribute to team growth as the organization expands

• Deep hands‑on experience with PostgreSQL
  , including advanced SQL, schema design, and its role as a deterministic backbone in enterprise architecture
• Experience with PGVector and vector database implementations, including embedding workflows, semantic search, similarity matching, and RAG architectures
• Familiarity with long‑term AI memory systems and contextual retrieval patterns
• Experience with graph database technologies
  , including modeling and querying complex relationship‑driven datasets and designing systems that surface deep entity relationships and knowledge connections
• Strong understanding of AI‑native backend architecture
• Hands‑on experience building Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems
• Experience with embedding pipelines and vector search
• Familiarity with AI agent infrastructure and data systems that support enterprise AI applications

• Comfortable operating both strategically and in a deeply hands‑on capacity
• Experience scaling engineering infrastructure and backend teams
• Executive‑level technical leadership potential — this role is built to grow
• Thrives in a fast‑moving startup environment with ambiguous, high‑stakes problems

IQ Clarity is an equal opportunity employer. Must be eligible to legally work in the U.S. with no restrictions.