We have partnered with our Financial Services client in their search for a Head of Data - Engineering hybrid in Charlotte, NC. We're seeking a senior leader to own the stability, resilience, and day-to-day operations of our enterprise data platform. In this role, you will bring structure, discipline, and operational excellence to a complex, fast-moving environment where reliability is critical and production issues have real business impact.
The Head of Data Engineering will lead incident management, embed clear operational standards, strengthen monitoring and controls, and ensure the data platform is safe, predictable, and trusted across the organization.
What You'll Do
- Lead the operational reliability of cloud and hybrid data platforms, ensuring availability, performance, and scalability.
- Drive incident management, including containment, root-cause analysis, post-incident reviews, and long-term remediation.
- Establish run-the-bank standards, playbooks, and strong operational controls across data pipelines, jobs, and platform components.
- Partner with Technology, Risk, Operations, and business stakeholders to ensure clear communication during incidents and outages.
- Govern how enhancements, fixes, and upgrades move into production, balancing innovation with operational safety.
- Oversee monitoring, observability, alerting, and orchestration to ensure accurate, timely, and resilient production data flows.
- Strengthen risk, controls, and audit readiness across the entire data engineering ecosystem.
What Success Looks Like
- Fewer and shorter production incidents.
- Clear, predictable processes when things go wrong.
- Confident, consistent communication with leadership and stakeholders.
- A stable, resilient data platform trusted across the business.
- Enhancements delivered safely, with strong change and release management.
What We're Looking For
- 12+ years in data engineering, platform engineering, or technology operations, including senior leadership roles.
- Deep experience running large-scale data platforms in regulated, mission-critical environments (Financial Services preferred).
- Strong background in incident management, operational controls, and production support.
- Hands-on understanding of cloud platforms (e.g., Azure), data pipelines, orchestration, and enterprise data ecosystems.
- Exceptional communication and executive presence, especially in high-pressure situations.
- Ability to create structure, discipline, and clarity in complex environments.
About Korn Ferry
Korn Ferry unleashes potential in people, teams, and organizations. We work with our clients to design optimal organization structures, roles, and responsibilities. We help them hire the right people and advise them on how to reward and motivate their workforce while developing professionals as they navigate and advance their careers. To learn more, please visit Korn Ferry at www.Kornferry.com
