Senior Data Engineering Manager – Customer Data & Analytics Lead – Architecting Insight‑Driven Personalization, Journey Optimization, and Data‑Centric Innovation for a Global Retail & E‑Commerce Powerhouse at brighthush

About brighthush

brighthush is more than a retailer; it is the heartbeat of adventure, the trusted partner in every athlete’s journey, and the pioneer shaping the future of sports and outdoor living. From its humble beginnings as a local bait‑and‑tackle shop in Binghamton, NY, brighthush has evolved into a global omnichannel powerhouse, operating over 850 stores worldwide and a digital ecosystem that reaches millions of customers every day. Our mission is simple yet powerful: to create the best possible customer experience in the world of sport and recreation by blending cutting‑edge technology, data‑driven insights, and a culture that empowers every teammate to innovate.

We are on a bold transformation journey—moving from the world’s leading sports retailer to the world’s leading sports company. This evolution hinges on harnessing data to unlock new levels of personalization, engagement, and loyalty. If you are passionate about turning raw data into actionable insights and shaping the future of customer experience, brighthush invites you to join our dynamic team.

Why This Role Matters

In the age of hyper‑personalization, the customer’s journey is no longer linear. It is a complex web of interactions across physical stores, mobile apps, e‑commerce, and social platforms. The data that fuels this journey must be accurate, timely, and actionable. As the Senior Data Engineering Manager – Customer Data & Analytics Lead, you will be the architect of the data foundation that powers every touchpoint, ensuring that our customers receive the right product, the right recommendation, at the right moment.

Role Overview

You will serve as the bridge between business stakeholders, data scientists, and engineering teams. Your mandate is to design, build, and continuously improve the data platform that powers personalized experiences across all digital and physical touchpoints. Your leadership will ensure that the data ecosystem delivers reliable, high‑quality insights that drive revenue, retention, and brand loyalty.

Key Responsibilities

1. Data‑Driven Product & Service Enhancement

• Own the end‑to‑end lifecycle of data pipelines that feed customer segmentation, recommendation engines, and personalization campaigns, ensuring they are scalable, resilient, and maintainable.
• Collaborate with product managers to translate business questions into actionable data models and dashboards that inform strategy and day‑to‑day decisions.
• Champion data quality initiatives, establishing metrics, monitoring, and remediation processes that keep data trustworthy and compliant with industry standards.
• Drive the adoption of data cataloging and lineage tools to increase transparency across the organization, enabling teams to discover, understand, and trust data assets.
• Implement robust data governance frameworks that balance agility with compliance and security, ensuring data is protected while remaining accessible to those who need it.
• Lead the migration of legacy data assets to modern cloud platforms, ensuring minimal disruption to ongoing analytics and preserving historical context.

2. Digital Strategy & Transformation Leadership

• Lead cross‑functional digital transformation projects, applying agile and design‑thinking principles to deliver scalable solutions that meet evolving customer expectations.
• Define and execute a roadmap that aligns data capabilities with the broader digital strategy of brighthush, prioritizing initiatives that deliver measurable business impact.
• Act as a change agent, ensuring smooth adoption of new data tools and practices across the organization and fostering a culture of data literacy.
• Measure and report on the business impact of data initiatives, using metrics such as lift in conversion, average order value, and customer lifetime value to demonstrate ROI.
• Advocate for data‑centric decision making at all levels of the organization, ensuring that insights drive strategy rather than intuition.
• Collaborate with marketing, merchandising, and supply‑chain teams to align data initiatives with business priorities and deliver end‑to‑end value.

3. Team Building & Talent Development

• Recruit, mentor, and retain a high‑performing data engineering team, fostering a culture of continuous learning, experimentation, and ownership.
• Design and deliver technical training programs that upskill engineers on modern cloud data platforms, streaming, and machine‑learning pipelines.
• Implement performance management processes that set clear objectives, provide constructive feedback, and recognize achievements, driving a high‑performance culture.
• Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the engineering organization, ensuring a welcoming environment for all voices.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing sessions to keep the team abreast of emerging technologies and industry best practices, fostering cross‑team collaboration.

4. Strategic Vision & Execution

• Translate market trends and customer insights into strategic initiatives that enhance the customer journey and create new revenue streams.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to prioritize data projects that deliver the greatest business impact, aligning technology with corporate strategy.
• Advocate for data‑centric decision making across all levels of the organization, ensuring that data is the single source of truth.
• Represent brighthush at industry conferences, sharing best practices and staying ahead of emerging trends to keep the company at the forefront of data innovation.
• Develop a long‑term vision for the data platform that supports future growth, scalability, and innovation, ensuring the architecture remains future‑proof.

5. Project & Portfolio Management

• Oversee a portfolio of data projects, ensuring on‑time delivery, budget compliance, and alignment with business goals.
• Facilitate regular status meetings, risk assessments, and stakeholder communications to keep all parties informed and engaged.
• Leverage project management tools and methodologies to streamline workflows, increase transparency, and reduce cycle times.
• Implement a lightweight governance framework that balances speed and quality, enabling rapid iteration without compromising data integrity.
• Drive continuous improvement cycles to refine processes, reduce operational costs, and increase throughput.

6. Quality Assurance & Innovation

• Develop and maintain automated testing frameworks for data pipelines, ensuring data integrity and reliability across all environments.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that reduce data latency, increase throughput, and lower operational costs, enabling real‑time decision making.
• Explore emerging technologies such as real‑time streaming, graph databases, and AI‑enhanced data orchestration to stay ahead of the curve.
• Champion the adoption of open‑source tools and best practices within the engineering community, fostering innovation and cost‑efficiency.
• Lead the evaluation and integration of new data services that can accelerate innovation and deliver new capabilities to the business.

7. Budgeting & Resource Planning

• Collaborate with finance to develop annual budgets for data engineering initiatives, ensuring alignment with corporate financial goals.
• Forecast resource needs, including staffing, tooling, and cloud spend, to support strategic priorities and scale operations.
• Monitor spend against budget, identifying cost‑saving opportunities without compromising quality or performance.
• Negotiate with vendors to secure favorable pricing and service level agreements, maximizing ROI on technology investments.
• Advise on capital investment decisions for new data infrastructure, ensuring long‑term value and scalability.

8. Information Security & Compliance

• Lead the detection, analysis, and remediation of data security incidents in accordance with brighthush’s incident response plan, protecting customer data and brand trust.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) across all data assets, safeguarding customer rights and corporate reputation.
• Collaborate with security teams to implement encryption, access controls, and audit trails, reinforcing data protection.
• Maintain an up‑to‑date inventory of data assets and associated risk assessments, enabling proactive risk management.
• Educate the team on security best practices and foster a culture of data stewardship, ensuring everyone understands their role in protecting data.

Essential Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in data engineering, with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Proven success in building and scaling data platforms that support high‑volume, real‑time analytics.
• Deep experience in customer data, omni‑channel identity resolution, and data science models that activate personalization campaigns.
• Hands‑on expertise with brighthush’s cloud data platform and brighthush’s data processing platform.
• Strong background in modeling complex data structures and designing scalable schemas.
• Proficiency in data pipeline orchestration tools (brighthush’s orchestration framework) and CI/CD for data workflows.
• Experience managing onshore/offshore contractor teams and aligning them with core engineering objectives.
• Knowledge of data governance, security, and compliance best practices.
• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or a related field is preferred but not mandatory.

Preferred Qualifications & Soft Skills

• Strong people‑management skills, including coaching, performance reviews, and career development.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of translating technical concepts to non‑technical stakeholders.
• Ability to influence and collaborate across multiple business units and senior leadership.
• Experience with data cataloging, lineage, and metadata management tools.
• Familiarity with AI/ML model deployment pipelines and MLOps practices.
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a fast‑paced, high‑growth environment.
• Passion for continuous learning and a growth mindset.

Skills & Competencies

• Customer Focus: Builds strong relationships with internal and external customers, ensuring that data solutions meet real‑world needs and drive customer satisfaction.
• Strategic Mindset: Anticipates future opportunities and challenges, translating insights into breakthrough strategies that shape the organization’s direction.
• Decision Quality: Makes timely, well‑informed decisions, balancing risk and opportunity while escalating issues when necessary.
• Action Oriented: Approaches challenges with urgency and energy, taking decisive action to resolve problems and seize new opportunities.
• Builds Effective Teams: Fosters a collaborative environment where diverse skills and perspectives converge to achieve shared goals.
• Develops Talent: Mentors and coaches teammates, providing constructive feedback and career development pathways.
• Instills Trust: Earns confidence through honesty, integrity, and transparency, creating a culture of trust and accountability.
• Tech Savvy: Stays ahead of technology trends, experimenting with new tools and platforms to enhance performance and innovation.

Career Growth & Learning Opportunities

At brighthush, we invest heavily in the professional growth of our teammates. As a senior leader, you will:

• Participate in executive‑level strategy sessions, shaping the future of customer experience and data strategy.
• Lead initiatives that cross‑cut technology, product, and marketing, expanding your influence across the organization.
• Access a robust learning platform, including certifications in cloud data services, data science, and leadership development.
• Receive mentorship from senior leaders and opportunities to present at internal conferences and industry events.
• Take ownership of high‑impact projects that directly influence company strategy and revenue.
• Enjoy a clear career ladder with defined milestones and promotion pathways, ensuring your growth is both visible and rewarded.

Compensation, Perks, and Benefits

While specific figures vary by role and location, brighthush offers a competitive total rewards package that includes:

• Market‑competitive base salary and performance‑based bonuses.
• Equity or stock‑option plans that align your success with the company’s long‑term growth.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family.
• Flexible work arrangements, including remote options and flexible hours.
• Generous paid time off, parental leave, and wellness programs.
• Professional development budget and access to industry conferences.
• Employee discount program across all brighthush retail and digital channels.
• On‑site amenities such as fitness centers, wellness rooms, and community spaces.

Work Environment & Culture at brighthush

brighthush is built on a foundation of curiosity, collaboration, and a relentless focus on the customer. Our culture encourages:

• Open communication and cross‑functional teamwork.
• Experimentation and rapid iteration—fail fast, learn, and iterate.
• Recognition of individual and team achievements.Apply for this job