Principal Engineer, Data Engineering

Pfizer’s mission to deliver breakthroughs that change patients’ lives is rooted in our commitment to science and innovation. Within Discovery, Preclinical, and Translational Solutions (DP&TS), we work to shorten the path from target identification to clinical translation with better software, data, and AI.

We are looking for a Principal Engineer, Data Engineering to lead the architecture and delivery of the data engineering capabilities DP&TS depends on. The work covers lakehouse-style data platforms, cloud-native ingestion and transformation pipelines, data quality and observability, metadata and lineage, and curated, domain-oriented datasets that feed analytics, AI/ML, and scientific computing.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role for someone who can set direction and still go deep. You will move between architecture, code, and operations, and pick up unfamiliar problems quickly.

You will report to the Senior Director, Platform and Data Engineering, and work closely with the Group Product Manager, Data Engineering. You will set technical direction for the data engineering roadmap, work with scientific and product leaders to define data-as-a-product outcomes, and guide engineers in building data systems that are reliable, compliant, and cost-aware. You will lead an automation-first approach (CI/CD and infrastructure-as-code), consistent patterns, and the operational discipline that regulated environments and sensitive scientific data require.

The role is global. You will lead the data engineering team day to day, mentor engineers, set architecture and standards across teams, and be measured on real improvements in time-to-data, data trust, and platform reliability.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and evolve the lakehouse-style data architecture that supports batch and streaming ingestion, large-scale processing, and secure data access for analytics and AI/ML.
• Establish reusable patterns for ingestion, transformation, orchestration, and data modeling that speed up delivery and keep work consistent and maintainable.
• Define and run data quality, observability, and reliability practices for critical datasets: automated checks, monitoring and alerting, lineage-aware troubleshooting, SLOs and SLAs, and incident response.
• Work with domain teams to publish curated, discoverable datasets with clear ownership, documentation, metadata, and access controls, so data gets reused rather than rebuilt.
• Build security, privacy, and compliance into the pipelines from the start: encryption, secrets management, access control, auditing, and retention, in line with regulated environments and enterprise policy.
• Improve performance and cost across compute and storage through efficient processing, sensible storage layout and lifecycle, workload tuning, and clear cost visibility.
• Set the bar for engineering practice: CI/CD for data, infrastructure-as-code, repeatable environment promotion, and testing that makes delivery predictable and auditable.
• Lead and mentor the data engineering team through design reviews, architecture decisions, coaching, and cross-team alignment, building a culture of ownership and steady improvement.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS 

Education: Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Computer Science, Data Engineering, Software Engineering, Data Science, Bioinformatics, or related discipline)

Experience:

• 8+ years of hands-on data/software engineering experience delivering production data platforms and pipelines in cloud environments.
• Architecting and building cloud-native data platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Designing scalable batch and streaming data pipelines, transformation frameworks, and curated datasets for analytics/AI
• Implementing operational excellence: monitoring, data quality automation, incident response, and reliability practices
• Working with regulated or sensitive datasets, applying secure development practices and auditability
• Candidate demonstrates a breadth of diverse leadership experiences and capabilities including: the ability to influence and collaborate with peers, develop and coach others, oversee and guide the work of other colleagues to achieve meaningful outcomes and create business impact.

Technical Skills

• Strong programming skills (Python plus one of: Java/Scala/Typescript) and strong SQL
• Experience with distributed data processing patterns and modern data architectures (e.g., lakehouse, distributed compute, columnar storage)
• Proficiency with CI/CD and infrastructure-as-code; ability to automate deployments and environment promotion
• Strong understanding of data governance fundamentals: cataloging, lineage, access control, and data stewardship

Other Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in working with regulated data, compliance frameworks, and secure development practices
• Ability to lead complex engineering efforts across global, cross-functional teams
• Fluent in English; capable of clear technical communication across scientific and engineering disciplines

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Master’s or PhD in a relevant field (e.g., Computer Science, Data Engineering, Software Engineering, Data Science, Bioinformatics, or related discipline)

Domain Expertise

• Experience supporting pharmaceutical R&D, life sciences, or computational research; familiarity with biomedical data concepts and reproducibility expectations
• Familiarity with biomedical data standards (e.g., HL7 FHIR, OMOP, CDISC) and FAIR data principles

Modern Data Engineering

• Experience with lakehouse platforms and open table formats; strong understanding of scalable storage/layout strategies and workload optimization
• Experience implementing data quality, observability, and “data reliability engineering” practices in production

Technical Leadership

• Proven success in designing AI/ML platforms for scientific discovery or clinical research
• Strong record of mentoring and growing engineering talent in high-complexity domains

Strategic Capabilities

• A clear point of view on data engineering strategy and the responsible use of AI
• Experience influencing cross-functional decisions, especially at the intersection of science and technology

NON-STANDARD WORK SCHEDULE, TRAVEL OR ENVIRONMENT REQUIREMENTS

• Travel up to 10% may be required for business activities.
• Work Location Assignment: Hybrid

No relocation package available

Last Date to apply: July 31, 2026

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $176,600.00 to $294,300.00.* In addition, this position is eligible for participation in Pfizer’s Global Performance Plan with a bonus target of 20.0% of the base salary and eligibility to participate in our share based long term incentive program. We offer comprehensive and generous benefits and programs to help our colleagues lead healthy lives and to support each of life’s moments. Benefits offered include a 401(k) plan with Pfizer Matching Contributions and an additional Pfizer Retirement Savings Contribution, paid vacation, holiday and personal days, paid caregiver/parental and medical leave, and health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage. Learn more at Pfizer Candidate Site – U.S. Benefits | (uscandidates.mypfizerbenefits.com). Pfizer compensation structures and benefit packages are aligned based on the location of hire. The United States salary range provided does not apply to Tampa, FL or any location outside of the United States. * The annual base salary for this position in Tampa, FL ranges from $158,800.00 to $264,600.00. This role is posted in multiple locations. If you are applying for the role in an secondary job posting location where pay transparency regulations apply, your Talent Advisor will share the local pay information with you during the first interview.

Relocation assistance may be available based on business needs and/or eligibility.

Candidates must be authorized to be employed in the U.S. by any employer.

U.S. work visa sponsorship (such as TN, O-1, H-1B, etc.) is not available for this role now or in the future.

To learn more about acceptable and prohibited uses of AI during the recruitment process, please review our candidate AI-use guidelines available on Pfizer Careers.

Information & Business Tech