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Founding Data Engineer Jobs in Minnesota (NOW HIRING)

JonnyPops

Sr. Software Engineer

Plymouth, MN · On-site

$135K - $170K/yr

The Senior Software Engineer is a founding technical member of that team. You will not just write ... Advance the data foundation for AI-Native work: help harmonize data sources and permission ...

JonnyPops

Sr. Software Engineer

Minneapolis, MN · On-site

$135K - $170K/yr

The Senior Software Engineer is a founding technical member of that team. You will not just write ... Advance the data foundation for AI-Native work: help harmonize data sources and permission ...

JonnyPops

Sr. Software Engineer

Minneapolis, MN · On-site

$127K - $168K/yr

The Senior Software Engineer is a founding technical member of that team. You will not just write ... Advance the data foundation for AI-Native work: help harmonize data sources and permission ...

JonnyPops

Software Engineer

Plymouth, MN · On-site

The Senior Software Engineer is a founding technical member of that team. You will not just write ... Build and maintain API connections, webhooks, and data flows that let AI-Native solutions interact ...

Knobelsdorff Enterprises

Structural Engineer

Goodhue, MN · On-site

$80K - $110K/yr

Since our founding as a family-owned company in 1988, we've grown while staying true to our core ... Generate test plans, compile data and write reports as part of engineering projects and studies.

Knobelsdorff Enterprises

Structural Engineer

Goodhue, MN · On-site

$80K - $110K/yr

Since our founding as a family-owned company in 1988, we've grown while staying true to our core ... Generate test plans, compile data and write reports as part of engineering projects and studies.

Knobelsdorff Enterprises

Structural Engineer

Goodhue, MN · On-site

$80K - $110K/yr

Since our founding as a family-owned company in 1988, we've grown while staying true to our core ... Generate test plans, compile data and write reports as part of engineering projects and studies.

Polaris, Inc.

Materials Compliance Engineer

Wyoming, MN · On-site

$74K - $92K/yr

This will require regulatory interpretation, data management, documentation, and cross functional ... founding in 1954. Polaris' high-quality product line-up includes the Polaris RANGER, RZR and ...

Polaris, Inc.

Sr Material Compliance Engineer

Wyoming, MN · On-site

$92K - $115K/yr

This will require regulatory interpretation, data management, documentation, and cross functional ... founding in 1954. Polaris' high-quality product line-up includes the Polaris RANGER, RZR and ...

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All JobsFounding Data Engineer JobsFounding Data Engineer Jobs in Minnesota

Founding Data Engineer information

What are the unique challenges and opportunities of being a Founding Data Engineer at an early-stage startup?

As a Founding Data Engineer, you'll face the challenge of building data infrastructure from scratch, often with limited resources and evolving requirements. You’ll work closely with founders and cross-functional teams to define data strategies, implement pipelines, and ensure data quality. This role offers significant influence over technical decisions and architecture, and you'll likely wear multiple hats, contributing to both backend engineering and data analytics. The fast-paced environment fosters rapid skill development and provides substantial opportunities for career growth as the company scales.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Founding Data Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Founding Data Engineer, you need strong expertise in data architecture, database design, and software engineering, often backed by a degree in computer science or a related field. Familiarity with cloud platforms (like AWS or GCP), ETL frameworks, programming languages (such as Python or Scala), and data warehousing tools is typically required. Exceptional problem-solving, adaptability, and collaboration skills set standout candidates apart in this role. These abilities are crucial for building scalable data systems and shaping the technical foundation of an early-stage company.

What is the difference between Founding Data Engineer vs Data Engineer?

AspectFounding Data EngineerData Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's or higher in CS, experience in startup environmentsBachelor's or higher in CS, relevant data tools experience
Work EnvironmentEarly-stage startups, high flexibility, broad responsibilitiesEstablished companies, specialized roles, structured teams
Employer & Industry UsageFounding teams, startups, tech companiesTech firms, finance, healthcare, large organizations
Search & Comparison IntentUnderstanding startup data roles, early-stage responsibilitiesStandard data engineering roles, career progression

The main difference between a Founding Data Engineer and a Data Engineer lies in their work environment and responsibilities. Founding Data Engineers typically work in startups, handling broad tasks and building data infrastructure from scratch, while Data Engineers in established companies focus on specific data pipelines within structured teams. Both roles require similar technical skills and educational backgrounds, but their scope and context differ significantly.

What are Founding Data Engineers?

Founding Data Engineers are among the first technical hires at a startup, responsible for designing, building, and scaling the company's data infrastructure from the ground up. They work closely with founders and early team members to define data architecture, set up data pipelines, and ensure data quality and accessibility for product development and business insights. This role often requires a blend of software engineering, data modeling, and strategic decision-making skills, as well as the flexibility to adapt to rapidly changing priorities in a startup environment.
What are popular job titles related to Founding Data Engineer jobs in Minnesota? For Founding Data Engineer jobs in Minnesota, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Founding Data Engineer jobs in Minnesota look for? The top searched job categories for Founding Data Engineer jobs in Minnesota are:
Founding Data Engineer jobs near you
Sr. Software Engineer

Sr. Software Engineer

JonnyPops

Plymouth, MN • On-site

$135K - $170K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 27 days ago

Job description

Who We Are
At JonnyPops, our team is empowered to make an impact at work every day - from producing high-quality, innovative frozen novelties to spreading kindness one pop at a time. We look for bright, ambitious people who seek out challenges, thrive in fast-paced, high-growth environments, align with our core values, and get fulfillment from seeing their work transform the world around them.
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Elk River, MN, JonnyPops is the #1 frozen novelty brand in the Natural Channel and one of the fastest-growing CPG brands in the country - growing 60%+ YTD in 2026. We manufacture in-house at our SQF Certified facility, serve 13M+ students annually through food service, and operate a corporate office in Plymouth, MN. Technology is central to how we scale - and this role sits at the heart of that work.
The Opportunity
JonnyPops is making a dedicated commitment to building an AI-Native business - sponsored directly by our co-founders and executive team. We are standing up a small, in-house, cross-functional team purpose-built to ideate, prototype, deploy, and sustain AI-Native solutions across the company. This is not side-of-desk experimentation; it is a focused team with a company committed to innovation and growth that is equipped with a clear mandate to help reinvent the manufacturing CPG business model.
The Senior Software Engineer is a founding technical member of that team. You will not just write code - you will design how an AI-Native company actually runs, building the agentic workflows, applications, and infrastructure that compound into durable productivity, yield, and capability advantages for the business. The time is now, and you will be one of the people who builds it.
Job Summary
We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to design, build, deploy, and sustain production-grade agentic AI workflows and AI-powered applications that change how JonnyPops operates. You will work with an AI-first development philosophy - using tools like Claude Code and the Anthropic API to plan, build, test, and ship at high velocity - and partner closely with Finance, Operations, Manufacturing, HR, and GTM to turn high-friction processes into intelligent, automated solutions. This is a high-autonomy role for a self-starter who wants their work to be visible, impactful, and genuinely central to the business.
Reporting & Partnership
  • Direct Manager: Chief Financial Officer, who currently serves as Team Lead of the AI Initiative.
  • Technical Leadership: Partners closely with the AI Initiative team on architecture, standards, and execution.
  • Run-the-Business Systems: Coordinates with the Director of Information Technology (dotted line) on existing systems and infrastructure - the IT function owns run-the-business operations so this team can stay focused on the AI-Native build.
  • Cross-Functional Partners: Finance & Accounting, HR & Office, Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, GTM / Commercial.
Work Hours / Location
  • Plymouth, MN (corporate office) primary, with regular on-site presence at the Elk River manufacturing facility as needed.
  • Full-time; standard business hours with flexibility for deployment and support windows.
  • Based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro. Relocation may be considered for an exceptional candidate.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Agentic Workflow Design, Build & Deployment
  • Design, build, deploy, and sustain production-grade agentic AI workflows that automate and augment core business processes across Finance, Operations, Manufacturing, HR, and GTM - moving solutions from prototype to reliable, monitored production.
  • Own the full lifecycle of AI-Native solutions: problem framing, architecture, build, testing, deployment, observability, and iteration.
  • Establish the patterns that let agentic processes run reliably and, over time, around the clock.
AI-Native Development Framework & Infrastructure
  • Stand up and maintain the company's standardized AI development framework, infrastructure, and agile delivery pipeline as a founding contributor.
  • Configure and maintain markdown project context files and MCP server integrations so AI tools have deep, accurate understanding of the codebase and connected systems.
  • Use subagent orchestration to parallelize work across large tasks - delegating, reviewing, and merging results with precision.
  • Advance the data foundation for AI-Native work: help harmonize data sources and permission structures, and contribute to on-prem AI compute and agent-to-agent collaboration as the platform matures.
Building with Claude & the Anthropic Platform
  • Build AI-powered applications and intelligent agents using Claude Code, the Anthropic API, tool use / function calling, and the Claude Agent SDK.
  • Connect agents to core systems - NetSuite (ERP/HRIS), Microsoft 365 (SharePoint, Teams), RedZone (manufacturing MES), and the broader SaaS stack - so AI-Native solutions are grounded in real business data and can take real action.
AI Code Quality & Responsible Delivery
  • Champion responsible software development - establishing patterns for code review, testing, and human-in-the-loop oversight when AI-generated code ships to production.
  • Exercise strong judgment on when to trust, verify, and override AI-generated output before it reaches production.
Embedded Cross-Functional Partnership
  • Embed with department leaders to capture critical business knowledge and turn high-friction processes into intelligent, automated solutions that deliver measurable productivity gains.
  • Partner with functional owners; build solutions teams actually adopt, with the documentation and enablement to sustain them.
  • Support the company's AI adoption priority through co-developed department-level tools, process maps, and working sessions.
Standards, Architecture & Team-Building
  • Establish and model engineering best practices for a founding team - version control (Git), code review, testing, CI/CD, and documentation.
  • Translate business requirements from non-technical stakeholders into clear, well-scoped technical specifications and working software.
  • Contribute to architecture and build-vs.-buy decisions alongside the Team Lead and Principal Technology Engineer.
  • May assume additional duties as necessary.

Food Safety Responsibilities
This is a primarily corporate, hybrid role with periodic presence at the Elk River manufacturing facility. While on-site, this position is expected to follow all Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), Good Documentation Practices, and facility food-safety and visitor protocols, and to support - never compromise - the integrity of JonnyPops' SQF-certified food safety system when designing any solution that touches production or quality data.
Minimum Qualifications
Education & Experience
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field; equivalent professional experience considered.
  • 5+ years of professional software development experience with a track record of delivering production-quality systems.
  • Experience building applications, automations, or internal tools in a business operations or enterprise environment strongly preferred.
Technical Skills
  • Proficiency in one or more backend languages (Python, TypeScript/Node.js, or similar); writes clean, testable, maintainable code.
  • Strong experience with REST APIs, webhooks, and third-party SaaS integrations.
  • Solid SQL skills and comfort with relational databases; ERP data model experience a plus (NetSuite preferred).
  • Experience with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP) and modern deployment practices (Docker, CI/CD, GitHub Actions).
  • Familiarity with Microsoft 365 development surfaces (SharePoint API, Microsoft Graph API, Power Automate) is a strong plus.
AI-Assisted Development
  • Demonstrated fluency building software with AI coding tools - reading codebases, planning multi-file changes, running and fixing tests, and shipping at high velocity. This is the core bar for the role.
  • A genuine AI-first development philosophy and strong judgment about when to trust, verify, and override AI-generated output.
  • Strongly preferred: hands-on experience with Claude Code as a primary development tool; configuring MCP servers and writing effective CLAUDE.md context files; and building with the Anthropic API and Claude Agent SDK (tool use / function calling, custom agentic workflows). Familiarity with other AI coding tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Codex) is also valued - what matters most is a real AI-first development philosophy and the ability to ramp fast on our stack.
Soft Skills & Competencies
  • Communicates clearly with non-technical business partners; translates their needs into well-scoped technical solutions.
  • Self-directed ownership mentality - defines the problem, scopes the work, and ships the solution without step-by-step management.
  • Curious and growth-oriented; genuinely excited about what's possible when strong engineering meets modern AI tooling.
  • Adaptable and resilient in a high-growth environment where priorities evolve quickly.
  • Committed to JonnyPops core values: Integrity, Masterful Growth, Excellence, Team Work, Fact-Based Decisions, Alignment, and Service and Contribution.

Expected Pay Range
Expected starting salary range: $135,000 - $170,000 per year, based on experience and qualifications. Hired candidates may be eligible for additional compensation in the form of bonuses and/or commissions.
Benefits
JonnyPops offers a competitive benefits package, including:
  • Medical / Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • HSA / FSA / DCFSA
  • Life & AD&D Insurance
  • Short & Long Term Disability
  • FTO / PTO
  • EAP Programs
  • Paid Holidays
  • Employee Referral Program
  • Sick & Safe Leave
  • 401(k)
  • Company-provided equipment plus a dedicated AI tooling and professional-development budget

Equal Opportunity
JonnyPops is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Reasonable accommodations are available for applicants and employees with disabilities; please contact Human Resources to request one.
JonnyPops offers a competitive benefits package which includes the following:
  • Medical/Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • HSA
  • FSA
  • DCFSA
  • Life & AD&D Insurance
  • Short & Long Term Disability
  • FTO/PTO
  • EAP Programs
  • Paid Holidays
  • Employee Referral Program
  • Sick & Safe Leave
  • 401k
  • Company Sponsored Meal Plan

* Hired candidates may be eligible to receive additional compensation in the form of bonuses and/or commissions.

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