Head Principal Jobs in Reston, VA (NOW HIRING)

Grade Level (for internal use):

The Team:

This team is essential to the division's data strategy, playing a key role in data transformation and leading efforts to replace legacy technical debt. The team embodies a strong commitment to delivering on business needs and demonstrates exceptional collaboration with both product and business partners. They are known for their collaborative approach, strong technical expertise, and the high energy and dedication they bring to their work.

Responsibilities and Impact:

• Lead and scale a large, multi-disciplinary engineering organization of 50+ data engineers, ML engineers, and platform developers, including managing managers and staff-level engineers across cross-functional teams
• Drive the strategic architecture and implementation of enterprise data management and governance, integrating Databricks Unity Catalog with enterprise data catalog systems and AWS-native governance services to ensure automated data lineage, security, and accuracy at petabyte scale
• Oversee the development of production-grade autonomous AI systems using Databricks Mosaic AI, ensuring AI agents are grounded in highly governed, accurate data through robust semantic modeling and RAG architectures
• Guide the technical strategy for zero-copy, multi-platform lakehouse architecture leveraging Delta Lake and Apache Iceberg, with deep integration across AWS cloud data and analytics services including S3, Glue, and Lake Formation
• Partner with Product, Security, and executive leadership to translate business and compliance requirements into actionable engineering roadmaps while fostering a high-performance culture of innovation and engineering excellence
• Champion organizational transformation initiatives that position the company at the forefront of enterprise AI and data platform capabilities, directly impacting business growth and operational excellence

Compensation/Benefits Information:

(This section is only applicable to US candidates) S&P Globalstatesthat theanticipatedbase salary range for this position is $185,000 to $265,000.Finalbase salary for this role will be based on the individual's geographic location, as well as experience level, skill set, training,licensesand certifications.

In addition to base compensation, this role is eligible for an annual incentive plan. This role is not eligible foradditionalcompensation such as an annual incentive bonus or sales commission plan. This role is eligible to receiveadditionalS&P Global benefits. For more information on the benefits we provide to our employees, please clickhere.

What We're Looking For:

Basic Required Qualifications:

• 15+ years of engineering experience with 5+ years directly managing and scaling large engineering teams at Director or Head of Engineering level, including experience managing managers and Staff/Principal-level individual contributors
• Deep technical expertise in data platform architecture including Delta Lake and Apache Iceberg internals, with proven ability to guide senior engineers on complex architectural trade-offs and design decisions
• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise data management initiatives including data lineage automation, schema management, data governance, and security implementations at petabyte scale across distributed platforms
• Hands-on experience with cloud data platforms such as AWS services (S3, Glue, Lake Formation, EMR), Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, or similar enterprise-scale data infrastructure technologies
• Proven track record integrating operational data catalogs with enterprise metadata platforms, implementing complex access controls (RBAC/CBAC/ABAC), and managing data security across multi-cloud environments
• Strong leadership and communication skills with experience driving organizational transformation, building high-performance engineering cultures, and partnering effectively with cross-functional teams including Product, Security, and executive leadership

Additional Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with AI/ML platforms such as Databricks Mosaic AI, Amazon SageMaker, or Amazon Bedrock, with understanding of autonomous AI agent deployment and semantic modeling for LLM grounding
• AWS certifications such as Solutions Architect, Data Analytics, or similar cloud credentials, along with experience in multi-account governance, multi-region deployment strategies, and cost optimization for data-intensive workloads
• Background in enterprise data governance frameworks, compliance requirements, and experience with tools like data.world for enterprise knowledge graphs and metadata management
• Experience partnering with FinOps and cloud platform teams to optimize cloud consumption and platform ROI, with familiarity in multi-cloud data platform strategies spanning various public cloud ecosystems

What's In It For You?

Our Mission:

Advancing Essential Intelligence.

Our People:

We're more than 35,000 strong worldwide-so we're able to understand nuances while having a broad perspective. Our team is driven by curiosity and a shared belief that Essential Intelligence can help build a more prosperous future for us all.From finding new ways to measure sustainability to analyzing energy transition across the supply chain to building workflow solutions that make it easy to tap into insight and apply it. We are changing the way people see things and empowering them to make an impact on the world we live in. We're committed to a more equitable future and to helping our customers find new, sustainable ways of doing business. Join us and help create the critical insights that truly make a difference.

Our Values:

Integrity, Discovery, Partnership

Throughout our history, the world's leading organizations have relied on us for the Essential Intelligence they need to make confident decisions about the road ahead. We start with a foundation of integrity in all we do, bring a spirit of discovery to our work, and collaborate in close partnership with each other and our customers to achieve shared goals.
Benefits:

We take care of you, so you cantake care of business. We care about our people. That's why we provide everything you-and your career-need to thrive at S&P Global.
Our benefits include:

• Health & Wellness: Health care coverage designed for the mind and body.

• Flexible Downtime: Generous time off helps keep you energized for your time on.

• Continuous Learning: Access a wealth of resources to grow your career and learn valuable new skills.

• Invest in Your Future: Secure your financial future through competitive pay, retirement planning, a continuing education program with a company-matched student loan contribution, and financial wellness programs.

• Family Friendly Perks: It's not just about you. S&P Global has perks for your partners and little ones, too, with some best-in class benefits for families.

• Beyond the Basics: From retail discounts to referral incentive awards-small perks can make a big difference.

For more information on benefits by country visit: https://spgbenefits.com/benefit-summaries

Global Hiring and Opportunity at S&P Global:

At S&P Global, we are committed to fostering a connected andengaged workplace where all individuals have access to opportunities based on their skills, experience, and contributions. Our hiring practices emphasize fairness, transparency, and merit, ensuring that we attract and retain top talent. By valuing different perspectives and promoting a culture of respect and collaboration, we drive innovation and power global markets.

Recruitment Fraud Alert:

If you receive an email from a spglobalind.com domain or any other regionally based domains, it is a scam and should be reported toreportfraud@spglobal.com. S&P Global never requires any candidate to pay money for job applications, interviews, offer letters, "pre-employment training" or for equipment/delivery of equipment. Stay informed and protect yourself from recruitment fraud by reviewing our guidelines, fraudulent domains, and how to report suspicious activityhere.