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Senior Data Engineering Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Sr Data Engineer, AIML

Cupertino, CA · On-site

$130K - $177K/yr

The AI and Machine Learning team is looking for Senior Data Engineer to build world-class data ... Minimum Qualifications Strong software engineering foundation with minimum 10+ years of experience ...

Senior Data Engineer

Glendale, CA

$112K - $152K/yr

* Job title: Senior Data Engineer * Experience: 8-15 Years * Location: Glendale, USA * Job Type ... Python for data engineering and automation. * Advanced SQL (complex queries, optimization ...

Sr. Data Engineer

El Segundo, CA · On-site +1

$140K - $150K/yr

About the Team We're a lean, high-impact Data Engineering team building the data foundations that power measurement, personalization, and product innovation at Fabletics. Operating at the ...

Sr. Data Engineer

El Segundo, CA · On-site

$140K - $150K/yr

About the Team We're a lean, high-impact Data Engineering team building the data foundations that power measurement, personalization, and product innovation at Fabletics. Operating at the ...

Senior Databricks Data Engineer

Calabasas, CA · On-site

$120K - $145K/yr

Senior Data Engineer (AI & Databricks) Location: Las Vegas, NV / Calabasas, CA Work Model: Onsite ... Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field. * 10+ years of ...

Senior Data Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$124K - $169K/yr

Well-known technology platform company is looking for a Senior Data Engineer to join a growing team ... What you need: - 5+ years of data engineering experience - Strong Python development skills ...

Senior Data Engineer

San Francisco, CA

$124K - $169K/yr

Well-known technology platform company is looking for a Senior Data Engineer to join a growing team ... What you need: - 5+ years of data engineering experience - Strong Python development skills ...

Senior Data Engineer

Glendale, CA

$112K - $152K/yr

Senior Data Engineer * Experience: 5-20 Years * Location: Glendale, USA * Job Type: Contract, On ... Qualifications: * 5+ years of data engineering experience developing large data pipelines

Showing results 21-40

Senior Data Engineering information

What is a senior data engineer?

A Senior Data Engineer is an experienced professional who designs, builds, and maintains scalable data systems and infrastructure within an organization. They are responsible for developing robust data pipelines, ensuring data quality, and optimizing data workflows to support analytics and business intelligence needs. Senior Data Engineers often mentor junior team members, collaborate with data scientists and analysts, and help establish best practices for data management. Their expertise enables organizations to efficiently store, process, and analyze large volumes of data for strategic decision-making.

What is the difference between Senior Data Engineering vs Data Engineer?

AspectSenior Data EngineerData Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in CS, experience in data pipelines, cloud platformsBachelor's in CS or related field, foundational data skills
Work EnvironmentDesigning complex data systems, mentoring juniors, optimizing pipelinesBuilding and maintaining data pipelines, data ingestion, basic ETL tasks
Employer & Industry UsageTech companies, finance, healthcare, large enterprisesStartups, mid-sized companies, tech firms

Senior Data Engineers typically have more experience, handle complex data architecture, and mentor teams, whereas Data Engineers focus on building and maintaining data pipelines. Both roles are essential in data-driven organizations, but Senior Data Engineers often take on leadership and strategic responsibilities.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior data engineer?

To thrive as a Senior Data Engineer, you need deep expertise in data modeling, ETL processes, programming (often Python, Java, or Scala), and a strong background in computer science or a related field. Proficiency with big data tools like Hadoop, Spark, SQL/NoSQL databases, and cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP is typically required, along with relevant certifications. Strong problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills help you collaborate effectively and mentor junior engineers. These skills ensure reliable, scalable data infrastructure that supports business intelligence and decision-making across the organization.

How much do senior data engineers get paid?

Senior data engineers typically earn between $100,000 and $150,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and industry. They often have expertise in tools like SQL, Python, and cloud platforms, which can influence compensation levels.

How does a senior data engineer typically collaborate with data scientists and analysts on projects?

As a Senior Data Engineer, you will frequently work alongside data scientists and analysts to design, build, and optimize data pipelines and infrastructure that support complex analytics and machine learning initiatives. Collaboration often involves translating business or analytical requirements into scalable data solutions, ensuring data quality, and enabling efficient access to large datasets. Regular communication and agile teamwork are essential, as you'll often participate in cross-functional meetings to align on project goals, resolve data issues, and support the deployment of analytical models into production environments.
What are the most commonly searched types of Data Engineering jobs in California? The most popular types of Data Engineering jobs in California are:
What job categories do people searching Senior Data Engineering jobs in California look for? The top searched job categories for Senior Data Engineering jobs in California are:
What cities in California are hiring for Senior Data Engineering jobs? Cities in California with the most Senior Data Engineering job openings:
Infographic showing various Senior Data Engineering job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 82% Full Time, 13% Part Time, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution.

Sr Data Engineer, AIML

Apple

Cupertino, CA • On-site

$130K - $177K/yr

Full-time

Posted 10 days ago


Apple rating

8.0

Company rating: 8.0 out of 10

Based on 677 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

7th of 30 rated technology retailers


Job description

Are you excited to tackle some of the most ambitious technical challenges in Apple Intelligence? Be involved in collaborating closely with our machine learning researchers, engineers, and data scientists? Together, you will orchestrate groundbreaking research initiatives and develop transformative products designed to build a significant impact for billions of users worldwide!
The AI and Machine Learning team is looking for Senior Data Engineer to build world-class data infrastructure and solutions that are used by data scientists, ML engineers and researchers to power Apple Foundation Model lifecycle.
Description
We are looking for a skilled Senior Data Engineer to join our engineering team. In this role, you will be responsible for designing, building, and maintaining scalable data pipelines, data platforms, and data integration solutions that enable reliable analytics, machine learning, and business intelligence capabilities across the organization.
Minimum Qualifications
Strong software engineering foundation with minimum 10+ years of experience in data engineering, backend engineering, or distributed systems.
Strong hands-on experience designing and building large-scale batch and streaming data pipelines using Python and distributed systems.
Expertise in ETL/ELT development, event-driven architectures, and working with high-volume datasets using technologies such as Pub/Sub, Dataflow (Apache Beam), and Spark-based processing (Dataproc or equivalent).
Deep expertise in the Google Cloud Platform data ecosystem, including BigQuery, Dataflow, Pub/Sub, and Composer (Airflow). Proven ability to design, optimize, and operate scalable data platforms, with strong experience in BigQuery performance tuning, cost optimization, data modeling, partitioning, clustering, and query optimization at scale.
Proficient in Python, version control, CI/CD practices, testing, and code reviews.
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).
Preferred Qualifications
7+ years of experience in data engineering or large-scale distributed systems.
Experience designing end-to-end data platforms or data mesh architectures.
Strong understanding of data governance, data lineage, and metadata management frameworks.
Experience supporting ML pipelines and MLOps workflows, including feature engineering and training data generation.
Experience building systems with strong reliability, observability, and SLAs (monitoring, alerting, debugging distributed pipelines).
Familiarity with Generative AI / LLM-based systems, including: LLM-powered data workflows, Agentic pipelines, Embedding/vector-based retrieval systems.
Experience influencing architecture decisions across teams and driving technical direction.
Experience collaborating in cross-functional, fast-paced tech environments or cloud-native organizations with a focus on building reliable, maintainable, and production-grade data systems.

What Apple employees say

Pay

Benefits

Hours and flexibility

Workplace

Get the full story on Breakroom


Apple logo

About Apple

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

Imagine what you could do here! At Apple, new ideas have a way of becoming extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring passion and dedication to your job and there's no telling what you could accomplish. Dynamic, intelligent people and inspiring, innovative technologies are the norm here. The people who work here have reinvented entire industries with all Apple Hardware products. The same real passion for innovation that goes into our products also applies to our practices strengthening our dedication to leave the world better than we found it.

Industry

Computer and electronic product manufacturing

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Cupertino, CA, US

Year founded

1976