Associate Director, Data Engineering

Job Description

Our Opportunity

Chewy is reimagining enterprise data for an AI-first future—one where engineers build alongside AI, data platforms actively prevent and resolve problems, and people and AI agents can discover, understand, and safely use trusted data.

We are seeking an Associate Director of Data Engineering to lead Foundational Data within Enterprise Data Systems. You will lead managers and engineering teams responsible for creating the authoritative, reusable data foundations behind Chewy’s data products, analytics, automation, and AI experiences.

This role is not about applying AI to a traditional data-engineering model. You will help redesign that model: embedding AI throughout development and operations, making data understandable to machines as well as people, and replacing fragmented, manual processes with intelligent and increasingly autonomous experiences.

What You’ll Do

• Define the strategy and roadmap for Chewy’s foundational data, creating authoritative and reusable representations of the company’s most important business entities, events, and relationships.
• Reinvent how data work gets done by embedding AI throughout design, development, testing, documentation, deployment, monitoring, and incident response.
• Make trusted data easy for people and AI agents to discover, understand, and safely use through semantic context, machine-readable metadata, lineage, quality signals, and clear access controls.
• Create AI-first experiences that guide users to the right data, explain its meaning and quality, recommend next actions, and automate routine work with appropriate guardrails.
• Move data quality from reactive monitoring toward proactive detection, prevention, and increasingly automated resolution.
• Simplify fragmented pipelines, models, definitions, and processes while establishing shared engineering and governance standards.
• Partner with Data Products and Platform Reliability to turn trusted foundations into reliable, intelligent experiences across Chewy.
• Lead and develop managers and engineering teams, measuring success through faster delivery, greater reuse, stronger reliability, reduced duplication, and increased confidence in enterprise data.

What You’ll Need

• 10+ years of experience building enterprise data systems, platforms, or products, including significant experience leading managers and multi-team organizations.
• A track record of transforming complex data environments—not simply operating them.
• Strong technical judgment across modern data architecture, including Snowflake, dbt Cloud, Kafka, AWS, metadata, governance, and observability.
• Experience building authoritative data foundations that support multiple products, departments, and use cases.
• Practical experience applying AI, automation, or agent-based capabilities to engineering, data quality, metadata, observability, or platform operations.
• A clear point of view on how generative AI changes how data is built, operated, discovered, and consumed.
• Demonstrated ability to translate ambitious technical ideas into practical roadmaps and measurable outcomes.
• Exceptional leadership and communication skills across engineering, product, business, and executive audiences.
• A strong record of developing managers, senior engineers, and inclusive, high-performing teams.

Why You’ll Love This Role

• Define what AI-first enterprise data looks like at Chewy.
• Lead the teams creating the trusted foundation behind Chewy’s data products, analytics, automation, and AI experiences.
• Move beyond incremental modernization and reinvent how enterprise data work gets done.
• Develop talented managers and engineers while shaping the next generation of data leadership.
• Help Chewy use trusted data and AI to serve pet parents better and operate smarter every day.

The base salary range for this role is $154,000 - $265,000.00.

• The specific salary offered to a candidate may be influenced by a variety of factors including but not limited to the candidate’s relevant experience, education, and work location. In addition, this position is eligible for 401k and a new hire and annual equity grant. C08+ positions may also be eligible for annual bonus.

We offer different types of insurance and benefits, such as medical/Rx, vision, dental, life, disability, hospital indemnity, critical illness, and accident. We offer parental leave, family services benefits, backup dependent care, flexible spending accounts, telemedicine, pet adoption reimbursement, employee assistance program, and many discounts including 10% off pet insurance and 20% off at Chewy.com.

Exempt salary team members have unlimited PTO, subject to manager approval. Team members will receive six paid holidays per year. Team members may be eligible for paid sick and family leave in compliance with applicable state and local regulations.

Chewy is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, citizenship, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, results of genetic testing, veteran status, as well as any other legally-protected characteristic. If you have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law, and you need an accommodation during the application process or to perform these job requirements, or if you need a religious accommodation, please contact [email protected].

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