Data Engineering Manager II - Denver

Investing in You, join a 100-year-old, family-owned leader in Ag - and grow with us!

Wilbur-Ellis invests heavily in our employees by offering skill development and training, competitive compensation and benefits, and a tradition of promoting from within for a broad range of career opportunities. And we foster a supportive, people-first work environment.

"We know the confidence gap can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates, so please don't hesitate to apply - we'd love to hear from you."

Role Overview:

The Data Engineering Manager II is responsible for leading the design, development, and operation of enterprise data platforms and AI-enabled solutions in a cloud environment. This role oversees the Data Solutions team, setting standards for modern data engineering, development, and applied AI/ML best practices. The position requires a strong understanding of data movement, warehousing, security, modeling, cloud-native architectures, and the responsible use of AI. This role partners closely with business, product, analytics, and IT leaders to identify, define, and deliver scalable data and AI solutions that drive measurable business outcomes. The Manager leads a team throughout the full solution lifecycle-from requirements and architecture through production deployment and support-with emphasis on data ingestion, data architecture, and the integration of AI/ML and automation capabilities. Hands-on technical leadership is expected as it is needed to ensure quality, performance, and timely delivery.

A Sample of What You'll Do in This Role:

• Lead the data and AI engineering solutions team of 5-10 people with a clear strategic vision aligned to enterprise data, development, and AI roadmaps.
• Partner with business and functional leaders to identify high-value data engineering, development, and AI opportunities.
• Oversee the development and operation of cloud-based data ingestion, data lake, and data warehouse solutions.
• Participate in the AI Center of Excellence (CoE) to define standards, patterns, and governance for data engineering, analytics, and AI solutions.
• Guide the team across the full lifecycle from requirements and architecture through development, testing, deployment, and support.
• Provide technical leadership for Snowflake-based data platforms and associated analytics layers.
• Lead CI/CD practices for data engineering using Azure DevOps and Agile methodologies; manage sprint planning and execution.
• Drive adoption of AI-enabled capabilities, including advanced analytics, machine learning models, and generative AI solutions where appropriate.
• Ensure data and AI solutions meet security, privacy, governance, and compliance standards.
• Monitor emerging data and AI trends and evaluate their applicability to the organization.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with business leaders, stakeholders, and cross-functional technology teams.

What You Bring to the Role:

• 5+ years of experience in a developer or data engineering role, with strong exposure to the software development lifecycle (SDLC) and data platform delivery
• 5+ years of experience leading and developing technical teams, with a background in cloud data platform design, development, and implementation
• 7+ years of experience with DW/BI and cloud data technologies (Snowflake strongly preferred)
• Strong expertise in data modeling, including conceptual, logical, and dimensional (star/snowflake) schemas
• Advanced SQL skills for analyzing and interpreting enterprise-scale datasets
• Deep understanding of relational databases, data warehousing patterns, and source system integration
• Understanding of generative AI use cases for analytics, data productivity, and business workflows (e.g., copilots, natural language querying, summarization)
• Experience delivering AI/ML-enabled data products, such as predictive models, forecasting, recommendations, anomaly detection, or intelligent automation
• Experience supporting self-service analytics, semantic layers, and data consumption tools
• Strong understanding of data governance concepts including data quality, metadata management, data catalogs, and master data management
• Skills in ELT/ETL and orchestration tools (e.g., Fivetran, Coalesce, dbt, Airflow or equivalents)
• Experience with Agile delivery methodologies
• Bachelor's degree in a related discipline or equivalent experience

What Makes You a Great Fit:

• You have demonstrated people leadership with a strong commitment to coaching, mentoring, and performance development
• You can manage multiple initiatives and priorities in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment
• You communicate clearly and effectively, with the ability to articulate technical concepts to business and executive audiences
• You collaborate well and can influence cross-functional teams without direct authority
• You bring hands-on technical curiosity and a continuous improvement mindset
• You are highly motivated, organized, detail-oriented, and outcome-focused
• You can communicate effectively through written documentation, presentations, and executive updates

Compensation and Benefits:

• In compliance with all states and cities requiring transparency of pay, the base compensation for this position ranges from $132,700 - $185,930. Note that salary may vary based on location, skills, and experience.
• This position is eligible for an annual discretionary bonus and vacation, holidays, health, dental, vision, mental health, and retirement plan participation, including an employer contribution of up to 7% into your 401(k).

Please note that salary ranges provided for this role on external job boards are salary estimates made by outside parties and may not be accurate.

Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion:

Diversity of people, cultures, opinions, and ideas makes us all stronger. From leadership commitment to employee buy-in, we know that creating an inclusive environment and providing opportunities for all employees to reach their full potential is a shared responsibility.

Wilbur-Ellis is a company you can be proud to call your employer

Wilbur-Ellis markets and distributes agricultural products, animal feed specialty chemicals, and food ingredients. A privately held and consistently profitable company, we employ more than 4,000 people throughout North America and Asia-Pacific.

Wilbur-Ellis is for and about people

Wilbur-Ellis has enjoyed over 100 years of success and growth, all thanks to our people. Our employees are both leaders and team players who thrive on creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and a dedication to quality work, our customers, and each other.

Wilbur-Ellis invests in the industry's best workforce

Wilbur-Ellis invests heavily in our employees by offering skill development and training, competitive compensation and benefits, and a tradition of promoting from within for a broad range of career opportunities. And we foster a supportive, people-first work environment.

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