Senior Data Engineer

What we do

Our mission at Vana is to shift the flow of data for a more prosperous world. We are building tools for the financialization of data, adding a native incentive layer to data to empower users to reclaim their data from siloed services. We have raised $20M from top crypto-native VCs and are a small team that got started out of MIT.

For more information, see our hiring FAQ.

The problem

Today’s data economy works like a serfdom. The value of user data is captured by large tech monopolies rather than by the individuals who created the data. Individuals know their data is being stolen but do not know what to do about it. At the same time, it is difficult for any company other than a large tech monopoly to apply machine learning as they don’t have access to the right data, which is usually siloed in the platform where it is generated. This leads to compounding wealth inequality as our economy has not been designed to accommodate the strange exponentials of data.

We’re building tools to fix this. The Vana Vault helps users own and multiply their predictive value. Users securely export personal data from siloed tech platforms, earn interest on their data capital, and access the future value of their data. They decide what parts of their digital self to share, who to share it with, and how much they want for it. Companies in the ecosystem, from Fortune 500 fashion companies to health tech startups, rent data directly from consumers to make predictions, creating new value while directly paying the users that created the data.

About the Role:

In the first few months as a senior data engineer, you could work on:

• Replacing our file storage from Google Cloud Storage to IPFS, and evaluate other decentralized options
• Improve the performance of our User Data Extractor that structures user data stored in ZIP files
• Extend our Vault Sharing API to support querying user data when the user is offline

Responsibilities:

• Architect and build backend storage services for sensitive user data
• Process sensitive user data to optimize query performance
• Structure user data from a variety of sources
• Work with other engineers to architect a web3, decentralized Vana Protocol

Minimum Qualifications:

• 3+ years experience as a software engineer working on data-intensive applications
• Designed and built a high-throughput ETL data pipeline in web2 or web3
• Postgres
• A Big Data Processing Framework like Apache Spark, Apache Kafka, or an Off-Chain Data Service
• IPFS
• Basic ability to write JavaScript

Preferred Qualifications:

• Web3 Data Storage + Processing Services (ex. TheGraph)
• Processing Highly Sensitive Data
• GDPR + CCPA Compliant Data Storage Practices
• Browser Technologies (Web APIs, Service Workers, SQLite, IndexedDB) Hasura

What we offer

We are building a foundational piece of the user-owned internet and would love for you to be a part of our team. We are a diverse group of driven, smart, and ambitious individuals, constantly challenging each other to grow, learn and iterate faster. We are experts across our fields and experienced entrepreneurs looking to scale our success in something deeply mission-driven.

For more information, see our Vana Hiring FAQ.

At Vana, we are big on collaboration and supporting each other to learn, grow, and excel in our individual pursuits. In addition to joining the Vana family, the successful candidate will receive:

• A competitive base salary
• A generous benefits package including health insurance, dental and vision
• Flexible work schedule
• Unlimited PTO