Sr. Data & Software Engineer

About Ovative Group:

Ovative Group is an independent, full-funnel media, measurement, and creative firm transforming how brands grow. We partner with leading names like American Eagle, Best Buy, Domino’s, The Home Depot, Polaris, and UnitedHealth Group to build smarter media and measurement programs that drive real, profitable growth. 

We don’t just track performance—we redefine it. Powered by our proprietary intelligence platform, EMRge, and our holistic metric Enterprise Marketing Return (EMR), we help brands connect revenue, customer, and brand outcomes into one clear picture of success. Our approach to full-funnel strategy, buying, and measurement delivers results that matter—and it’s getting noticed. Our work has been recognized by Digiday, Google, USA Today, Inc. 5000, and Search Engine Land.

About the Role:

Ovative's client delivery team gets clients live on EMRge and keeps their experience strong after launch. We're hiring a Sr. Data & Software Engineer to be one of the team's strongest builders. Junior engineers handle routine client work. You take on the implementations that are too complex or risky to hand off, and clients depend on what you ship. 

You work within the technical strategy set by the team's lead and carry out the hardest parts of it. You have a real voice in how things get built, and you sometimes work directly with Product teams when a rollout shows that a platform feature is missing or needs to change. You also build proofs of concept when a client or internal team wants to test an idea. 

Responsibilities of a Sr. Data & Software Engineer:

• Build and deliver the most complex client implementations, from data ingestion through go-live. 

• Develop client integrations across APIs, warehouses, and third-party data sources. 

• Build, run, and troubleshoot the Dagster pipelines and Databricks workloads that clients rely on. 

• Resolve difficult production issues quickly and document what caused them. 

• Improve the speed, reliability, and usability of the client-facing platform through fixes and tooling in your area. 

• Automate repeated steps in your own client work and contribute tools back to the team. 

• Build proofs of concept requested by the team lead or a client team, and share what you learned, whether or not the idea moves toward a product. 

• Give input on technical direction, and work with Product teams when a feature gap slows a rollout by explaining the problem and what's needed. 

• Review code from junior engineers and answer their questions as they come up. 

• Write clear technical documentation and client-ready explanations of what you built. 

• Use AI-assisted development daily to move faster and keep quality high. 

Requirements:

• 5+ years of data and software engineering experience

• Strong SQL, Python, and command-line skills

• Experience building and operating ETL/ELT pipelines for large datasets
• Experience with a major cloud platform, ideally GCP or Azure

• Hands-on experience building with AI and LLM APIs

• Clear written and verbal communication with product partners and clients

Preferred:

• Experience with Databricks and Dagster

• LLM orchestration in production or near-production, including tools, agents, and workflows

• Experience with marketing, analytics, or customer data

• API-based data integration across multiple sources

• Familiarity with vector databases, embeddings, and retrieval

• Experience on a client delivery, implementation, or professional services team

Pay Transparency: 

At Ovative, we offer a transparent view into three core components of the total compensation package: Base Salary, Annual Bonus, and Benefits.

For our Manager positions, including the position of Sr. Data & Software Engineer, our compensation range is from $90,000 to $132,000 on an annualized basis, which is inclusive of an annual bonus opportunity of 20% of base salary. 

Working at Ovative Group:

We provide strong, competitive, holistic benefits that understand the importance of your life inside and out of work. 

At Ovative, culture isn’t a buzzword—it’s the reason we’ve been named a Top Workplace for ten years running. We lead with trust, transparency, and a commitment to doing the hard work others avoid.

We offer flexibility. You'll work from our Minneapolis, Chicago, or New York office on set days each week, and an option to work remote on others.

Our open floor plan reflects our open communication and flat structure—where interns collaborate with VPs, analysts partner with senior leaders, and our CEO engages with every team member. Together, we create an environment where smart, driven people can do their best work and support one another in the process. 

We’re equally committed to inclusion and belonging. Ovative fosters a workplace where everyone can participate and thrive—regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression or other protected class status. Our benefits and policies reflect that commitment, from inclusive medical leave coverage for same-sex spouses to equitable care and support for all families. 

Benefits: 

We strive to hire and retain the best talent by offering fair, competitive compensation, a meaningful bonus program, and excellent health coverage. When the company performs well, we all benefit. 

Some tangible benefits and amenities we enjoy:

• Access to all office spaces in MSP, NYC, and CHI  

• Frequent, paid travel to our Minneapolis headquarters for company events, team events, and in-person collaboration with teams

• Generous paid vacation policy  

• 401k match program  

• Top-notch health insurance options, inclusive of same sex partners 

• Family formation benefits including reimbursement options for fertility, pregnancy, and parenting needs 

• Monthly stipend for your mobile phone and data plan  

• Sabbatical program  

• Charitable giving via our time and a financial match program  

• Shenanigan’s Day  

Additional information can be found at Ovative's Career Page.

The details of the benefits are covered by applicable plan documents for group benefits and by company policies where a plan document does not apply.

Working at Ovative won’t be easy—but if you like challenging, hard work, driving results, and being surrounded by the best talent, it has the potential to be the most rewarding job you’ll ever have. If you think you can make us better, we want to hear from you! 

EEO & Accessibility: 

Ovative is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to a respectful, inclusive workplace for all. Applicants receive consideration without regard to legally protected characteristics (e.g., color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity/, gender expression, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, marital/ status, familial status, military or veteran’s status, genetic information, status with regard to public assistance, and any other status protected under applicable law). 

We provide reasonable accommodations consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act and applicable state law to qualified applicants and employees with disability, unless doing so would create an undue hardship.

If you need assistance or accommodation at any stage of the application or interview process due to a disability, please contact us at [email protected]. 

Application Details and Process:

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer on a full-time basis, without current or future need for visa sponsorship. Ovative is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa for this position. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification documentation upon hire.

Open Until Filled or Otherwise Withdrawn:

We encourage interested candidates to apply early. The position will remain open for at least 10 business days from the first day of posting. After this time, if the position has not been filled, the posting will remain open until the position is filled, or until the posting is otherwise closed or withdrawn for business reasons.