Application Guide
How to Apply for Sr Director, Data Engineering & Analytics
at Arcadia
🏢 About Arcadia
Arcadia is uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology and climate action, using data to revolutionize clean energy access and decarbonize the grid. Unlike traditional tech companies, their mission directly combats climate change, offering the opportunity to build data infrastructure that powers tangible environmental impact. Working here means contributing to a purpose-driven organization where data engineering directly enables the transition to renewable energy.
About This Role
As Sr Director of Data Engineering & Analytics at Arcadia, you'll be responsible for architecting and scaling the entire data platform that powers clean energy decisions across millions of data points. This role is impactful because you'll establish the foundational data infrastructure that enables Arcadia to optimize energy grids, track decarbonization progress, and drive business strategy through analytics. You'll build the team and systems that turn billions of energy records into actionable insights for climate solutions.
💡 A Day in the Life
Your day would balance strategic leadership with technical oversight - morning might involve reviewing data platform performance metrics and meeting with analytics teams using Hex to understand their clean energy insights needs. Afternoons could focus on architectural decisions for scaling Snowflake infrastructure, while also interviewing candidates to build your team and collaborating with product leaders to align data investments with decarbonization roadmaps.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Arcadia Is Looking For
- A data leader with 12+ years experience who has personally architected Snowflake implementations at scale, with specific expertise in performance optimization for billion-record datasets in energy, utilities, or climate tech domains
- Hands-on practitioner with production experience across the modern data stack: dbt for transformation pipelines, Hex for collaborative analytics, and Fivetran/Airbyte for ingesting diverse energy data sources
- Strategic thinker who can align data platform investments with Arcadia's business goals of decarbonization and clean energy access, not just technical excellence
- Proven builder of data engineering organizations who can define team structure, establish governance standards, and create multi-year data infrastructure roadmaps
📝 Tips for Applying to Arcadia
Quantify your experience with Snowflake scale - mention specific dataset sizes (billions+ records), optimization techniques you've implemented, and how you've architected for growth in previous roles
Demonstrate your modern data stack expertise by describing actual production implementations using dbt, Hex, and Fivetran/Airbyte together, not just familiarity with individual tools
Connect your data leadership experience to climate or energy domains - highlight any work with utility data, energy analytics, emissions tracking, or environmental datasets
Show strategic alignment by researching Arcadia's specific clean energy products and suggesting how data infrastructure could support their decarbonization goals
Prepare examples of how you've built data organizations from scratch or scaled them significantly, including team structure decisions and governance frameworks you established
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
["Your experience architecting Snowflake platforms for billion-record datasets and how you'd optimize Arcadia's energy data infrastructure", 'Specific examples of building and scaling data engineering teams that align technical work with business objectives, particularly in mission-driven organizations', "How your modern data stack expertise (dbt, Hex, Fivetran/Airbyte) would accelerate Arcadia's analytics capabilities for clean energy decision-making", "Your vision for establishing data governance and multi-year strategy that supports Arcadia's climate mission while enabling business growth"]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Arcadia's specific clean energy products and services - understand their Community Solar, Arc platform, and how they work with utilities
- → The energy data landscape - types of data Arcadia likely handles (smart meter data, grid operations, renewable generation, customer usage)
- → Arcadia's recent funding rounds, partnerships, and growth trajectory to understand their scaling needs
- → Climate tech data challenges - research how other companies in this space handle data infrastructure for emissions tracking and decarbonization
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Focusing only on technical architecture without connecting to Arcadia's business goals of decarbonization and clean energy access
- Generic data leadership experience without specific examples of building organizations from scratch or scaling teams rapidly
- Mentioning Snowflake experience without demonstrating deep expertise in performance optimization and architecting for billion-record scale
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!