Head of Data Platform Engineering

At lastminute.com, we live for the holidays. We are the European Travel-Tech leader in Dynamic Holiday Packages. With technology, we turn spontaneous thoughts into meaningful experiences, helping people travel the world.

We are looking for a Head of Data Platform Engineering to join our company of around 1,700 people worldwide to help us power up the traveller's journey for millions of holidaymakers. If you're passionate about building scalable, modern data platforms and leading teams to deliver data as a strategic asset, keep reading, as you might be the perfect fit for this job. 

The job in brief: 

Job Title -  Head of Data Platform Engineering 

Working model -  hybrid from Switzerland

Team -  you will join the Data Warehouse team within the Data Platform Engineering area inside the Data department.

Level - Managerial and Tech leading with Accountable for managing people, setting direction and deploying resources and technical knowledge, reporting to Chief Data Officer

Location -  Chiasso 

Contract -  Permanent full-time (EUR 36 h/week)

What your impact will be:

Build and evolve our data platform

• Design and implement our enterprise data infrastructure across cloud and hybrid environments 

• Define reference architectures for modern data systems: data lakehouses, streaming pipelines, APIs, and microservices

• Ensure platform reliability, security, data quality, and regulatory compliance

• Oversee the full data lifecycle: ingestion, storage, processing, orchestration, and distribution

Lead and develop your team

• Manage and mentor a team of Data Engineers and Data Architects 

• Set technical direction, prioritize work, and manage performance

• Build a culture of collaboration, quality, and continuous learning

• Attract and retain top data talent

Drive strategic impact

• Partner with the CDO to shape the organization's data strategy

• Translate business needs into scalable, efficient technical solutions

• Collaborate with Data, Technology, and business stakeholders to align on priorities

• Continuously optimize platform performance, costs, and capabilities while evaluating emerging technologies

Your expertise

Experience and leadership

• 5+ years in data engineering, platform engineering, or data architecture roles

• 3+ years leading technical teams, with proven ability to manage, mentor, and grow engineers

• Track record of delivering enterprise-scale data platforms in production environments

• Experience working closely with senior leadership and translating strategy into execution

Technical depth

• Strong expertise in modern data architectures: data lakehouses, event-driven systems, streaming platforms

• Hands-on experience with cloud data platforms and hybrid environments

• Deep knowledge of data technologies: SQL and NoSQL databases, streaming systems, orchestration tools

• Proficiency with Python, SQL, and modern data tooling 

Strategic mindset

• Ability to balance technical excellence with business value

• Strong collaboration and stakeholder management skills

• Comfortable with ambiguity and driving clarity in complex environments

Nice to Have

• Previous experience in travelling&tech oriented environments

• Certifications in cloud platforms

Perks of working with us:
How we work together:
- An inclusive, friendly, and international environment (you’ll be working with colleagues from +10
countries and over 48 nationalities)
How we learn together:
- Professional and managerial skills development training paths, access to e-learning platforms such as
O’reilly, Udemy, Coursera (depending on the department), and to our internal platform offering
bespoke training content
Wish you were here? We do, too!

Selection process steps*:

• HR interview (10-30 minutes)
• 1st interview (Manager + HRBP): soft skills + technical knowledge
• 2nd interview (Manager + HRBP + Director)
• Offer extended
• (*Please note the process can slightly vary. The recruiter in charge will share more details when setting up the interview)

Our commitment to celebrate diversity and generate belonging
At the heart of our culture is a commitment to inclusion across race, gender, age, sexual orientation,
religion, gender identity or expression, and accessibility. We strongly believe in an equal opportunity
space, which is welcoming and celebrates the uniqueness of everyone who works here. We value
different lived experiences and respect viewpoints, as we know unicity drives innovation. We want to
make sure our people reflect the communities across the world we help travel.

Eligibility by criteria:
By submitting your information and application, you confirm that you are legally authorised to work in
the country of employment and that you do not require visa sponsorship to obtain employment visa
status.