diff --git a/src/main/scala/models/settings/RetrySettings.scala b/src/main/scala/models/settings/RetrySettings.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1118ffb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/scala/models/settings/RetrySettings.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package com.sneaksanddata.arcane.framework
+package models.settings
+
+import zio.Schedule
+
+import java.time.Duration
+
+
+enum RetryPolicyType:
+  case ExponentialBackoff
+  case None
+
+trait RetrySettings:
+  val policyType: RetryPolicyType
+
+  val initialDurationSeconds: Int
+  val retryCount: Int
+
+
+object RetrySettings:
+  type ScheduleType = Schedule.WithState[(Long, Long), Any, Any, (zio.Duration, Long)]
+  
+  extension (settings: RetrySettings)
+    def toSchedule: Option[ScheduleType] = settings.policyType match
+      case RetryPolicyType.ExponentialBackoff => Some(Schedule.exponential(Duration.ofSeconds(settings.initialDurationSeconds)) && Schedule.recurs(settings.initialDurationSeconds))
+      case RetryPolicyType.None => None
+
diff --git a/src/main/scala/models/settings/StagingDataSettings.scala b/src/main/scala/models/settings/StagingDataSettings.scala
index 2daeab6d..9563eb7d 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/models/settings/StagingDataSettings.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/models/settings/StagingDataSettings.scala
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
 import java.util.UUID
 
 trait StagingDataSettings:
-  protected val stagingTablePrefix: String
+  val stagingTablePrefix: String
+  val retryPolicy: RetrySettings
   
   def newStagingTableName: String =
     val formatter: DateTimeFormatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy_MM_dd_HH_mm_ss")
diff --git a/src/main/scala/services/lakehouse/IcebergS3CatalogWriter.scala b/src/main/scala/services/lakehouse/IcebergS3CatalogWriter.scala
index b235f70d..666df1e8 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/services/lakehouse/IcebergS3CatalogWriter.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/services/lakehouse/IcebergS3CatalogWriter.scala
@@ -115,11 +115,13 @@ object IcebergS3CatalogWriter:
   /**
    * The ZLayer that creates the LazyOutputDataProcessor.
    */
-  val layer: ZLayer[IcebergCatalogSettings, Nothing, CatalogWriter[RESTCatalog, Table, Schema]] =
+  val layer: ZLayer[IcebergCatalogSettings, Throwable, IcebergS3CatalogWriter] =
     ZLayer {
       for
         settings <- ZIO.service[IcebergCatalogSettings]
-      yield IcebergS3CatalogWriter(settings)
+        icebergS3CatalogWriterBuilder = IcebergS3CatalogWriter(settings)
+        writer <- ZIO.attemptBlocking(icebergS3CatalogWriterBuilder.initialize())
+      yield writer
     }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/main/scala/services/streaming/processors/transformers/StagingProcessor.scala b/src/main/scala/services/streaming/processors/transformers/StagingProcessor.scala
index 98ae6c58..cd555b70 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/services/streaming/processors/transformers/StagingProcessor.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/services/streaming/processors/transformers/StagingProcessor.scala
@@ -11,8 +11,10 @@ import services.lakehouse.given_Conversion_ArcaneSchema_Schema
 import services.streaming.base.{MetadataEnrichedRowStreamElement, RowGroupTransformer, StagedBatchProcessor}
 import services.streaming.processors.transformers.StagingProcessor.toStagedBatch
 
+import com.sneaksanddata.arcane.framework.models.settings.RetryPolicyType.ExponentialBackoff
 import org.apache.iceberg.rest.RESTCatalog
 import org.apache.iceberg.{Schema, Table}
+import zio.Cause.Fail
 import zio.stream.ZPipeline
 import zio.{Chunk, Schedule, Task, ZIO, ZLayer}
 
@@ -46,9 +48,16 @@ class StagingProcessor(stagingDataSettings: StagingDataSettings,
       .map { case ((batches, others), index) => toInFlightBatch(batches, index, others) }
 
   private def writeDataRows(rows: Chunk[DataRow], arcaneSchema: ArcaneSchema): Task[StagedVersionedBatch & MergeableBatch & ArchiveableBatch] =
-    val tableWriterEffect = zlog("Attempting to write data to staging table") *> catalogWriter.write(rows, stagingDataSettings.newStagingTableName, arcaneSchema)
+    val tableWriterEffect = zlog("Attempting to write data to staging table") *>
+      catalogWriter
+        .write(rows, stagingDataSettings.newStagingTableName, arcaneSchema)
+        .tapErrorCause(e => zlog("Failed to write data to staging table", e))
+
+    val retryEffect = stagingDataSettings.retryPolicy.toSchedule match
+      case Some(schedule) => tableWriterEffect.retry(schedule)
+      case None => tableWriterEffect
     for
-      table <- tableWriterEffect.retry(retryPolicy)
+      table <- retryEffect
       batch = table.toStagedBatch(icebergCatalogSettings.namespace,
         icebergCatalogSettings.warehouse,
         arcaneSchema,
diff --git a/src/test/scala/utils/TestStagingDataSettings.scala b/src/test/scala/utils/TestStagingDataSettings.scala
index e486453a..c5f4e2f7 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/utils/TestStagingDataSettings.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/utils/TestStagingDataSettings.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 package com.sneaksanddata.arcane.framework
 package utils
-import models.settings.StagingDataSettings
+import models.settings.{RetryPolicyType, RetrySettings, StagingDataSettings}
 
 object TestStagingDataSettings extends StagingDataSettings:
   override val stagingTablePrefix = "staging_"
+  override val retryPolicy: RetrySettings = new RetrySettings:
+    override val policyType: RetryPolicyType = RetryPolicyType.None
+    override val initialDurationSeconds: Int = 0
+    override val retryCount: Int = 0