Data Engineer

Job description

ABOUT BASE Base is America’s next-generation power company. We’re rebuilding the foundation of modern civilization–electricity–by deploying a vast network of distributed batteries that is transforming today’s fragile, centralized grid into a resilient and abundant system. We are engineers, operators, and creatives solving some of the most complex, interdisciplinary challenges of our time. ABOUT THE ROLE We process data from across the entire company: firmware telemetry from thousands of deployed batteries, ERCOT market signals, manufacturing test benches, lab equipment, and grid operations. As a Software Engineer on the Data Infrastructure team, you will design, build, and operate the backend data infrastructure that powers how we understand and run our business. This is a backend engineering role with a deep data focus. You won't just model schemas; you'll own the pipelines, systems, and platforms that move and transform data at every layer of the stack. You'll work closely with software engineers, hardware teams, markets, and operations to understand what data they need and build the systems that reliably deliver it. What you'll do - Backend data systems: Build and maintain the core backend systems that ingest, transform, and serve data across the company -- from raw telemetry and operational events to clean, queryable datasets used in dashboards, models, and APIs. - Pipeline development and operations: Design, build, and operate reliable batch and streaming data pipelines with a focus on correctness, performance, and scalability. Own ETL processes end-to-end, from source system integration through to production delivery. - Data modeling and architecture: Build foundational schemas and canonical datasets that store high-volume time-series and event data in a way that stays searchable, performant, and scalable. Own core data models used across the company for analytics, reporting, and decision-making. - Diverse data integration: Manage ingestion across a wide range of data sources -- IoT telemetry, third-party APIs, operational systems, and internal services -- and build the infrastructure to synchronize and join them reliably. - Visualization and accessibility: Build and maintain platforms that let cross-functional teams query, explore, and visualize data without needing to understand the underlying infrastructure. - Data quality and governance: Ensure source-of-truth datasets are consistent, documented, and trustworthy. Improve observability so teams can use data with confidence. - Architecture evolution: Help define and evolve our data architecture, tooling, and best practices as we scale. You'll have real input into how we build -- not just what we build. What you'll bring - 5+ years in data engineering or backend engineering with a strong data focus - Deep experience building data infrastructure -- data warehouses, data lakes, streaming systems, or similar (e.g., BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, Databricks) - Strong coding skills in Python and SQL; experience with Go or another compiled language is a plus - Comfortable building and maintaining production pipelines using modern orchestration frameworks (e.g., Airflow, Prefect, dbt) - Experience integrating diverse data sources -- APIs, event streams, relational databases, flat files - Deep care about data quality, schema design, and building systems others can trust and extend - Familiarity with cloud infrastructure and infrastructure-as-code (e.g., GCP or AWS, Terraform) - Comfortable working in fast-moving environments with evolving requirements -- you write simple, reliable systems that solve real problems, not over-engineered ones About the team America's power grid is failing -- electricity costs have risen even as generation gets cheaper, and blackouts are becoming more common. We're building the software that fixes it. Our team owns the entire stack: firmware that controls batteries in thousands of homes, trading algorithms that buy and sell power in real-time markets, distributed commanding systems that orchestrate a growing fleet as a single grid asset, factory software for our Austin manufacturing line, and the product experience that makes it all invisible to homeowners. If you want to write code that physically moves electrons, ships hardware, and reshapes critical infrastructure, this is the job. Please note: Base is a startup, which means priorities shift and evolve quickly. Your role may expand or change based on the needs of the business at any given time, so the responsibilities listed may not be exhaustive. OUR VALUES - First Principles Thinking: Question assumptions. Principles > rules. - Operate at Base Pace: Focus on what matters, act quickly, and learn by doing. - Give & Get Feedback: Be direct, be humble, and maintain a growth mindset. - Everyone’s an Owner: Follow through on commitments and own results. - Strong Opinions, Loosely Held: Drive clarity and make calls with imperfect information. - Committed to the Mission: Rebuilding the grid is a big challenge. We work hard because we care deeply about the impact we’re creating. We work in-person. It’s not a 9-to-5. We are all-in. - Fun & Optimism Coexist with Grit: Collaboration and celebration coincide with the intensity of building real things. DO THE BEST WORK OF YOUR LIFE AT BASE.