Principal Data Engineer

rdccareers

Austin, Texas, United States · Austin · United States

Posted Apr 21, 2026

Other
Data Science and Analytics

Job description

Recognized as the No. 1 site trusted by real estate professionals, Realtor.com® has been at the forefront of online real estate for over 25 years, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights and expert guidance to find their perfect home. Through its robust suite of tools, Realtor.com® not only makes a significant impact on the real estate industry at large, but for consumers, navigating the biggest purchase they will make in their life, by providing a user experience that is easy to use, easy to understand, and most of all, easy to make decisions.

Join us on our mission to empower more people to find their way home by breaking barriers to entry, making the right connections, and building confidence through expert guidance.

We have an exciting opportunity for a motivated and energetic Principal Data Engineer to shape and lead our technical strategy, a role critical to driving the next phase of growth and innovation within our Data community. If you're a hands-on technical leader with deep experience in building modern real-time data platforms that prioritize data governance, security, compliance, and efficient data management for optimal performance and cost, we want to hear from you!

You’ll serve as a technical leader across multiple squads, driving a roadmap that aligns our Data strategy with business needs. You'll ensure teams consistently work towards their OKRs, focusing on scaling our technology to meet evolving demands.

Initially, you’ll focus on maturing our data pipeline’s paved path, ensuring we have best-in-class tooling that exceeds the expectations of both technical and business partners. As your impact grows, you’ll take on more forward-thinking responsibilities, such as designing advanced data architectures, collaborating with stakeholders to gain a deep understanding of the organization’s data needs, and ensuring a scalable, future-ready data infrastructure.

As we continue building on our modern data platform, you’ll make strategic recommendations and drive technical decision-making across empowered teams. As a key leader in our Data community, you’ll foster a collaborative and innovative environment, focusing on excellence in both people and products, driving outcomes aligned with our company's values and objectives. You'll have the opportunity to mentor talented engineers, cultivate continuous improvement, and contribute to our engineering initiatives.

Join us in shaping the future of our data platform and making a lasting impact on our company’s success.

Top Reasons to Apply

Architect the Future of Data at RDC
You won't just be maintaining systems; you will own the end-to-end architecture of our entire data landscape. As a Principal Data Engineer, you have a mandate to design and implement enterprise-grade data models and architectures that serve as the foundation for the company’s next phase of growth.
Bridge the Gap Between Tech and Business
Moving away from "siloed" engineering, this role is for a high-impact communicator. You will act as a strategic partner to the business, finding gaps and proposing proactive, reasonable solutions. Your influence will ensure that our technology isn't just "cool"—it’s pragmatic, fit-for-purpose, and drives real value.
High Autonomy, High Impact
If you are a self-driven leader who thrives on ownership, this is your stage. You will have the authority to make critical technical decisions across multiple squads, ensuring our data governance, security, and real-time capabilities are future-proofed for the enterprise scale

What We’re Looking For:

Technical Leadership & Data Architecture: Champion data best practices. Develop and design modern, scalable enterprise Data and AI architectures and models, including ingestion strategies. Balance existing systems with innovative solutions. A key part of your role will be establishing robust data governance, security, and compliance policies, and optimizing data for efficient management, analysis, and significant cost control. Demonstrate strong learning agility and leadership in data cost initiatives
Strategic Technical Decision-Making: Make strategic recommendations and drive critical technical decisions across empowered teams, influencing the technical direction and execution
Data Strategy & Roadmap Leadership: Drive the development and execution of a data roadmap, directly aligning data initiatives with core business objectives. You'll need to demonstrate a proven track record of successfully delivering on such strategies
Real-time Data Platform Expertise: Possess deep experience building modern, real-time data platforms, demonstrated through successful implementations
Data Fundamentals Mastery: Demonstrate expert knowledge of SQL, data structures, algorithms, and schema design best practices.
Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborate effectively with stakeholders to gain a deep understanding of their data needs.
Technical Problem-Solving: Dive into complex technical details to understand challenges, debug issues, and provide expert guidance to engineers
12+ years of architectural and design experience
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering or related field, Master's degree preferred

How We Work:

We balance creativity and innovation on a foundation of in-person collaboration. For most roles, our employees work three or more days in our Austin headquarters, where they have the opportunity to collaborate in-person, adding richness to our culture and knitting us closer together.

How We Reward You:

Realtor.com is committed to investing in the health and wellbeing of our employees and their families. Our benefits programs include, but are not limited to:

Inclusive and Competitive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage
Family forming benefits
13 Paid Holidays
Flexible Time Off
8 hours of paid Volunteer Time off
Immediate eligibility into Company 401(k) plan with 3.5% company match
Tuition Reimbursement program for degreed and non-degreed programs
1:1 personalized Financial Planning Sessions
Student Debt Retirement Savings Match program
Free snacks and refreshments in each office location

Do the best work of your life at Realtor.com®

Here, you’ll partner with a diverse team of experts as you use leading-edge tech to empower everyone to meet a crucial goal: finding their way home. And you’ll find your way home too. At Realtor.com®, you’ll bring your full self to work as you innovate with speed, serve our consumers, and champion your teammates. In return, we’ll provide you with a warm, welcoming, and inclusive culture; intellectual challenges; and the development opportunities you need to grow.

Diversity is important to us, therefore, Realtor.com® is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of age, color, national origin, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status, status as a disabled veteran and/or veteran of the Vietnam Era or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Realtor.com® will provide reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified disabled individuals.