Principal Software Developer - Data

Redfin; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 234,000 - 286,000; Full time

Job summary

Redfin is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to serve as the chief architect for our enterprise data platform. You will design a unified Lakehouse on Snowflake and AWS, enabling self-serve access for data scientists and AI agents while ensuring security and scalability.

Lead cross-team architecture, mentor staff, and define data governance, RBAC, and ELT standards using dbt, PySpark, and Terraform. Join a team of 60+ engineers shaping Redfin's data-driven future.

Qualifications

• 12+ years software/data engineering experience.
• 5+ years operating at Staff/Principal/Lead Architect level.
• AWS S3/IAM/EKS and Snowflake expertise.
• Experience with Apache Iceberg open table formats.
• Data ingestion/ELT with modern pipelines (Fivetran, Airbyte) and streaming (Kafka, Kinesis).
• Data modeling: Star Schema and dimensional modeling.
• Proficient in SQL, Python, and distributed compute (Spark/Ray).
• RBAC and cross-domain security in regulated environments.
• CI/CD with Terraform and notable tooling (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions).

Responsibilities

• Design and scale a unified Data Lakehouse on Snowflake/AWS.
• Architect resilient data ingestion frameworks for batch and streaming.
• Define a multi-tenant data mesh with RBAC policies.
• Lead deployment of a universal semantic layer for consistent metrics across tools and AI agents.
• Standardize ELT patterns using dbt, PySpark and Snowpark.
• Drive Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) with Terraform.
• Mentor Staff and Senior ICs; lead architecture reviews and establish best practices.
• Collaborate with Principal Architects to ensure interoperable enterprise architecture.

Skills

Software engineering

Staff/Lead Architect

AWS

Snowflake

Apache Iceberg

ETL/ELT

Kafka / Kinesis

RBAC security

Terraform

Tools

dbt

PySpark

Snowpark

Job description

Redfin is a technology-driven real estate company with the country's most-visited real estate brokerage website. As part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), Redfin is creating an integrated homeownership platform from search to close to make the dream of homeownership more affordable and accessible for everyone. Redfin’s clients can see homes first with on-demand tours, easily apply for a home loan with Rocket Mortgage, and save thousands in fees while working with a top local agent.

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to serve as the chief architect and technical north star for our enterprise data organization. In this role, you will design and scale a unified data platform that serves as the central nervous system for the entire company.

You will lead the transition to a modern, multi-tenant Data Lakehouse, abstracting away infrastructure complexity for our data engineers while democratizing high-performance, self-serve access for data scientists, machine learning engineers, and AI agents. You will partner with engineering directors and mentor Staff-level ICs to ensure our architecture scales elegantly securely across domain boundaries.

About The Role

• Lakehouse Architecture & Strategy: Design and implement a unified, open-format Data Lakehouse utilizing a Snowflake-managed Apache Iceberg architecture on AWS S3, transitioning the organization away from disjointed legacy data silos.
• Enterprise Data Ingestion: Architect and scale resilient, high-throughput ingestion frameworks. Design batch, micro-batch, and real-time streaming patterns to seamlessly extract data from diverse transactional databases, third-party APIs, and event logs, landing it reliably into our Bronze storage tier.
• Multi-Tenant Data Mesh Design: Architect a sovereign, domain-oriented data mesh within a single Snowflake environment. Implement delegated domain administration and sophisticated RBAC/Row-Access Policies to ensure strict infosec compliance without impeding cross-domain data sharing.
• Semantic Layer & AI Readiness: Spearhead the deployment of a Universal Semantic Layer on top of our Gold-tier data. Ensure business logic is defined as code to guarantee metric consistency across BI tools, data apps, and downstream LLM/AI agents.
• Data Flow & Pipeline Engineering: Define the technical standards for our Medallion (Bronze, Silver, Gold) data flow. Standardize modern ELT patterns utilizing dbt, PySpark, and Snowpark to handle petabyte-scale transformations efficiently.
• Infrastructure & Automation: Drive a rigorous Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) culture using Terraform for all platform provisioning, networking, and security configurations.
• Technical Leadership: Act as the ultimate technical escalation point for an organization of 60+ engineers. Mentor Staff and Senior Individual Contributors, lead architecture design reviews, and establish engineering best practices.
• Cross-Organization Collaboration: Act as the primary technical liaison to Principal Architects across the broader organization. Define robust integration contracts and connection points between upstream transactional systems, the data platform, and downstream product applications, ensuring a unified, highly interoperable enterprise architecture.

About You

Required Qualifications

• Experience: 12+ years of software/data engineering experience, with at least 5+ years operating at a Staff, Principal, or Lead Architect level.
• Cloud & Lakehouse Expertise: Deep, hands-on architectural experience with AWS (S3, IAM, EKS) and Snowflake. Proven experience implementing open table formats, specifically Apache Iceberg.
• Data Ingestion & ELT: Deep expertise with modern data movement pipelines (e.g., Fivetran, Airbyte) and high-velocity event-streaming platforms (e.g., Apache Kafka, AWS Kinesis, Snowpipe). Experience migrating legacy ETL platforms to modern, compute-optimized ELT architectures is highly preferred.
• Data Modeling: Expert understanding of modern data modeling techniques, including Star Schema design for highly optimized analytical reads and dimensional modeling for enterprise semantic layers.
• Processing Frameworks: Advanced proficiency in SQL, Python, and distributed compute engines (Spark, Ray, or native Snowflake compute).
• Data Governance & Security: Extensive experience designing multi-tenant data architectures, implementing complex Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), and managing cross-domain security policies in highly regulated environments.
• CI/CD & IaC: Mastery of CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions) and infrastructure provisioning tools (Terraform).

The Ideal Candidate Will Also Have

• A strong perspective on the evolving "Modern Data Stack" and the tradeoffs between tight vendor coupling versus open-source flexibility.
• Experience integrating data platforms directly with Machine Learning pipelines and AI workflows.
• A proven track record of influencing engineering culture and driving alignment across multiple disparate engineering squads.

What You’ll Get

• Our team members fuel our strategy, innovation and growth, so we ensure the health and well-being of not just you, but your family, too! We go above and beyond to give you the support you need on an individual level and offer all sorts of ways to help you live your best life. We are proud to offer eligible team members perks and health benefits that will help you have peace of mind. Simply put: We’ve got your back. Check out our full list of Benefits and Perks.

On-Call Expectations

This role may include participation in an on-call rotation to support production systems and ensure service reliability. On-call responsibilities may include coverage during nights and weekends. If applicable, frequency and scheduling will be determined by team needs and communicated accordingly.

About Us

Redfin is a technology-driven real estate company with the country's most-visited real estate brokerage website. As part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), Redfin is creating an integrated homeownership platform from search to close to make the dream of homeownership more affordable and accessible for everyone. Redfin’s clients can see homes first with on-demand tours, easily apply for a home loan with Rocket Mortgage, and save thousands in fees while working with a top local agent.

Decisions related to employment are not based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, military or veteran status or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. The company provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodations in completing the application and/or participating in the application process should contact a member of the Human Resources team, at [e-mail].

The compensation information below is provided in compliance with all applicable job posting disclosure requirements. The compensation for this position is $234,000.00-$286,000.00. The position may also be eligible for an annual bonus, incentives, and other employment-related benefits including, but not limited to, medical, dental, and vision benefits, 401K retirement plan, and paid-time off. More information regarding these benefits and others can be found here. The information regarding compensation and other benefits included in this paragraph is the company’s current, good faith estimate at the time of posting. [Compensation and benefits are subject to modification from time to time as the Company, in its sole and exclusive discretion, deems appropriate.] The Company may determine during its future reviews of the proposed compensation and benefits provided for this position, that the compensation and benefits for such position should be reduced. In no event will the Company reduce the compensation for the position to a level below the applicable jurisdictional minimum wage rate for the position. Los Angeles County and San Francisco Candidates only: qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment per the Fair Chance Ordinance and the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.