Lead Data Engineer

Walker & Dunlop is a provider of capital and technology solutions for the commercial real estate industry. The company is seeking a Lead Data Engineer to provide technical leadership for its enterprise data platform, define architecture and engineering standards, and modernize data systems. The role partners with distributed engineering teams, leads technical design and readiness reviews, mentors engineers, and supports scalable, reliable, and governed data capabilities.

Responsibilities:

• Define and maintain architectural standards for the enterprise data platform, including data modeling, pipeline design, orchestration, and observability practices
• Lead the Technical Design Document (TDD) process, including authoring, reviewing, and approving technical designs for complex initiatives
• Conduct design reviews and production readiness reviews across Data Engineering teams
• Guide the evolution of the core data platform stack, including Redshift, Airflow, Kafka, SQL Server, and Aurora PostgreSQL
• Establish and promote engineering standards related to code quality, testing, CI/CD, documentation, and release management
• Identify and help address technical debt, platform fragmentation, scalability concerns, and reliability improvements
• Partner with Engineering Managers and teams on technical planning, solution design, and implementation approaches
• Mentor and coach engineers on architecture, engineering best practices, and technical leadership skills
• Serve as a technical point of contact for cross-functional stakeholders on platform capabilities, integrations, and data architecture patterns
• Support evaluation and adoption of new tools, frameworks, and technologies related to data engineering, transformation, quality, and governance
• Perform other duties as assigned

Requirements:

• 8+ years of experience in data engineering, including experience serving as a technical lead or senior individual contributor across multiple teams or initiatives
• Strong experience building and supporting cloud-native data platforms within AWS environments
• Experience with modern data engineering tools and technologies including Airflow, Kafka, Redshift, PostgreSQL, or similar platforms
• Experience implementing CI/CD practices, automated testing, and production support processes for data pipelines and platforms
• Deep expertise in SQL, data modeling, and modern data engineering practices
• Strong understanding of scalable data platform architecture, orchestration, and operational reliability
• Familiarity with data governance, lineage, data quality, and data contract concepts
• Experience writing and reviewing technical design documentation and leading technical decision-making processes
• Strong understanding of monitoring, observability, and platform health practices for enterprise data systems
• Ability to lead technical initiatives and influence engineering standards across distributed teams
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
• Ability to show ownership of your work, take on challenges and acknowledge growth opportunities, and demonstrate patience when learning new processes
• Courtesy, respect, and thoughtfulness in teaming with colleagues and other stakeholders
• Bachelor's degree preferred, preferably in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Familiarity with enterprise data warehouse technologies and data transformation frameworks preferred
• Commercial real estate, financial services, or regulated industry experience preferred