Backend AI-Forward Data Engineer

Greystar•Columbia, SC

44d•$100,000 - $125,000•Remote

About The Position

Greystar is building the data foundation that will power the most AI-advanced operator in global multifamily real estate. We’re seeking a Backend AI-Forward Data Engineer to design, build, and operate the core data infrastructure that enables AI-powered products, analytics, and decision-making across a multi-billion dollar global portfolio. This role sits at the intersection of data engineering and applied AI — you’ll build the pipelines, platforms, and interfaces that make Greystar’s proprietary data accessible, trustworthy, and AI-ready. You will work across our Data Management Platform (DMP), MCP integrations, and AI-enabled analytics tools that serve every business unit. Our team includes engineers, designers, and product leaders with experience from Google, Microsoft, Airbnb, Strava, Amazon, and more.

Requirements

5+ years of professional data engineering experience building and operating production data platforms.
Deep expertise with Databricks, Spark, or similar distributed data processing frameworks.
Strong SQL skills and experience with data modeling for both analytical (star schema, data vault) and AI/ML workloads.
Deep experience with AI coding tools like Cursor, Codex, Claude Code, etc.
Proficiency in Python; experience with orchestration tools (Airflow, Dagster, or Databricks Workflows).
Experience with cloud data platforms (ADLS, Synapse, Azure ML; AWS/GCP acceptable).
Experience building data infrastructure that supports ML workflows: feature stores, training pipelines, embedding generation, and model serving.
Familiarity with LLM integration patterns including RAG architectures, vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, or similar), and MCP or tool-use frameworks.
Understanding of how AI/ML models consume data and the engineering requirements for reliable, low-latency AI data serving.
Awareness of AI governance considerations: data provenance, bias detection, and responsible AI data practices.
AI-first mindset — you leverage AI tools in your own workflow and think about how data infrastructure should evolve as AI capabilities advance.
Strong ownership mentality; you care about data quality as a product, not just a pipeline.
Clear communicator; able to explain data architecture decisions to product managers, analysts, and business stakeholders.
Collaborative approach across engineering, product, analytics, and business teams.
Databricks, Spark, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog.
Python, SQL, dbt or similar transformation frameworks.
Azure cloud services (ADLS, Azure ML, Synapse) or equivalent.
Git, CI/CD, infrastructure as code (Terraform or similar).
Familiarity with data catalog, lineage, and observability tools (Monte Carlo, Great Expectations, or similar).

Nice To Haves

Experience in real estate, property management, financial services, or asset management is a strong plus.
Familiarity with multi-source data environments where data arrives in heterogeneous formats with varying quality.
Experience building data products that serve multiple business units with different access and governance requirements.
We’ll want to see something you built on the side as a passion project.

Responsibilities

Build and Scale AI-Ready Data Infrastructure
Enable AI and MCP Integrations
Drive Data Governance and Trust

Benefits

Competitive Medical, Dental, Vision, and Disability & Life insurance benefits.
Low (free basic) employee Medical costs for employee-only coverage; costs discounted after 3 and 5 years of service.
Generous Paid Time off. All new hires start with 15 days of vacation, 4 personal days, 10 sick days, and 11 paid holidays. Plus your birthday off after 1 year of service!
Additional vacation accrued with tenure.
For onsite team members, onsite housing discount at Greystar-managed communities are available subject to discount and unit availability.
6-Week Paid Sabbatical after 10 years of service (and every 5 years thereafter).
401(k) with Company Match up to 6% of pay after 6 months of service.
Paid Parental Leave and lifetime Fertility Benefit reimbursement up to $10,000 (includes adoption or surrogacy).
Employee Assistance Program.
Critical Illness, Accident, Hospital Indemnity, Pet Insurance and Legal Plans.
Charitable giving program and benefits.