Data Engineer

Ibotta•Denver, CO

6d•$110,000 - $126,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Ibotta is seeking a software-focused Data Engineer to join their Data Platform Organization and contribute to the newly formed Data Intelligence Squad. The role focuses on making Ibotta's data AI-ready by working on data contracts, metadata standards, compliance tooling, and pipelines for an AI readiness scoring system. The position will also involve LLM application development and semantic layer work as the team evolves. The role requires a motivated individual who values clean, well-governed data in an AI-driven environment. This is a hybrid position located in Denver, Colorado, requiring three days in the office per week. Candidates must live in the United States, and relocation assistance is available for those moving to Denver.

Requirements

3+ years of software engineering experience with a focus on data engineering, analytics engineering, or backend development.
Proficiency in Python and SQL.
Knowledge of Databricks.
Familiarity with medallion architecture (bronze/silver/gold) or similar layered data design patterns.
Experience implementing semantic layers to ensure AI agents utilize governed, consistent metric definitions rather than querying raw tables directly.
Understanding of data governance concepts (metadata standards, data ownership, schema enforcement, access control).
Experience keeping data assets clean and well-documented.
Experience with schema validation, data freshness monitoring, data observability tooling, or similar quality practices.
Experience using and/or building LLMs, NQLs, and other AI-related toolings, especially in relation to data analytics.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

Nice To Haves

Proficiency in AI-assisted coding platforms (Claude, Copilot, Cursor, etc.).
Experience with data catalog, metadata management, or data transformation tooling.
Exposure to data privacy, classification, or compliance requirements in a data context.
Familiarity with configuration-as-code or automated deployment workflows.
Experience with data observability or data quality monitoring.
Agile development experience.

Responsibilities

Implement and maintain data contract specifications that codify table ownership, schema expectations, and quality thresholds.
Enforce standards through automated validation in the deployment pipeline.
Collaborate with data owners to improve metadata coverage across the team's data estate.
Contribute to an automated scoring pipeline that evaluates data assets on their readiness for AI and analytical use.
Build and maintain the jobs that collect quality signals and surface scores to data teams.
Support the discovery and classification of sensitive data across the data estate.
Maintain tagging and lineage automation frameworks.
Help translate data access and privacy policies into practical guardrails in partnership with the platform team.
Monitor AI usage across the company, defining new avenues for AI assistance.
Build the systems that make people actually trust what the AI tells them about our data, such as query accuracy checks, guardrails that keep AI tools on certified data, and clear attribution so users can see where an answer came from.
Ensure monitoring is in place to catch problems before they erode confidence.
Build and maintain the semantic framework that make data assets more legible to both people and AI systems, adding descriptions, context, and query guidance that improve the accuracy of natural language queries.
Work with analysts and domain experts to capture and formalize business definitions.
Proactively leverage AI tools (e.g., Claude, Databricks Genie) to accelerate development, maintain code quality, and explore new approaches to data engineering problems.
Partner with adjacent teams to onboard data assets into the AI-ready platform.
Document processes and contribute to the team's shared knowledge base.
Embrace and uphold Ibotta's Core Values: Integrity, Boldness, Ownership, Teamwork, Transparency, and A good idea can come from anywhere.