Principal Engineer, Data

REA GROUP • Richmond, VA

66d • Hybrid

About The Position

Make an impact as a technical leader in an exciting data focused space! Join a collaborative, supportive team and solve interesting problems! This is a permanent full-time role based in Richmond. With bold and ambitious goals, REA Group is changing the way the world experiences property. Our people are the key to our success, and we are proud to have been named in Australia's 'Top 5' Best Workplaces two years in a row, as well as being recognised as a Best Workplace for Women. The Principal Engineer, Data will join the FS Engineering Leadership Team within our Product & Technology team located in our Financial Services business. Our purpose is to offer home finance and other financial services to those using mortgagechoice.com.au & realestate.com.au for their property search. We are looking for an experienced data obsessed Principal Engineer to re-imagine our data foundations for the next stage of growth.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in the data engineering space, with a focus on data pipelines, analytics, data services or related fields.
• Experience in the mortgage or financial services industry is a plus.
• Practical data related AI capability & similarly HubSpot/CRM design/build would be beneficial.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Business, or a related field. A master's degree is a plus.
• Expertise in building data intensive applications and large-scale distributed systems.
• Deep understanding of modern data architectures, batch and stream processing pipelines, and event-driven systems leveraging Kafka and Pub/Sub.
• Experienced in designing and optimising ETL workflows, data warehousing, and multi cloud architecture (AWS and GCP).
• Strong analytical, creative and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively convey complex concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• A deep understanding of customer needs and a passion for creating data products that drive customer value.
• Demonstrated growth mindset.
• Work productively in a fast paced and agile environment.

Responsibilities

• Actively participate in defining a clear data architecture and engineering strategy for your area by collaborating with Architects, Directors of Engineering, Engineering Managers, and Data Governance stakeholders.
• Partner with Engineering Managers to ensure all data-related technical solutions are delivered in alignment with the agreed strategy, architectural principles, and compliance obligations.
• Develop and lead actionable plans to improve the health, resilience, and integrity of data pipelines and platforms across the domain.
• Promote exploration and assessment of emerging data technologies, practices, and patterns to maintain REA's strength in data architecture and engineering.
• Design high-quality, cross-squad, data-centric solutions in collaboration with a diverse set of stakeholders, ensuring interoperability across systems in the value chain.
• Foster a connected internal data engineering and architecture community, encouraging knowledge-sharing, technical excellence, and alignment across squads.
• Engage externally to share expertise and showcase REA's leadership in data engineering and innovation.
• Align data strategies and technical approaches across Engineering Managers and Senior Engineering Managers, influencing the data-related direction for 3-6 squads.
• Coach and mentor experienced engineers, enabling the growth of future technical leaders in data engineering and architecture.

Benefits

• A hybrid and flexible approach to working
• Flexible leave options including, birthday leave and purchase additional leave
• Flexible parental leave offering for primary and secondary carers
• Volunteering leave, community grants, matched payroll giving and our Community Café donates 100% of revenue to charity
• Hackdays to bring big ideas to life

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Industry: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees