Lead Data Engineer

Department:

WDTech - R&D

We are Walker & Dunlop.  We are one of the largest providers of capital to the commercial real estate industry, enabling real estate owners and operators to bring their visions of communities — where people live, work, shop, and play — to life. We are committed to creating meaningful social, environmental, and economic change in our communities.

Department Overview 

WDTech is W&D’s in-house technology team – a group of collaborative and highly skilled technology professionals, all of whom are leading experts in real estate data, data science, and technology.  

WDTech Engineering builds solutions that impact not only our products but also the people and processes across our organization. A commitment to innovation and a passion for disrupting the old-fashioned real estate industry are our highest priorities.   

The Impact You Will Have  

As a Lead Data Engineer, you will serve as a senior technical leader within the Data Engineering organization, helping define the architecture, engineering standards, and best practices that support Walker & Dunlop’s enterprise data platform. This role focuses on technical leadership and platform modernization, partnering closely with Engineering leadership and distributed engineering teams to build scalable, reliable, and well-governed data systems. 

You will play a key role in shaping the future state of the data platform by driving architectural consistency, improving engineering practices, and supporting the adoption of modern data engineering capabilities across the organization. 

Primary 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 

Education and Experience 

• Bachelor’s degree preferred, preferably in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.  

• 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.  

• Familiarity with enterprise data warehouse technologies and data transformation frameworks preferred.  

• Commercial real estate, financial services, or regulated industry experience preferred. 

 
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 

• 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 

This position has an estimated base salary of 170k-190k plus a discretionary bonus. An employment offer is based on the applicant’s relevant work experience, applicable knowledge, skills, abilities, internal equity, and alignment with market data.

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What We Offer  

• The opportunity to join one of Fortune Magazine’s Great Places to Work winners

• Comprehensive benefit options* that have earned Walker & Dunlop the gold level of the 2025 Cigna Healthy Workforce Designation™, some of which include:
    - Up to 83% subsidized medical payroll deductions
    - Competitive dental and vision benefits
    - 401(k) + match
    - Pre-tax transit and commuting benefits
    - A robust health and wellness program – earn cash rewards and gain access to resources that
      promote health, engagement, and balance
    - Paid maternity and parental leave, as well as other family paid leave programs
    - Company-paid life, short and long-term disability insurance
    - Health Savings Account and Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending 

• Career development opportunities 

• Empowerment and encouragement to give back – volunteer hours and donation matching 

 
*Eligibility may vary based on average number of hours worked 

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

We are committed to equity in all steps of the recruitment and employment experience. We believe in equal access to opportunities in our workplace. We do not tolerate discrimination, including harassment, based on any characteristic protected by applicable law, such as race, color, national origin, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, sex, age, disability, veteran or military status, and genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We strive to be a safe place to ask questions, build professional relationships, and develop careers.

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Please be wary of recruitment scams. An indication of a scam might be a request for sensitive or bank information at the time of application or emails coming from a non walkerdunlop.com email address. Please call us at 301.215.5500, if you have any concerns about information requested during or after the application process.

Fair Chance Hiring

Background checks, including any questions related to infractions, arrests, or conviction records, will not be conducted until after a conditional offer of employment has been accepted. We will consider for employment qualified applicants regardless of arrest and conviction records, in accordance with federal, state, and local laws.