Senior Data Engineer

Ibotta is looking for a software-focused Sr. Data Engineer to join our team and contribute to our mission to Make Every Purchase Rewarding. As a key contributor within the Data Platform Organization, you will join our newly formed Data Intelligence Squad to make Ibotta's data AI‑ready. We are looking for a highly motivated senior data engineer who cares about the craft of clean, well‑governed data and understands why it matters more than ever in an AI‑driven environment. You'll work on the data contract and metadata standards that underpin everything the squad builds, the compliance tooling that keeps Ibotta's data estate clean and auditable, and the pipelines that feed our AI readiness scoring system. You'll grow into LLM application development and semantic layer work as the team evolves. This position is located in Denver, Colorado as a hybrid position requiring 3 days in office (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). Candidates must live in the United States. Not based in Denver? We will offer a relocation bonus to help make your move to the Mile High City a smooth one. What you will be doing Data Contract and Metadata Standards: Lead the design and rollout of data contract standards 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 AI Readiness Scoring: Own the end‑to‑end architecture and delivery of the 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 AI Governance and Compliance: Drive adoption of governance frameworks 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 AI Trust and Reliability: 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; make sure we have the monitoring in place to catch problems before they erode confidence. Semantic Layer Contributions: 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 AI‑Augmented Development: Proactively leverage AI tools (e.g., Claude, Databricks Genie) to accelerate development, maintain code quality, and explore new approaches to data engineering problems Cross‑team Collaboration: Drive alignment with adjacent teams to onboard data assets into the AI‑ready platform; influence roadmap priorities based on data readiness gaps; document processes and contribute to the team's shared knowledge base Technical Leadership: Tech Lead squad initiatives end‑to‑end; take responsibility for the growth and development of junior and mid‑level engineers, not just as a teacher but as someone who actively invests in their careers; drive architectural decisions and represent the squad in cross‑team design reviews. Embrace and uphold Ibotta's Core Values: Integrity, Boldness, Ownership, Teamwork, Transparency, and A good idea can come from anywhere. What we are looking for Experience: 5+ years of software engineering experience with a focus on data engineering, analytics engineering, or backend development. Project Leadership: Demonstrated ability to lead complex, multi‑stakeholder data initiatives from scoping through delivery; experience writing technical design documents that clearly define the problem, present alternatives, and propose a solution aligned with iterative value delivery. Data Engineering: Expertise in Python, SQL, and Databricks, and experience with medallion architecture (bronze/silver/gold) or similar layered data design patterns. Semantic Modeling: Independently design and implement semantic layers to ensure AI agents utilize governed, consistent metric definitions rather than querying raw tables directly. Data Governance: Experience working in data governance concepts (metadata standards, data ownership, schema enforcement, access control) and experience keeping data assets clean and well‑documented. Data Quality: Confidence working with schema validation, data freshness monitoring, data observability tooling, or similar quality practices. AI Tooling: Demonstrated ability to evaluate and integrate AI into the solution tech stack, including understanding operational tradeoffs (token cost, latency, build vs. buy); hands‑on experience with AI building blocks such as LLM APIs, context engineering, agentic frameworks, and RAG; proficiency in AI‑assisted development platforms (Claude, Copilot, Cursor, etc.) a plus. Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. Experience with the following a strong plus 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 Additional Details This position is located in Denver, CO and includes competitive pay, flexible time off, benefits package (including medical, dental, vision), Lifestyle Spending Account, and 401k match. Denver office perks include paid parking, snacks, and occasional meals. Base compensation range: $144,000 - $165,000. Equity is included in the overall compensation package. This compensation range is specific to the United States labor market and may be adjusted based on actual experience. Ibotta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Ibotta’s employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status. Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full‑time basis. For the security of our employees and the business, all employees are responsible for the secure handling of data in accordance with our security policies, identifying and reporting phishing attempts, as well as reporting security incidents to the proper channels. #J-18808-Ljbffr