Senior Manager, Software Development Engineering, Big Data

Zillow

1d • $206,700 - $330,300 • Remote

About The Position

About the team At Zillow, the top real estate website in the U.S., we’re on a mission to give people the power to unlock life’s next chapter. We’re creating innovative, connected, and equitable solutions that help people move from dreaming to transacting. The Engagement Data Warehouse (EGDW) team sits within Zillow’s Data Engineering, Science & Analytics organization and is at the heart of that mission. This team builds and operates engagement and top‑of‑funnel data products that show how customers discover, explore, and return to Zillow across our Growth and Shopping experiences. We work primarily with large‑scale clickstream and engagement data, plus core email, push, SEO/traffic, and seller engagement data. Our data products are used every day by partners in Data Science, AI/ML, Marketing Analytics, Experimentation, and Product to make high‑impact decisions, design experiments, and build better customer experiences. Over the next few years, the team will continue to evolve top‑of‑funnel and search/traffic metrics into well‑modeled, self‑serve datasets, build new user retention and engagement metrics that shape how we understand long‑term customer value, and deepen SEO and landing‑page analytics while continuing to build and enhance petabyte‑scale clickstream datasets. You’ll be stepping into a high‑visibility leadership role at the center of these initiatives. About the role We’re looking for a Senior Manager, Data Engineering to lead the Engagement Data Warehouse team. In this role, you will own the vision and roadmap for engagement and top‑of‑funnel data products that serve partners across Growth, Shopping, Marketing, and Experimentation teams, and lead a team of data engineers working with petabyte‑scale clickstream and engagement datasets. You’ll spearhead new data products in critical areas like Growth, Shopping, retention, and SEO/traffic, building foundational components of Zillow’s enterprise‑wide engagement data model. You will serve as a bridge between technical and business leaders, translating ambiguous, high‑level goals into clear data strategies and execution plans, and you’ll build a team culture that prioritizes proactive problem‑solving, strong ownership, and thoughtful support for people’s growth and well‑being.

Requirements

• A BS+ in Computer Science or a related field, and 8+ years in data or software engineering on data‑intensive systems, including 4+ years managing engineers.
• Proven track record of building and scaling high‑impact data engineering teams and data products.
• Significant experience designing and operating pipelines over billions of events and petabyte‑scale datasets, ideally including clickstream, web/app analytics, or engagement/retention data.
• Strong hands‑on experience with SQL, Python, Spark, and modern data platforms and orchestration tools (e.g., Databricks, Airflow/Prefect/Dagster, and AWS or another major cloud provider).
• Demonstrated ability to partner with cross‑functional stakeholders (e.g., Data Science/ML, Product, Marketing, Analytics, Data Platform) and drive shared outcomes.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including experience presenting complex topics to Director+ or VP‑level audiences.
• A consistent track record of proactively identifying problems and opportunities, aligning stakeholders, and driving end‑to‑end execution.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building data products for experimentation, marketing measurement, or growth analytics, and familiarity with dbt or semantic/metrics layers for standardized metrics.
• Experience leading distributed or hybrid teams and working effectively across time zones.
• Here at Zillow - we value the experience and perspective of candidates with non-traditional backgrounds. We encourage you to apply if you have transferable skills or related experiences.

Responsibilities

• Define & Drive the Data Roadmap: Own the strategy for engagement and top‑of‑funnel data products (clickstream, SEO, retention, and lifecycle marketing). Partner with Data Science, AI/ML, and Product leaders to identify gaps and deliver end‑to‑end solutions that define how Zillow understands the customer journey.
• Lead & Scale a High‑Impact Team: Manage and grow a team of engineers, aligning them around measurable outcomes. Prioritize team health by balancing new product work with platform stability and ongoing operational work to prevent burnout.
• Champion Engineering Excellence: Serve as a technical thought partner, raising the bar through rigorous design reviews, strong data modeling standards, and robust observability for petabyte‑scale systems.
• Communicate with Influence: Translate complex technical trade‑offs into business‑relevant terms for senior leadership. Author clear design docs and stakeholder updates that align cross‑functional teams on scope, timelines, and expected impact.
• Invest in People & Culture: Mentor talent through proactive career coaching and individual development plans. Foster an inclusive, psychologically safe environment where engineers feel supported, challenged, and respected.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level