Lead Engineer, Foundry

Base Annual Compensation: $120,000 - $145,000 (depending on location & experience)

Title:                                Lead Engineer, Foundry

Reports to:                      Chief Technology Officer 

Primary Function:          Foundry Development

Status:                             Full-time, Exempt

Location:                         Flexible – Hybrid, Remote, In-Person (San Francisco, CA)

Summary 

Ballast Investments (“Ballast” or “The Company”) is seeking an Lead Engineer / Senior Lead Engineer to support our rapidly growing team. The Lead Engineer / Senior Lead Engineer will sit at the intersection of technology, operations, and investment strategy. Unlike traditional engineers who build in isolation, the Lead Engineer / Senior Lead Engineer will be embedded directly with our Asset Management, Property Operations, and Construction teams. Your mission is to rapidly design, deploy, and iterate on software solutions that directly improve NOI, reduce costs, and enhance portfolio performance working with the CEO, COO, and VP of System Solutions. This is a hands-on builder role: you will write code, automate workflows, integrate data pipelines, and create dashboards—always working shoulder-to-shoulder with the business users who need results.

The Company is a vertically-integrated owner-operator of multifamily, student housing, and single family rental assets in the greater Western United States. The Company has several strategic partnerships with global institutional capital providers and has experienced strong growth since its founding in 2014. 

Ballast employs over 250+ real estate professionals whose mission is to create value by acquiring, developing, and managing our dwellings with exceptional care through an integrated approach. Our culture is founded on teamwork, authenticity, integrity and excellence. Through a shared purpose and common goal, the organization is built to serve its partners and communities within which it invests.

Primary Responsibilities

• Embed with business teams: Work day-to-day with property managers, asset managers, and finance staff to identify inefficiencies and data gaps
• Rapid prototyping & deployment: Design and build tools (scripts, dashboards, automations, integrations) that solve problems in real time
• Systems integration: Connect platforms such as Yardi, Zendesk, Palantir Foundry, Excel/Sheets, and custom databases into unified workflows
• Operational analytics: Build models for rent roll forecasting, delinquency tracking, CapEx planning, and maintenance cost monitoring
• AI/automation deployment: Leverage AI to summarize tenant communications, flag high-risk accounts, and optimize leasing/maintenance workflows
• Outcome measurement: Track business impact of technical solutions (e.g., reduction in response times, increase in collections, lower R&M cost per unit)
• Cross-functional leadership: Serve as translator between investment professionals and technical staff, ensuring solutions are practical and scalable

Minimum Requirements and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Data Engineering, Engineering, or related field
• 3+ years experience in software engineering, data engineering, or applied analytics
• 1+ years of practical experience with Palantir Foundry or Gotham
• Strong SQL and Python skills and familiarity with APIs and ETL pipelines. Pyspark would be beneficial
• Excellent problem solving and analytical abilities
• Excellent communication skills; ability to explain technical solutions in business terms

Key Skills and Competencies

• Clear, articulate communicator, able to maintain effective documentation
• Strong analytical and qualitative skills
• Able to prioritize, organize, and meet all deadlines
• Committed to high standards of excellence and ethics
• Effectively identify issues and formulate solutions
• Capability to think critically, solve problems logically, and make well-reasoned business decisions
• Ability to probe, ask the right questions, and dig beneath the surface to test the validity of information
• Goal-oriented and diligent

Ballast is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment, and we prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type based on race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Ballast is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.