Manager, Data Operations

Full-time, 100% remote, open to U.S. candidates only
Description

About UsRegrid is building something unique and significant: a long term, independent service dedicated to understanding land parcels on Planet Earth. You can call us a spatial data company if you’d like.Founded in Detroit, Michigan in 2009, we spent our early years helping Detroiters use parcel data to combat challenges of widespread vacancy, blight, and foreclosure. We then became the first team to deliver 100% parcel coverage of all property and geography in the United States, and have stepped into global coverage.We passionately believe in our mission — "We are the parcel people — bringing the actionable unit of geography to everyone" — and this shows up for us everywhere: data delivery methods that reach every type of customer from individuals to the largest enterprise; our Data With Purpose program for nonprofits and educators, and our commercial partnership with Esri, the world's leading provider of mapping software.The RoleOur mission is to build the world’s most trusted parcel and land-use intelligence platform. At the core of this goal is ensuring parcel data is current, authoritative, analytically sound, and operationally ready at national and global scale.The Manager, Data Operations leads Regrid’s parcel and geospatial data operations function, owning the end-to-end lifecycle of upstream data assets — from sourcing strategy and acquisition to analytical validation and production readiness. This role ensures data is reliably acquired from authoritative sources, delivered on schedule, and validated for quality and freshness before downstream processing by the Data Platform team.Sitting at the intersection of strategy, operational rigor, and technical validation, this role leads a team of Data Acquisition Specialists, Data Processing Analysts, and Parcel Prospectors responsible for regional parcel portfolios, configuration-driven data management, and ensuring automated pipeline outputs are correct, interpretable, and aligned with real-world conditions. While core pipeline engineering is handled by the Data Platform team, this role is accountable for the operational quality and readiness of all parcel data products.The Manager, Data Operations establishes processes, controls, and performance standards to ensure data coverage, currency, schema consistency, and analytical reliability. They partner with the geospatial Data Sourcing function to evaluate delivery mechanisms and update cadences, and with Analytics and Product teams to ensure outputs meet customer expectations.This is not a procurement or engineering role. It requires technical fluency in geospatial data structures, SQL, and configuration-driven workflows (e.g., YAML, dbt), operational discipline, and people leadership. The ideal candidate combines analytical depth, process rigor, and team development experience to build a scalable data operations function that underpins Regrid’s national parcel intelligence platform.Key ResponsibilitiesData Sourcing Strategy & Portfolio OwnershipDefine and execute sourcing strategies for parcel and related geospatial datasets, aligned to company and product prioritiesEstablish update cadences, currency targets (e.g., ≥95% data freshness) and coverage standards at national and global scale in collaboration with the Product DepartmentOwn the operational health, freshness, and quality standards for Regrid’s parcel data portfolioMaintain a sourcing roadmap that drives improvement in data coverage or acquisition efficiency year-over-yearResponsible for finding better, more robust data sources. Identify and evaluate new data endpoints, APIs, bulk file delivery mechanisms, and automation opportunitiesOperational Leadership & GovernanceLead and develop team members responsible for regional parcel portfoliosEstablish SLAs, quality thresholds, and documentation standards across sourced and operational datasetsOversee workflows spanning intake, validation, configuration, and readiness handoff to downstream teamsTrack and report on operational KPIs to achieve data accuracy and timely delivery across all portfoliosDevelop dashboards, reporting frameworks, and controls that ensure visibility into portfolio healthDrive reductions in data exceptions or processing errors annually through operational improvements.Technical Evaluation & Data ValidationEvaluate source data structures, schemas, file formats, and delivery mechanisms for reliability and scalabilityAssess APIs, SFTP endpoints, bulk files, and extraction methods prior to operational adoptionEnsure automated pipeline outputs achieve accuracy in geometry, attribute correctness, and completenessOversee geospatial validation practices including geometry integrity, spatial relationships, CRS consistency, overlaps, gaps, and change detection accuracyGuide investigation of anomalies using SQL and spatial analysis tools (e.g., Postgres/PostGIS, Athena, dbt)Reduce time spent on post-pipeline data fixes through proactive validation.Partner with Data Platform Engineers to align source data with ingestion and transformation standardsConfiguration-Driven Data OperationsOversee YAML-based dataset configuration and transformation management practicesEnsure configuration-driven workflows are accurate, scalable, and well-documentedSupport evolution of analytics workflows and dbt model governance in collaboration with Analytics and Platform teamsEstablish standards for validating configuration changes, schema evolution, and derived attribute logicVendor & Stakeholder ManagementOversee team responsible for managing the relationships with counties, agencies, and third-party data providersNegotiate delivery standards, update schedules, access mechanisms, and performance expectationsMonitor vendor reliability and proactively address sourcing risksCoordinate with Legal, Compliance, and external stakeholders as requiredCross-Functional Partnership & Escalation LeadershipPartner closely with Data Platform, Analytics, Product, Technical Solutions, and Customer Success teamsProvide operational leadership during data quality escalations and customer-impacting issuesSupport complex or bespoke sourcing and validation needs in collaboration with senior technical stakeholdersEnsure clear documentation of county-level assumptions, caveats, and known limitationsPeople Management & Team LeadershipLead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of Data Acquisition Specialists, Data Processing Analysts, and Parcel ProspectorDrive team performance metrics, such as achieving 90%+ on-time data delivery across portfolios, while developing high-performing team members through structured growth plans.Foster a culture of operational excellence, technical rigor, and collaborative problem-solvingProvide regular coaching, feedback, and performance evaluations to support growth and accountabilityChampion cross-functional collaboration, ensuring team contributions align with company priorities and customer impactRecruit, onboard, and retain top talent to scale the Data Operations function in line with business growthWhat You BringProven leadership experience: 7+ years in data operations, geospatial data management, or technical program management, including people leadership and team developmentGeospatial and data expertise: Strong experience with public records, open datasets, parcel, land-use, or geospatial datasets; familiarity with spatial analytics, geometry validation, and change detectionTechnical fluency: Comfortable with structured data formats (CSV, JSON, XML, Parquet), APIs, file transfer mechanisms, and bulk data delivery systemsSQL and analytics skills: Proficient with SQL and spatial databases (Postgres/PostGIS, Athena, or similar) to investigate anomalies and validate data integrityConfiguration-driven workflows: Experience with YAML, metadata-driven workflows, dbt, or similar tools to manage dataset configurations and transformationsOperational rigor: Demonstrated ability to design and manage operational processes, track metrics, and ensure data quality, currency, and completeness across portfoliosAnalytical judgment: Ability to reason about data correctness, freshness, schema alignment, and fitness for downstream useCollaboration and communication: Strong stakeholder management, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to translate technical findings into actionable insights for leadership and partner teamsProblem-solving mindset: Skilled at diagnosing operational or data quality issues, recommending solutions, and driving continuous improvement initiativesHow We WorkA couple things you should know about us:First, we are pretty obsessed with parcels & parcel data (the lines that define property boundaries). You don’t have to be on day one to work here, but fair warning our focus is singular, and our mission is to bring this fundamental unit of geographic organization to everyone.Second, we have a collection of rules to work by that we call our “Plats”. Here are a few that should resonate for you if this role is going to be a fit:1. No “what” without “why”.Tasks and directives without narrative context and connection to our larger story are not inspiring. Explaining the “why” helps everyone see the purpose of our actions so we can bring more energy and creativity to them.2. People remember how you made them feel.It’s just true. Within our team and with our customers, emotions linger longer than specific words or actions. The smallest interaction can leave a lasting impression of trust, care, or disrespect. Even when a conversation isn’t easy, focusing on positive emotional impact builds enduring relationships.3. Execution is worshipped.Ideas are the number one best thing going. But ideas come to us, we don’t really create an idea, we just catch them, like fish. Then, the whole thing is translating that idea to some medium. That’s the execution. Without it, the fish just swims away.Compensation and BenefitsSalary Range: $120,000 - $150,000100% Paid Health Insurance for Employee and 50% Paid Health Insurance for eligible dependentsHSA, Healthcare and Dependent Care FSAs with Company Contribution401K Retirement Plan with Company MatchUnlimited PTOPaid Parental LeaveWFH, Learning and Development and Wellness Stipends Flexible Remote Culture



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