AI Data Engineer Jobs in Houston, TX

POSITION TITLE: Director, Engineering – Data, AI, RPA & Governance (M4)

For more than three decades, Crown Castle has led the way in shared communications infrastructure, delivering profitable solutions by connecting communities, businesses, and people, and enabling each to thrive with reliable access to voice and data in more places, faster than ever before. When you join Crown Castle, you become part of a dynamic team of passionate and collaborative professionals engaging in complex challenges and contributing to projects that shape the future of life and work.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Director of Engineering – Data, AI, RPA & Governance is a senior technology leader accountable for the end-to-end ownership of Crown Castle’s enterprise data ecosystem, AI strategy, and intelligent automation capabilities.

This role defines and operationalizes the company’s data governance framework, AI adoption strategy (including platforms such as Lyzr), and target data architecture, ensuring scalable, trusted, and business-aligned delivery. The leader will own the data foundation and platform enablement model, while supporting a separate centralized Analytics & Insights organization that consumes and delivers business insights.

A critical component of this role is building a culture of data citizenship, ensuring that data ownership, accountability, and quality are embedded across the enterprise—not just within IT.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Enterprise Data Strategy, Governance & Data Citizenship

• Define and execute the enterprise data governance strategy, including ownership models, stewardship, data quality, classification, lineage, and access controls
• Establish and scale data citizenship capabilities across the enterprise, including:
• Business data ownership and stewardship models
• Data literacy and accountability frameworks
• Governance councils and domain-aligned ownership structures
• Drive adoption of governance practices across business functions, ensuring data is treated as a strategic enterprise asset
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, privacy, and security requirements in partnership with Risk and Security

Enterprise AI Strategy & Enablement

• Define and lead Crown Castle’s enterprise AI strategy, including adoption and scaling of platforms such as Lyzr
• Identify and prioritize high-value AI and Generative AI use cases, ensuring alignment to measurable business outcomes
• Establish reusable AI frameworks, patterns, and accelerators to scale adoption across domains
• Ensure AI solutions are aligned to enterprise data architecture, governance, and responsible AI standards

Target Data Architecture Ownership (End-to-End Accountability)

• Own the design, delivery, and continuous evolution of the enterprise target data architecture
• Lead implementation and sustainment of Databricks-based medallion architecture (bronze, silver, gold layers) ensuring data quality, consistency, and reuse
• Establish and maintain the semantic and enterprise context layer to standardize definitions and enable consistent data consumption
• Govern integration and onboarding of external data sources, ensuring quality, compliance, and value realization
• Define and enforce enterprise standards for:
• Data modeling and pipelines
• Metadata management and lineage
• Data interoperability across platforms

Platform Enablement for Analytics & Insights (Service Model)

• Serve as the data and AI platform provider for a centralized Analytics & Insights team outside of this organization
• Ensure delivery of high-quality, trusted, and accessible data products to enable advanced analytics, reporting, and insights generation
• Define and manage clear service-level expectations (SLAs) for data availability, freshness, and performance
• Partner closely with the Analytics & Insights organization to:
• Align on priorities and data product roadmap
• Enable self-service capabilities through governed semantic layers
• Support advanced analytics, AI-driven insights, and decision-making

RPA & Intelligent Automation Leadership

• Lead enterprise RPA and intelligent automation strategy and operations, including lifecycle management of automation assets
• Drive hyper automation initiatives combining RPA, AI/ML, and workflow platforms to streamline end-to-end processes
• Establish governance, standards, and KPIs for automation (ROI, performance, scalability, maintainability)
• Ensure continuous optimization of automation portfolio aligned to business value

Engineering Delivery & Execution Excellence

• Lead cross-functional engineering teams across data, AI, and automation platforms
• Implement modern engineering practices including DevSecOps, CI/CD, and product-based delivery models
• Ensure platforms are scalable, secure, cost-efficient, and highly available
• Track and report KPIs tied to business outcomes, adoption, and platform performance

Leadership & Operating Model

• Build and lead high-performing teams across data engineering, AI engineering, automation, and governance
• Define a clear operating model separating:
• Platform ownership (this role)
• Analytics and insights consumption (separate team)
• Foster a culture aligned to Crown Castle’s values, emphasizing accountability, ownership, and results-driven execution

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUCCEED

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
• Master’s degree and/or MBA preferred

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, AI/ML, platform engineering, or enterprise architecture leadership
• Proven track record owning enterprise data governance, architecture, and platform strategy at scale
• Hands-on experience with Databricks, Snowflake, and modern cloud data ecosystems
• Experience leading enterprise AI strategy and Generative AI adoption (e.g., Lyzr or similar platforms)
• Strong experience in RPA and intelligent automation at enterprise scale
• Demonstrated success building data operating models that separate platform enablement from analytics consumption

Core Skills

• Deep expertise in data governance, architecture, and platform engineering
• Strong understanding of medallion data architecture, semantic layers, and external data integration
• Experience with AI governance, responsible AI frameworks, and compliance requirements
• Ability to build enterprise-wide data citizenship and accountability models
• Strong executive communication and stakeholder management capabilities
• Financial acumen with ability to track and articulate ROI from data, AI, and automation investments

Organizational Alignment

Reports to: CIO

Direct Reports: Senior Managers across Data Engineering, AI Engineering, RPA, and Data Governance

Key Partners: Centralized Analytics & Insights Team, Security, Risk, Enterprise Applications, Cloud & Platform Engineering

Why This Role Matters

This role is foundational to Crown Castle’s evolution into a data-first, AI-enabled enterprise. By establishing strong governance, scalable architecture, and a culture of data citizenship—while enabling a best-in-class analytics organization—this leader ensures the company unlocks the full value of its data, AI, and automation investments in a responsible, scalable, and sustainable way.

Where You Will Work
To optimize collaboration, relationship building, and key stakeholder engagement, this role aligns to a 4:1 hybrid model which is in office Monday-Thursday with the option for remote work on Fridays.

YOUR COMPANY BENEFITS
At Crown Castle, we do our best to ensure you have access to the resources you need to live a healthy and happy life no matter where you are in life. Our benefits are built around your individual needs, covering physical, mental, and financial health and designed to enhance your quality of life.

We are proud to offer a full suite of health and wealth benefits for you and your loved ones. Below are a few of the key highlights of the many benefits we provide.

• Comprehensive healthcare plans with highly company subsidized premiums and up to $2,000 annual company contribution to your Health Savings Account (HSA base plan for employee and dependents).
• Market-leading 401(k) plan, which includes up to 10% company contributions through our 5% match and 5% profit sharing program (based on employee contributions).
• New-child leave up to 8 weeks of 100% paid leave upon birth or legal adoption of a new child. Birth mothers are eligible for up to 8 weeks of additional 100% paid medical leave.
• Tuition reimbursement up to $5,250 per year of eligible tuition and fees.
• Crown Castle scholarship program awarding up to $10,000 per recipient each year for eligible dependent children of employees and interns.
• Matching charitable contributions to qualified charitable organizations of up to $1,000 per year per teammate.
• Generous paid time-off for eligible full-time employees (minimum 18 days per year based on years of service).
• 10 company holidays plus 2 floating holiday.
• All offices provide free beverages and snacks.

Compensation
The salary range offered for this position is $173860 - $239057 annually. A candidate's offer is determined by various factors including but not limited to, depth of experience, role-related knowledge and skills, relevant education or training, internal alignment, and work location. Depending on the position offered, the compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of a discretionary annual cash bonus or commissions, and equity incentives.

Additional Information
If you are interested in joining our team, please visit the Crown Castle careers site to apply. We do not accept resumes from agencies, headhunters, or other third-party suppliers who have not signed a formal agreement with us. This position will remain posted until filled.