Full-Time
Principal Data Engineer
Data Engineer
American Tower
5,001-10,000 employees
Leases multi-tenant wireless & broadcast towers
Compensation Overview
$170.5k - $213.5k/yr
Burlington, MA, USA
In Person
 Data & Analytics (1) |
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- Bachelor’s degree required, with a concentration in Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or a related quantitative field preferred.
- A minimum of 8 years of data engineering or data platform development experience with at least 5 years as a senior or principal-level technical leader required.
- Expert-level proficiency in Structured Query Language, Python programming language, and large-scale processing with Apache Spark or PySpark.
- Deep experience with major cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform, and with modern data platforms such as Databricks or Snowflake.
- Strong understanding of streaming technologies such as Apache Kafka or Amazon Kinesis, orchestration tools such as Apache Airflow, and transformation frameworks such as Data Build Tool.
- Mastery of data modeling, semantic modeling, and performance tuning across data warehouse, lakehouse, and streaming architectures.
- Ability to implement technical governance (data quality, lineage, metadata, access management, and privacy controls) and establish engineering standards (CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and automated testing).
- Ability to lead complex technical design, influence without authority, and mentor engineers to raise the technical bar.
- Strong written and oral communication skills, including the ability to present ideas and suggestions clearly and effectively.
- Ability to work with different functional groups and levels of employees to effectively and professionally achieve results.
- Strong organizational skills; ability to accomplish multiple tasks within the agreed-upon timeframes through effective prioritization of duties and functions in a fast-paced environment.
- Architect and evolve the enterprise data platform including ingestion, transformation, storage, orchestration, and serving layers for batch and streaming use cases.
- Design and implement end-to-end data pipelines, reusable frameworks, and enterprise data models (dimensional, data vault, domain-oriented) to power analytics, AI, and operational use cases.
- Define and operationalize the semantic data layer and embed governance enforcement through technical controls (data quality, validation, lineage, metadata, access).
- Establish engineering standards for coding, testing, version control, documentation, and continuous integration/continuous delivery (“CI/CD”); optimize cost, performance, and scalability using FinOps principles.
- Lead design reviews, root cause analyses, and incident responses; partner with the Data Science team to productionize models and enable real-time/batch inference.
- Collaborate with Data Products, IT, security, and architecture teams to deliver secure, resilient, and compliant data products with strong service level agreements.
- Evaluate emerging technologies, guide build-versus-buy decisions, and mentor engineers through code reviews, technical talks, and best practices.
- Engage decentralized analytics teams to share standards and reusable components while avoiding duplication of efforts.
- Other duties as assigned.
- Master’s degree in a related field preferred
American Tower is a global real estate investment trust that owns, operates, and develops wireless and broadcast infrastructure. It primarily leases space on its 220,000+ multi-tenant communications towers to wireless carriers, broadcasters, and other network operators, generating revenue from long-term rent with initial terms of 5-10 years and renewals. The towers and services enable tenants to mount their equipment and connect networks; rent is based on the amount of equipment and tower location. The company differentiates itself through its large global portfolio, scale, and high barriers to entry in tower construction, giving it a diversified, stable tenant base that includes major carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. The goal is to provide secure, long-term, essential communications infrastructure and to deliver predictable cash flow for shareholders by expanding and optimizing its tower network worldwide.
Company Size
5,001-10,000
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Boston, Massachusetts
Founded
1995
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- U.S. portfolio includes nearly 42,000 towers in prime locations.
- International expansion supports growth where mobile networks still require densification.
- Data-center and edge-computing demand can increase interconnection revenue.
What critics are saying
- ShinyHunters breach exposed 216,601 accounts and contact data in June 2026.
- Carrier concentration makes AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile renegotiations hit revenue quickly.
- Deep infrastructure sharing or direct-to-device alternatives can structurally reduce tower demand.
What makes American Tower unique
- Global REIT owning nearly 225,000 communications assets across 25 countries.
- CoreSite adds U.S. data-center interconnection beyond tower leasing.
- Long-term, multi-tenant leases create recurring revenue from carriers and broadcasters.
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Benefits
Hybrid Work Options
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 6%1 year growth
↑ 6%2 year growth
↑ 6%No Data Center in East Charlotte. Petition to Charlotte City Council: No Data Center in East Charlotte American Tower Corporation, a multibillion dollar real estate firm, wants to build a massive 50,000 square foot data center in East Charlotte. If built, it would use massive amounts of electricity and water, raise its already high utility bills, and pollute the surrounding community. Uuccharlotte still have time to stop this project! The rezoning request, which is necessary to build the center, has not yet been approved by the city. Sign on to demand Charlotte City Council stop this data center from being built and implement protections against further data center construction.
Ranking U.S. Tower companies. This analysis is an excerpt from the Inside Towers Intelligence 2026 Vol 1 issue, available now. We're tracking the U.S. tower business several ways. One key metric is how the different tower companies rank by tower count. American Tower (NYSE: AMT) is the top tower company in the country. Its U.S. & Canada region accounted for 41,795 towers at the end of 2025. Across all its regional operations, the company reported 148,824 towers, making it the largest independent, multinational tower company in the world, according to Inside Towers Intelligence. Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI) is a close second in the domestic market with all of its reported 39,804 towers, all in the U.S. Vertical Bridge, a DigitalBridge Group (NYSE: DBRG) portfolio company, is the largest private tower company in the U.S. with over 18,000 towers. The company moved up to third place ahead of SBA Communications (NASDAQ: SBAC) which reported 17,398 towers in its U.S. domestic operations. Fifth place, Array Digital Infrastructure (NYSE: AD), now the fourth public tower company behind the Big 3, reported 4,450 towers at the end of 2025. The subsequent eight towercos all have over 1,000 sites. Of that group, Diamond Communications is the largest with over 4,000 towers followed by Harmoni Towers which reported 3,022 towers and Symphony Towers with 2,973 sites. The Inside Towers Database shows Tillman Infrastructure with 2,250 registered/constructed towers. Four companies - TowerCo, Everest Infrastructure Partners, K2 Towers and Industrial Tower West - each have tower portfolios in the 1,000-1,500 range. Industrial Tower and Wireless shows 852 towers across its operating regions around the country. Phoenix Tower International confirmed it has 831 towers in the U.S. This number is a subset of its broader international portfolio of 32,840 sites. So how do we come up with these numbers? The primary source is the Inside Towers Database, a proprietary compilation of data on all the telecom and non-telco towers in the U.S. These data are sourced from the FCC Antenna Structure Registration and Universal Licensing System databases and the FAA Digital Obstacle File database, and are updated daily. The first column is the chart shows data from Inside Towers Database for only the registered and constructed towers by tower company. We are not counting other tower status categories such as 'Granted' or 'Pending.' Moreover, we believe that there is also a sizable number, in the order of several tens of thousands, of unregistered sites. Unregistered sites typically are towers that are less than 200 feet and are not located near airports, so do not require lighting or painting. The third column shows what the tower companies are reporting themselves. Public towercos share their tower counts in quarterly reports and presentations. Private tower companies offer information on company websites, either in broad terms or in site locator maps and spreadsheets. In addition, we have created a separate portal in the Inside Towers Database for tower companies to provide their site data. It turns out that these voluntary submissions include thousands of unregistered towers. Finally, the numbers shown in the Managed, Leased and Unregistered Towers column are the difference between Reported Towers and Registered/Constructed Towers. By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
American Tower has filed a legal complaint after DISH Wireless defaulted on payment obligations under a major tower collocation agreement. The company is seeking a declaratory judgment to enforce the agreement and clarify ongoing obligations under the lease arrangement. Management stated the direct near-term financial impact from the DISH default is limited, though legal outcomes remain important to monitor. The dispute highlights concerns around tenant concentration and payment reliability for tower companies. Separately, American Tower has appointed Paul Blanchett as Chief Accounting Officer, bringing experience from large multinational companies. The company's shares currently trade at $179.28, approximately 18% below the analyst consensus target of $217.60. One highlighted risk is that debt coverage by operating cash flow remains weak.
American Tower selects ABTIO for Oracle Database licensing. Oracle Database licensing is a critical enabler for global communications providers that rely on always-on infrastructure. For this reason, American Tower Corporation has chosen ABTIO to support its Oracle Database licensing strategy for production environments. Together, they combine perpetual licenses with Oracle support and ongoing updates to protect mission-critical operations. Founded in 1995 and operating in 22 countries, American Tower Corporation is one of the largest publicly held real estate investment trusts (REITs) focused on communications infrastructure. Today, the company manages a global portfolio of more than 149,000 communications sites - over 42,000 properties in the United States and Canada and nearly 107,000 properties internationally. As a result, American Tower hosts a broad and critical ecosystem of tenants, including: * Wireless service providers * Radio and television broadcast companies * Wireless data providers * Government agencies and municipalities * Companies in multiple industries with mission-critical connectivity needs In addition to site leasing, American Tower delivers value-added services such as site acquisition, zoning and permitting, structural analysis, and construction management. These services are designed to accelerate network deployment and support the addition of new tenants and equipment. Consequently, having secure, robust, and properly licensed database platforms is essential to support core operations and scale across regions. The challenge. American Tower needed to support its production environments with an Oracle Database cloud licensing model that: * Aligns with best practices and provides clear technical and contractual frameworks * Scales with business growth and infrastructure demand * Ensures ongoing software updates and vendor support to reduce operational and security risks * Builds a solid foundation for future modernization and expansion initiatives in a highly demanding, always-on industry Therefore, the goal went beyond simply "having licenses". The company required an Oracle Database licensing strategy that could grow alongside a global communications infrastructure business. The solution. ABTIO is partnering with American Tower Corporation through a new Oracle Database cloud licensing engagement for production instances, which includes: * 2 (two) Oracle Database Standard Edition 2 - Processor Perpetual licenses for production environments * Software Update License & Support for 3 years, providing access to: * Product updates and patches * Security and performance improvements * Oracle technical support for critical issues and requests This model combines the stability of perpetual licensing with the operational peace of mind of continuous updates and vendor support. Ultimately, in an industry where infrastructure reliability and uptime are non-negotiable, a solid Oracle Database licensing strategy becomes a key enabler for business continuity and growth.
American Tower to present at UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. BOSTON-(BUSINESS WIRE)-American Tower Corporation (NYSE: AMT) today announced that it is scheduled to present at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Tuesday, December 9, 2025 at 9:00 AM ET in New York, New York. A live webcast and replay of the presentation will be accessible from the Investor Relations section of American Tower's website at www.americantower.com/investor-relations. American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 149,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities. For more information about American Tower, please visit www.americantower.com.