Open Book: Jorge Banuelos, Head of Research & Development, Data Science

Open Book is a series of interviews for you to get to know the incredible people of Opendoor. In this Q&A, Jorge B. shares why he feels such a strong personal connection to Opendoor’s mission, what the Research & Development team is working on, and what inspires him most about solving new and complex problems.

Hi Jorge, we’re excited about our conversation with you today. Could you kick it off by telling us a bit about yourself and why you wanted to join Opendoor?

Absolutely. I worked at a few big tech companies before I joined Opendoor, and mainly focused on infrastructure projects. I was drawn to Opendoor’s mission to empower everyone with the freedom to move because I’ve relocated several times over the last 10 years and know first-hand how stressful the experience can be. Knowing that I could work on a product that simplifies a complex process (and helps people cherish a major life moment!) inspires me.

Opendoor is also unique in that there are a variety of different disciplines that need to come together to make a tangible impact. Our team has experts that span different fields — such as statistics, machine learning, and economics — and collaborate to make our mission a reality.

You lead Research & Development (R&D) with the Research & Data Science Org. What does your team do? Could you share an example of an exciting project you’re currently working on?

Our mission is to drive profitable data breakthroughs across the entire company. From operations to new products, there’s endless opportunity for the R&D team to make a truly meaningful impact.

Because there are so many areas for growth, our team approaches projects with a sense of ruthless prioritization to determine which ones have the greatest potential to drive impact at a given moment in time. For example, we are working to identify signals that improve our automated valuation model (AVM), a machine learning model that estimates the value of a property.

What surprised you most about joining Opendoor?

Despite being a public company, Opendoor still has an innovative startup culture and is a place where you can see the full lifecycle of a project or product — from ideation and creation to execution and seeing the impact the work has on our customers. This wasn’t something I fully experienced at other companies, and I see it as an incredible learning opportunity.

I’ve also been struck by how much we truly offer. From Opendoor-Backed Offers to self-guided home walkthroughs, we have an impressive breadth of products and services that empower people across the US.

Finally, the level of transparency and autonomy we have at Opendoor is rare. The Leadership team emphasizes being candid and open, and this mindset permeates throughout the team. We’re together in the ‘why’ behind decisions, and everyone is encouraged to share their opinions and perspectives.

As a leader, how do you create an innovative work environment?

“I love Leonard Baum’s saying ‘Bad ideas is good, good ideas is terrific, no ideas is terrible’, which has influenced my approach to leadership.”

With this in mind, I aim to cultivate a space where people feel safe sharing their ideas. I ask, “How can we build on that?” to foster creativity and collaboration. Within R&D, we’re always thinking about how we can contribute to the company and how our efforts will impact the customer experience. I also think about maintaining a healthy balance between innovation and ensuring we’re maintaining focus and consistency in our research and approach.

What skills or characteristics empower people to succeed within R&D? At Opendoor?

People who have an entrepreneurial spirit, startup mentality, and take ownership of projects do really well on our team. We look for people who can quickly take an idea, validate its impact, and set strategic milestones along the way.

We also appreciate unique perspectives and can learn a lot from people who come from different backgrounds. Within R&D, T-shaped expertise — a deep knowledge in a particular area packaged with general knowledge — is incredibly valuable as it empowers someone to wear different hats, whether that means acting as a product manager or statistician.

You’re based in the Pacific Northwest, and joined the team with a remote onboarding experience. What was that like?

Opendoor is growing quickly with team members across the US, and the Learning and Development team has designed a comprehensive onboarding process. My experience was thoughtful, smooth and comprehensive, which set the tone for working with my team and our cross-functional partners.

In addition, I found people across the company to be supportive and generous with their time. I didn’t have any experience in real estate, and found that my teammates went out of their way to reach out and help me learn about our business and the industry.

Why is now an exciting time to join your team and Opendoor?

Opendoor is growing rapidly, and everyone on the team has tremendous opportunity to make an impact not just within our industry, but for our customers.

“Real estate has lots of data points to draw from, which means we have a unique and exciting opportunity to solve novel problems.”

If you’re a passionate person who loves to learn, you’ll be empowered to grow here. Within R&D, there are opportunities to work on the infrastructure or product side, depending on where your interest lies.

How exciting! How do you maintain a sense of focus and balance each day?

No two days are the same and there will always be more to do at Opendoor, so I appreciate that everyone is encouraged to take time off and recharge. There’s often a stigma at tech companies that “unlimited PTO means no PTO”, but I haven’t found that to be the case at all.

Outside of Opendoor, I have three wonderful children and love spending time with my family! They give me tons of energy, and I make sure my evenings are focused on my kids. I live in Seattle, so on the weekends I love to explore the picturesque Pacific Northwest by going on hikes or running on trails.

What advice do you have for someone who is interested in joining Opendoor?

I think there’s often a misconception among folks who are interested in applying that you need to have a certain background, like machine learning or real estate. The reality is that there are countless challenges we still need to solve, and your knowledge and experience may empower us with a new perspective.

My best advice is not to rule yourself out. If you’re interested, apply!

Interested in joining our team? Opendoor is hiring across all teams, including Research & Development! Check out our current open positions!

Want to learn more about working at Opendoor? Check out our Design and Engineering and Data Science blogs.