Senior Data Engineer - Active TS/SCI with FSP

Location: Herndon/Chantilly, VA

Clearance Required: TS/SCI with Full Scope Polygraph (FSP)

Position Type: Full-Time, On-Site

Salary Range: $180,000 – $220,000

We are seeking a highly skilled  Senior Data Engineer  to support the design, development, and optimization of mission-critical data engineering solutions for a federal program. This position requires extensive experience in the full data lifecycle, including data movement, ingestion, transformation, and modeling in both on-prem and cloud-based environments. The ideal candidate will bring a strong command of ETL pipelines, data formatting tools, and modern data engineering frameworks to support advanced analytics and mission-driven insights.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Develop scalable tools, services, and code to execute complex data engineering tasks involving structured and unstructured data.
• Design, implement, and maintain robust ETL pipelines using technologies such as Spark, Apache NiFi, Apache Iceberg, and Trino.
• Ingest and transform data for enterprise-level storage and exploration, ensuring format standardization and compliance with mission objectives.
• Collaborate with data scientists and mission partners to understand source data and define transformations supporting operational outcomes.
• Clean, preprocess, and condition data to support downstream analytics, ensuring data quality, integrity, and lineage (pedigree/provenance).
• Build services for one-time and recurring data extractions and conversions across local and enterprise repositories.
• Support cloud-based processing using AWS EMR and Kubernetes, and contribute to OpenSearch integrations.
• Produce comprehensive documentation including ETL mappings, code usage guidelines, and system access protocols.
• Coordinate with engineering teams and data stewards to integrate and operationalize new data processing platforms.
• Participate in Agile development processes and data governance working groups to enhance enterprise data standards and practices.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 10+ years of professional experience in data engineering, including:

• Full data lifecycle engineering (collection, transformation, storage, distribution)
• Development and maintenance of ETL pipelines and data transformation workflows
• Cloud and on-premise data solutions
• Proficiency in Python, SQL, Spark, and modern data engineering languages
• Experience with COTS/open-source data tools such as ElasticSearch and Apache NiFi
• Proven track record of delivering within Agile software development lifecycles
• Ability to work full-time on-site in Herndon/Chantilly, VA.
• Active TS/SCI clearance with Full Scope Polygraph (FSP) is required at the time of application.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) to optimize data processing and transformation.
• Familiarity with emerging data pipeline architectures and advanced cloud-native tools.
• Exposure to data stewardship and enterprise data governance principles.

Eligibility:

• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship, now or in the future.
• Active TS/SCI with Full Scope Polygraph (FSP) clearance is required for this role.

Salary:

Salary for this position is determined based on factors such as location, qualifications, experience, and contract-specific budget considerations.

Proposed Salary Range: $180,000 – $220,000

Benefits:

Our client offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package, including:

• 100% Company-Paid Health Insurance:  Full coverage for medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their dependents (United Healthcare and Guardian).
• Protection Plans:  Employer-paid life, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance.
• 401(k) Retirement Contribution:  15% of base salary contributed by the company, fully vested from day one.
• Paid Time Off:  200 hours of PTO annually (accrued), in addition to 11 federal holidays.
• Bonuses:  Recruitment and business development bonus opportunities based on performance and company growth.