Senior Systems Engineer (AWS Data Engineer)

Syms Strategic Group (SSG) is seeking a talented Senior Systems Engineer (Amazon Web Services (AWS) Data Engineer)
Location: Remote
Department: Veterans Affairs (VA)
Type: Full Time
Min. Experience: Experienced
Security Clearance Level: Public Trust (MBI)

Military Veterans are highly encouraged to apply!

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the next phase of the healthcare data platform modernization
• Continue the evolution from a Microsoft Structured Query Language Server (MSSQL) eXtensible Markup Language (XML) object store toward a scalable, cloud-native AWS data architecture
• Enable business stakeholders and analysts to run performant, SQL-based reports and queries against the healthcare data seamlessly
• Evaluate and decide the right AWS data strategy for the team’s platform
• Evaluate and commend the optimal AWS-native data storage and query architecture for the XML object store data, assessing options such as Simple Storage Service (S3) + Athena, Aurora, DynamoDB, Redshift, and OpenSearch based on query patterns, reporting needs, cost, and scalability
• Design and build the reporting and query layer that allows business stakeholders and non-technical users to run relational SQL queries against healthcare data using familiar tooling
• Architect the migration path for XML object store data from MSSQL into the target AWS platform, defining storage formats, partitioning strategies, and data organization for optimal query performance
• Build and maintain AWS data catalog(s), schemas, and metadata management so that object store data is discoverable and queryable by business users
• Optimize query performance and cost across chosen AWS services – partitioning, compression, file formats, and query pattern tuning
• Work directly with business stakeholders and analysts to understand reporting requirements and translate them into durable, performant data models and query patterns
• Collaborate with backend C#/.Net engineers to ensure data flows cleanly from Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) processing pipelines into the new data layer
• Implement and maintain Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines for data infrastructure using AWS-native tooling (CodePipeline, CodeBuild, and CodeDeploy)
• Apply Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices using AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK), CloudFormation, or Terraform
• Document architecture decisions, data flows, and data dictionaries clearly for both technical and non-technical audiences

Required Skills and Experience

• 8+ years’ experience in software or data engineering with a strong AWS focus
• Proven experience architecting and executing cloud data platform migrations in production enterprise or healthcare environments
• A track record of evaluating and selecting AWS data services to meet business reporting and query requirements
• Experience delivering reporting or analytics solutions that serve non-technical business users
• Deep hands-on AWS experience across data-oriented services (S3, Athena, Glue, Aurora, DynamoDB, Redshift, OpenSearch, Lambda, Identity Access Management (IAM), Cloudwatch)
• Strong SQL skills, with an ability to design relational query layers over semi-structured or non-relational data (XML, JSON)
• Experience working with XML-heavy data stores (parsing, querying, and transforming XML at scale)
• An ability to evaluate trade-offs across AWS data services and make architecture recommendations based on cost, performance, and business requirements
• Familiarity with AWS analytics and reporting services, including Athena, QuickSight, Redshift, or equivalent Business Intelligence (BI) tooling
• Proficiency with Git and GitHub, branching strategies, pull requests, and collaborative workflows
• Familiarity with CI/CD practices and AWS-native tooling (CodePipeline, CodeBuild, and CodeDeploy)
• IaC experience (AWS CDK, Cloud Formation, or Terraform)
• A strong ability to communicate technical architecture decisions and trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders
• Experience gathering and translating business reporting requirements into technical data models
• Comfort driving ambiguous architecture decisions to resolution with limited direction
• Experience with Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) and JIRA
• Strong documentation habits, including architecture diagrams, data dictionaries, and migration runbooks

Professional Certifications

None required however AWS Certification(s) are a plus

Years of Professional Experience

n/a

Desired experience

Electronic Data Interchange X.12 (EDI) Medical Claims

• X.12, Medical Claims (837, 835, 277CA, etc), Health Level (HL7), Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR)

Familiarity with C#/.Net backend services for integration touchpoints
Experience with Entity Framework migration or depreciation projects
Knowledge of HIPAA compliance requirements in cloud data architecture
Experience with healthcare payer/PBM systems, clearinghouses, or pharmacy operations
Experience working with remote U.S. based teams (Not Offshore teams)

Formal Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline

Citizenship Requirement

U.S. Citizenship required for this specific opportunity

Security Clearance Requirements

Must possess or qualify for a Public Trust (MBI)

CRITICAL NOTES:

1. SSG will not make assumptions regarding your qualifications. Your answers to the mandatory screening questions must be supported by the information on your resume. Applications with inconsistencies will not be considered.
2. Recruiters or Third parties will not be considered.
3. This is a 100% U.S. based remote position. However, candidates from CA, CO, IL, MN, NJ, NY, OR, or WA will not be considered.
4. This is a W-2 position
5. All interviews will be conducted on Microsoft Teams with your camera on; there will be no exceptions
6. As part of our screening process, you will be requested to provide a link to your LinkedIn profile

U.S Citizenship is required for this specific opportunity . Applicants selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information and be able to obtain a government-granted security clearance. Individuals may also be subject to a background investigation including, but not limited to criminal history, employment and education verification, drug testing, and creditworthiness.

Syms Strategic Group, LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or genetic information.