Data Engineer / Data Architect III

The Lead Data Engineer / Data Architect will spearhead the creation of our next-generation “Analytics Core” within a closed, classified, on-premises environment. This mission-critical project will unify our 30-year legacy archive of diverse data—including reports, sensor data, imagery, and heavily geospatial intelligence—into a single, query-able, and AI-ready ecosystem.

Because our historical data is highly complex with deep attribution challenges, this is a “roll-up-your-sleeves” role. We expect a balance of approximately 60% hands-on data engineering (ETL pipeline construction, data cleaning, and mapping) and 40% data architecture (strategic design and governance).

As our management team upskills our dedicated in-house staff to execute the broader data migration, this role will act as the technical anchor. The Lead Data Engineer / Data Architect will build strong relationships, set clear technical standards, and seamlessly interface with transitioning staff to ensure the project’s success.

ESSENTIAL

• Data Architecture & Modeling

o Design the foundational multidimensional data models for complex, multi-modal data.

o Untangle 30 years of complex historical data to resolve attribution issues and establish a clean, authoritative data model.

• Foundational Engineering

o Act as the hands-on technical lead to build initial ETL/ELT pipelines using Python, SQL, and on-premises infrastructure.

o Develop programmatic solutions to clean, parse, and ingest legacy unstructured and structured data.

• Geospatial Integration

o Given that nearly all database records contain coordinate data, lead the integration between our on-premises ESRI portal and the new Analytics Core.

o Ensure spatial data seamlessly aligns with the multidimensional model.

• AI/ML Data Preparation

o Establish standards for feature engineering, ensuring the database architecture is optimized for future Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications within a classified environment.

• Governance & Compliance

o Enforce data governance, metadata tagging, and access control protocols in strict alignment with the DoD Data Strategy and classified network handling requirements.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Integration

o While management will handle direct personnel training, you must establish effective working relationships and technical interfaces with our evolving internal team:

§ Software Engineers: Interface with engineers transitioning into data engineering. Provide clear technical specifications, architectural blueprints, and constructive code reviews as they take over building scalable ETL/ELT pipelines.

§ GIS Specialist: Collaborate closely to integrate their programmatic GIS outputs into the broader AI-ready database. Bridge the gap between standard data engineering and specialized geospatial analytics.

§ Junior Data Manager: Partner to operationalize data governance. Define data rules and interface with them as they manage the Data Dictionary, enforce quality control, and properly tag legacy metadata.

§ General:

· Work independently and as a team member.

· Lead and mentor less experienced employees.

· Ensures work given and completed is within compliance with processes, standards and policies of the organization.

· Lead projects within department or job functions.

· Lead individual contributors to ensure the work completion is as per set standards and procedures.

ADDITIONAL

• Other duties as assigned.

• Support occasional travel as required.

• Scheduled weekly hours: 40

• Day shift – With occasional afterhours and weekends (< 3%)

REQUIRED

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems or a related technical field. Equivalent work experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.

• Must have 5-9 years of real-world experience in data management (preferably in support of federal government programs).

o Policy development

o Organizational goals for handling and using data

o Having led a data analysis team

o Ability to query a database

• Advanced proficiency in Python and SQL.

• Proven hands-on experience building ETL/ELT pipelines and designing databases to clean and structure complex, messy legacy data.

• Experience with on-premises infrastructure is required.

• At minimum, stellar core engineering skills paired with a solid working knowledge of GIS data structures.

• Demonstrated understanding of the DoD Data Strategy.

• Proven ability to act as a technical anchor, interface with cross-functional teams, and establish standards for adjacent staff.

• Ability to obtain and maintain Security+ Certification.

• Active DoD Security Clearance is required.

• Must have or be able to obtain and maintain a