Data Engineer / Backend Developer

Lexical Intelligence, LLC•Bethesda, MD

10d•$125,000 - $145,000

About The Position

Lexical Intelligence provides software and services for processing large-scale biomedical information sources. Its NLP and analytics software helps policy and decision makers evaluate and prioritize current and emerging areas of research. The Data Engineer / Backend Developer will design, build, and maintain scalable web applications and content management solutions supporting enterprise operations and data distribution. The role drives back-end development, API integrations, and content management framework improvements for cloud-native platforms that support dynamic data workflows. The position owns key components of back-end application logic, content modeling, and data delivery pipelines, with an emphasis on system reliability, maintainability, and clear architecture. It is a hands-on role responsible for robust services, database interactions, content management workflows, and API endpoints. The work also includes modernizing legacy back-end components, optimizing performance, and improving content architecture for efficient access and administration.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related discipline.
At least 5 years of professional experience in Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering, or Data Architecture.
Strong knowledge of data integration patterns, data lifecycle management, and modern cloud-based data architecture.
Experience designing or implementing data quality frameworks, validation rules, and data observability solutions.
Experience working with large, multi-entity datasets and reconciling data across disparate sources.
Ability to work independently to deliver data solutions while collaborating within a cross-functional engineering team.
Strong hands-on experience with pipeline automation, orchestration, and data framework development.
Strong technical writing and documentation skills, with meticulous attention to detail.
Ability to communicate requirements effectively to engineers, data scientists, and program leadership.
Java proficiency.
Experience developing backend data processing systems and working in Linux-based environments.
Strong proficiency with JSON and API-based data integration.
Must be authorized to work in the United States.
Must be able to obtain and maintain an NIH badge with Public Trust Level Two suitability.
Must undergo a background check.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a related discipline.
Familiarity with large-scale data platforms, biomedical data, or research-focused systems, including data privacy considerations for sensitive or regulated data.
Experience supporting public-facing federal systems or APIs.
Databricks familiarity.
One or more of the following certifications: AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate, Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate/Professional.
Cloud architecture or DevOps experience or knowledge.

Responsibilities

Design and implement data quality, validation, and observability frameworks, including rules, SLAs, and anomaly detection across ingestion and enrichment pipelines.
Build systems to track and report data completeness, record counts, and changes over time to ensure integrity and detect unexpected variation.
Support downstream NLP and analytics pipelines by delivering high-quality, well-structured, consistently enriched data.
Contribute to modernizing legacy data processing frameworks into reusable, scalable platform components.
Develop APIs and data integration services to expose and operationalize curated datasets.
Design and implement data mapping, transformation, and normalization across heterogeneous data sources.
Implement and modernize automated data ingestion frameworks, including batch pipelines and crawler-based ingestion.
Monitor, optimize, and instrument data pipelines for performance, reliability, and transparency.
Design and maintain data lineage, metadata, and documentation to provide transparency into data coverage, completeness, and flow.
Collaborate with governance and security teams to meet compliance standards and support ongoing ATO requirements through documentation and system design.