Data Engineer - Junior

Xpect Solutions•Crystal City, VA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

XPECT Solutions is seeking a Junior Data Engineer to support our Federal Government Customer with delivering secure, cloud-based mission systems. The Engineer will contribute to the end-to-end technical design across full-stack applications, microservices, and AWS infrastructure, setting architectural direction and guiding a team of engineers through delivery. This role spans front-end (React, JavaScript, HTML/CSS), back-end (Java, Spring Boot, Python, Apache Camel, GraphQL), data, and cloud layers — translating mission requirements into scalable, maintainable solutions that meet federal compliance requirements (NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, DHS 4300A). The ideal candidate is a hands-on technical leader who can move fluidly between whiteboard design, code review, and stakeholder briefings, and who has a track record of leading architecture for complex distributed systems in regulated environments. As a Hybrid position, there is an onsite requirement of one day per week.

Requirements

Must Be Able to Obtain Public Trust Level 6C
3-5 years of Information Assurance experience
Experience with Python
Experience with Spark
Experience with PySpark
Experience with SQL and Database Implementation
Experience with Data Engineering and Data Pipelines
Experience with Storage and Compute Optimization
Experience with GitHub
Experience with Jenkins/Cloudbees
Experience with Ansible
Experience with Terraform
Experience with Vault

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related field.

Responsibilities

Design end-to-end solution architectures for secure, cloud-based data platforms supporting federal mission workloads, including data ingestion, processing, storage, and analytics layers.
Develop reference architectures, design patterns, and architectural decision records (ADRs) that guide engineering teams and ensure consistency across the program.
Architect distributed data processing pipelines using Spark and PySpark, defining partitioning, caching, and resource strategies to optimize throughput and cost.
Lead database design and data modeling efforts for relational and analytical workloads, including schema design, indexing strategy, and SQL performance tuning.
Define storage and compute optimization strategies — tiering, right-sizing, autoscaling, and workload placement — to balance performance against budget constraints.
Collaborate with DevSecOps to embed security and compliance controls (NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, DHS 4300A) into architectural designs and CI/CD workflows using GitHub, Jenkins/CloudBees, Ansible, Terraform, and Vault.
Conduct architectural reviews, design trade-off analyses, and proof-of-concept evaluations to validate solutions before full implementation.
Produce architecture documentation, diagrams, and technical briefings tailored to engineering, security, and government stakeholder audiences.
Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineering teams, guiding implementation decisions and resolving complex design issues.
Partner with program leadership to assess emerging technologies, evaluate vendor offerings, and recommend roadmap investments aligned to mission needs.