Lead Data Engineer (Architecture & Data Governance)

Aretum•McLean, VA

About The Position

About Aretum Aretum is a mission-driven organization committed to delivering innovative, technology-enabled solutions to our customers across defense, civilian, and homeland security sectors. Our teams work at the intersection of strategy, technology, and transformation, helping agencies solve their most critical challenges. We believe in investing in our people and creating a culture where collaboration, inclusion, and professional growth are at the forefront. Job Summary Due to the nature of our work as a federal consulting organization, employees may be expected to handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and must adhere to applicable safeguarding and compliance requirements. Additionally, all team members may be called upon to support proposal efforts as needed. This could include resume formatting, providing skills alignment summaries, participating in meetings, or contributing to solutioning activities based on subject matter expertise or functional experience.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field
Minimum of 8 years of experience in data architecture, data engineering, or related roles
Certifications in CompTIA Security+
Active security clearance of SECRET or higher
Proven experience designing and implementing solutions in AWS GovCloud
Hands-on experience with modern cloud data platforms (such as Snowflake, Databricks, AWS Redshift, or equivalent)
Strong understanding of data modeling, data warehousing, and cloud-native architectures
Experience with ETL/ELT tools and frameworks
Familiarity with data governance, metadata management, and compliance standards
Strong understanding of NIST regulations and standards and FedRAMP compliance standards
Excellent communication and collaboration skills
Understanding of military family support programs and their data ecosystems
Experience with multi-domain data integration (program operations, outreach/engagement, and IT performance metrics)

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a technical or analytical discipline
Certifications in AWS, Snowflake, or Databricks
Experience supporting federal government clients or working in regulated environments
Ability to support real-time analytics and customer value delivery across technology streams
Experience with real-time data streaming technologies (e.g., Apache Kafka, AWS Kinesis)
Familiarity with Agile methodologies and DevSecOps practices

Responsibilities

Lead hands-on development of data pipelines and data platform components, including writing and reviewing production-quality code
Own end-to-end delivery for assigned pipelines and services
Build, improve, and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines for large-scale data ingestion and transformation
Implement CI/CD and automated testing for data pipelines (integration tests, data validation, and release workflows)
Establish operational readiness for production data workflows
Optimize performance and cost of pipelines and storage through tuning, partitioning, and workload right-sizing in AWS GovCloud
Contribute to and implement modern data architecture patterns, including lakehouse approaches
Ensure architecture and implement support DoD strategic initiatives, including enterprise data modernization efforts
Drive creation and upkeep of data transformation roadmaps and technical documentation; support data maturity assessments and current-state analysis across agency-wide programs
Translate technical approaches into clear, business-understandable frameworks and recommendations.
Partner with cross-functional teams and program offices to understand data requirements, enable data-driven decision-making, and translate technical approaches into business-understandable frameworks and recommendations.
Support delivery of leadership priority initiatives (e.g., childcare forecasting, Military OneSource analytics, readiness dashboards) and design/implement data solutions that connect outreach efforts to program uptake and readiness outcomes, for users with varying technical proficiency levels