Senior Data Engineer (Enterprise Operations)

The Aerospace Corporation • Chantilly, VA

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About The Position

The Senior Data Engineer will design, build, and optimize scalable data pipelines and infrastructure to enable reliable, timely, and secure access to data across the enterprise. The role is part of The Aerospace Corporation’s Office of the CIO, within its Data and AI Services team, which provides advanced modeling, machine learning, and predictive analytics capabilities for enterprise services operations and strategic decision-making.

The position works closely with data scientists, software engineers, business stakeholders, and mission teams to provide high-quality data for analytics, AI/ML initiatives, and business operations. The data engineering team builds and maintains the organization’s data infrastructure, pipelines, and platforms. The role may be filled at the Data Technical Lead Staff IV or Data Technical Lead Staff V level, with additional experience and streaming-data qualifications for Staff V. Occasional domestic travel to work locations or customer sites is expected, approximately 10%. The position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Information Systems, or a related STEM field.
• At least 8 years of experience in data engineering, software engineering, or a related technical field for the Staff IV level; the posting specifies a minimum of 10 years for Staff V.
• Strong proficiency in SQL and at least one programming language such as Python, Java, or Scala.
• Hands-on experience building and maintaining data pipelines using tools such as Apache Airflow, Spark, or Kafka.
• Experience with cloud data platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP, including storage, compute, and data-processing services.
• Strong understanding of data modeling, data warehousing concepts, and database design principles.
• Willingness to travel occasionally, approximately 10%, to domestic work locations or customer sites.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance; U.S. citizenship is required to obtain the clearance.
• For the Staff V level, familiarity with streaming data architectures and real-time data processing.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or a related STEM field.
• 15 or more years of data engineering experience.
• Prior experience in aerospace, defense, or government environments.
• Experience with containerization and orchestration tools such as Docker and Kubernetes, and Infrastructure-as-Code tools such as Terraform.
• Relevant certifications, such as AWS Certified Data Analytics or Google Professional Data Engineer.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain robust, scalable ETL/ELT pipelines that ingest, transform, and deliver data from diverse enterprise sources.
• Partner with data scientists, software engineers, and business stakeholders to understand data requirements and deliver reliable, high-quality data solutions.
• Architect and optimize relational databases, data lakes, and data warehouses to support analytics and reporting needs.
• Implement data-quality checks, monitoring, and alerting to ensure pipeline data accuracy, completeness, and timeliness.
• Lead efforts to improve pipeline performance, scalability, and cost-efficiency across cloud and on-premise environments.
• Mentor junior data engineers and promote best practices in code quality, testing, and documentation.
• Collaborate across functions to integrate new data sources and emerging technologies and continuously improve the data platform.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans.
• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation.
• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options.
• 401(k) plan with company-paid benefits of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service, plus matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested upon hire.
• Flexible spending accounts.
• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions.
• Relocation assistance.
• Professional growth and development programs.
• Education assistance programs.
• Inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior