{"id":1472538,"url":"https://alion.io/job/defense-unicorns-senior-data-engineer","title":"Senior Data Engineer (FedD238)","company":{"id":8737,"name":"Defense Unicorns","domain":"defenseunicorns.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/defense-unicorns","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":5,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.8,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":67,"computed_at":"2026-10-01T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"Data Science","role_family":"Data Science","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":112000,"max_usd":219000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":769},"experience_years_min":7,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"AI Agents","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"ETL/ELT","optional":false},{"name":"GitOps","optional":false},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":false},{"name":"OpenShift","optional":false},{"name":"Platform Engineering","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"RAG","optional":false},{"name":"Rest API","optional":false},{"name":"Semantic Search","optional":false},{"name":"Semantic Search","optional":false},{"name":"SQL","optional":false},{"name":"Apache Kafka","optional":true},{"name":"Argo Workflows","optional":true},{"name":"AWS","optional":true},{"name":"Azure","optional":true},{"name":"Dagster","optional":true},{"name":"Embeddings","optional":true},{"name":"GCP","optional":true},{"name":"Helm","optional":true},{"name":"Knowledge Graph","optional":true},{"name":"Kustomize","optional":true},{"name":"NATS","optional":true},{"name":"NIST 800-53","optional":true},{"name":"Pulumi","optional":true},{"name":"Redpanda","optional":true},{"name":"Terraform","optional":true},{"name":"Zero Trust","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-29T15:13:40Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-30","last_verified_at":"2026-10-02T01:18:48Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":2},"description":"Senior Data Engineer\nAI Engineering | Forward Deployed Engineering\nRole Description\nDefense Unicorns is seeking a senior Data Engineer to embed with a government team and its technology partners building an emerging AI-powered engineering ecosystem.\nThis role will focus on making enterprise data usable, discoverable, governed, and accessible to AI models, agents, and mission applications. The engineer will work across data ingestion, transformation, storage, metadata, APIs, search, vector and graph technologies, and the interfaces between the data layer and AI workloads.\nThe ideal candidate is a hands-on data engineer who can operate across the full data lifecycle and understands that data availability and integration are often the primary blockers to delivering AI capabilities. They should be comfortable entering an evolving architecture, learning unfamiliar systems quickly, working directly with commercial technology partners, and solving difficult problems involving data quality, lineage, access, performance, and security.\nThis is not a traditional analytics or business intelligence role. The focus is on building the data foundations and repeatable patterns that allow AI and agentic capabilities to access trusted data and move from prototype to production in secure and classified environments.\nResponsibilities\nDesign, build, and maintain reliable data pipelines that ingest, transform, validate, and deliver data for AI models, agents, and mission applications.\nIntegrate structured and unstructured data sources into enterprise data services, including relational, document, vector, and graph-oriented technologies.\nWork closely with AI/agent engineers to make data discoverable and usable for RAG, semantic search, model context, and tool-enabled agent workflows.\nDevelop repeatable data ingestion and transformation patterns using Python, SQL, APIs, event-driven architectures, and workflow/orchestration technologies.\nEstablish data quality, validation, provenance, lineage, and metadata practices so downstream users and AI systems can trust the information they consume.\nDesign data access patterns that enforce appropriate identity, authorization, classification, and security boundaries while minimizing unnecessary friction for developers and mission users.\nCollaborate with platform engineers to operationalize data services within Kubernetes/OpenShift environments and integrate them into CI/CD and GitOps workflows.\nHelp integrate enterprise data capabilities such as relational stores, JSON/document data, vector search, graph data, advanced analytics, and RAG services into the broader platform architecture.\nTroubleshoot end-to-end data issues spanning source systems, pipelines, storage, APIs, identity, networking, platform services, and AI applications.\nWork directly with government engineers and commercial technology partners to resolve data dependencies and remove blockers to mission delivery.\nDevelop documentation, data contracts, schemas, architecture decision records, runbooks, and operational standards that make successful patterns repeatable across environments.\nIdentify recurring data engineering challenges that can be standardized, automated, or productized rather than repeatedly solved through manual engineering.\nOperate effectively in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment where data sources, architectures, security requirements, and mission priorities will continue to evolve.\nMinimum Experience and Qualifications\nActive TS/SCI clearance.\n7+ years of experience in data engineering, data platform engineering, or a closely related field.\nStrong proficiency with SQL and Python for data processing, automation, and integration.\nHands-on experience building and operating production data pipelines and ETL/ELT workflows.\nExperience with relational databases and modern data storage patterns for structured and unstructured data.\nExperience integrating data through REST APIs, message/event systems, or other distributed integration patterns.\nWorking knowledge of data modeling, schema design, data quality, lineage, metadata, and data governance concepts.\nExperience operating in cloud-native or containerized environments and collaborating with Kubernetes/platform engineering teams.\nAbility to troubleshoot data issues across infrastructure, applications, APIs, storage, networking, and access controls.\nAbility to work independently, rapidly learn new technologies, and translate ambiguous mission needs into working data solutions.\nLocal to the National Capital Region and able to support onsite work at a government facility in Springfield, VA as mission needs increase.\nPreferred Experience and Qualifications\nExperience supporting AI/ML workloads, including RAG, embeddings, vector search, model context, or agentic applications.\nExperience with vector databases, graph databases, document databases, knowledge graphs, or semantic search technologies.\nExperience with Oracle or comparable enterprise data platforms supporting relational, JSON/document, vector, graph, and analytics workloads.\nExperience designing data products or platforms for high-scale, low-latency, or mission-critical workloads.\nExperience with data orchestration and workflow tools such as Airflow, Dagster, Argo Workflows, or comparable technologies.\nExperience with streaming/event platforms such as Kafka, Redpanda, NATS, or similar technologies.\nExperience deploying data services using Kubernetes, Helm, GitOps, Infrastructure as Code, and automated CI/CD pipelines.\nExperience supporting data and AI systems in Secret or TS/SCI environments and across multiple security domains.\nExperience with disconnected or air-gapped environments and the challenges of moving data, metadata, and software across security boundaries.\nFamiliarity with NIST 800-53, RMF/ATO processes, zero-trust architectures, and data security/compliance practices.\nExperience with enterprise search, RAG pipelines, data catalogs, data contracts, or knowledge-graph architectures.\nFamiliarity with UDS, Zarf, Pepr, Iron Bank, or similar secure software delivery technologies.\nExperience working on multidisciplinary teams consisting of government engineers, FDEs, OEM professional services teams, and multiple technology vendors.\nDemonstrated ability to take a fragmented or difficult data environment and turn it into a reliable, reusable foundation for mission applications and AI.\nMission Focus\nMake trusted data available where AI needs it, while establishing the repeatable, secure data patterns required to move from experimentation to operational capability.\nFull compensation packages are based on candidate experience. Compensation ranges are established using national benchmarking data and apply across all geographic locations within the United States. \nRemote - USA\n$148,750—$201,250 USD\nWho We Are\nDefense Unicorns delivers mission value by streamlining software delivery so our customers can focus on the most important challenges. We share a vision of freedom and security for the advancement of progress and innovation. Our commitment to this vision, and to our mission-driven customers, means a commitment to speed, user experience and optionality, without compromising security. Our team is composed of innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across the federal market.\nWhat We Do\nWe create and deliver secure solutions for continuous software integration and delivery. Defense Unicorns consolidates the best practices for security pipelines, testing, and deployment automation in order to meet the high security requirements valued by mission owners. Our solutions are agnostic by design and we believe that growing a robust ecosystem of secure, cloud-native software solutions can help enterprise customers inside and outside the federal market buy and integrate software more easily.\nWho We Serve\nDefense Unicorns’ customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products.\nWhat We Work On\nKubernetes\nCloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure)\nInfrastructure-as-code (like Terraform/Pulumi)\nContinuous Delivery and automation tooling\nGitOps\nContainers\nCNCF projects and open source products and packages\nHelm/Kustomize-Value Stream Mapping\nBuilding and improving security delivery\nBuilding Kubernetes and cloud native applications\nBenefits Our Unicorns Enjoy\nHealth:\nMedical/Dental/Vision\nPremiums are 100% Company Paid\nHealth Savings Account\nLife Insurance\nDisability Insurance\nFinancial:\n401k Retirement Plan\nCompany Stock Options\nHome Office Budget\nLeave:\nWe offer all full-time Unicorns Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s\nPaid Parental Leave\nLearning:\nReimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions\nConferences (travel, lodging, and fees)\nDon’t have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don't meet every requirement listed. \nAt Defense Unicorns, we're committed to diversity. If you're enthusiastic about the role but don't match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.\nCCPA DISCLOSURE","description_format":"text","description_chars":9928,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":7,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan","Flexible time off","Home office","Life insurance","Parental leave","Retirement plans","Stock options"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Military","Naval Systems"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-29T16:59:08Z"}],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":67,"reasons":["conf:9","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-01T05:45:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/defense-unicorns-senior-data-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/defense-unicorns-senior-data-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-02T03:26:48Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":4774,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":226,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-10-03T00:00:00Z"}}}