{"id":110935,"url":"https://alion.io/job/psu-data-engineer-data-architecture-for-data-science-machine-learning","title":"Data Engineer – Data Architecture for Data Science & Machine Learning","company":{"id":37673,"name":"Pennsylvania State University","domain":"psu.edu","url":"https://alion.io/company/psu-edu","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":72,"open_postings":757,"ghost_share":0.461,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":38,"computed_at":"2026-10-25T05:49:26Z"}},"role":"Data Science","role_family":"Data Science","seniority":"staff","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["University Park, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":121704,"max":265704,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":265704},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":19,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Amazon Aurora","optional":false},{"name":"AWS","optional":false},{"name":"Azure","optional":false},{"name":"Cassandra","optional":false},{"name":"DynamoDB","optional":false},{"name":"GCP","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Neo4j","optional":false},{"name":"PostgreSQL","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Redis","optional":false},{"name":"SQL","optional":false},{"name":"Time Series","optional":false},{"name":"Amazon Redshift","optional":true},{"name":"dbt","optional":true},{"name":"ETL/ELT","optional":true},{"name":"Feast","optional":true},{"name":"Feature Store","optional":true},{"name":"Google BigQuery","optional":true},{"name":"Snowflake","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-13T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-13","last_verified_at":"2026-10-25T10:01:35Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":73,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":73},"description":"APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:\nCURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.\n\nCURRENT PENN STATE STUDENT (not employed previously at the university) and seeking employment with Penn State, pleaselogin to Workday to complete thestudent application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.\n\nIf you are NOT a current employee or student, please click “Apply” and complete the application process for external applicants.\n\nApproval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.\nPOSITION SPECIFICS\nWe are seeking a Senior Data Engineer with deep expertise in database design, optimization, and data access strategies to support our growing data science and machine learning initiatives within the Computational Intelligence and Visualization Application Department in the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State. In this role, you will architect and optimize data systems that empower our data scientists to efficiently research, train, and deploy both traditional and ML-based algorithms and applications.\nThe ideal candidate is a PostgreSQL expert who also brings hands-on experience with other modern data storage technologies-such as NoSQL, graph, and time-series databases -and can guide the organization in choosing the right tools and structures for each data use case.\nLocated in either State College, PA or Reston, VA\nARL is an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply.\nYou will:\nDesign and maintain scalable, high-performance database solutions to support data science workflows and ML experimentation\nPartner with data scientists to understand data access patterns and develop storage strategies that accelerate analysis and model training\nServe as the internal subject matter expert on PostgreSQL -including schema design, indexing, partitioning, and query optimization\nEvaluate and integrate alternative database technologies (e.g., MongoDB, Neo4j, Redis, Cassandra) where they provide clear advantages\nLead efforts to optimize data pipelines for both structured and unstructured data used in algorithm development\nEnsure data integrity, security, and governance across storage systems\nImplement monitoring, automation, and performance-tuning tools for all database environments\nAdvise on data lifecycle management-balancing accessibility for R&D with efficiency and compliance requirements\nRequired skills/experience includes:\n5+ years of experience in data engineering, database architecture, or related technical roles\n Expert-level proficiency in PostgreSQL (query tuning, schema design, indexing, partitioning, replication)\nStrong understanding of data modeling, normalization vs. denormalization tradeoffs, and query optimization\nExperience with non-relational databases (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra, Neo4j, Redis, or DynamoDB)\nFamiliarity with machine learning workflows and how data is consumed for training, evaluation, and deployment\nExperience with cloud database services (AWS RDS/Aurora, GCP Cloud SQL, Azure Database)\nProficiency in SQL and one or more scripting languages (Python preferred)\nExcellent communication and collaboration skills-comfortable working closely with data scientists, ML engineers, and software developers\nPreferred skills/experience includes:\nExperience architecting hybrid data ecosystems spanning relational, NoSQL, and analytical databases.\nKnowledge of data lake, warehouse, and feature store architectures (e.g., Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Feast)\nFamiliarity with ETL/ELT frameworks and data orchestration tools (e.g., Airflow, dbt)\nBachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or a related field\nWork location can be fully on-site located in State College, PA or Reston , VA. Questions related to flexible work should be directed to the hiring manager during the interview process.\nMINIMUM EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE & REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS\nIf filled as R&D Engineer - Data Science (ARL) - Principal Professional, this position requires:\nBachelor's Degree - Engineering or Science\n19+ years of relevant experience\nRequired Certifications:\nNone\n\nIf filled as R&D Engineer - Data Science (ARL) - Advanced Professional, this position requires:\nBachelor's Degree - Engineering or Science\n5+ years of relevant experience\nRequired Certifications:\nNone\n\nIf filled as R&D Engineer - Data Science (ARL) - Senior Professional, this position requires:\nBachelor's Degree - Engineering or Science\n14+ years of relevant experience\nRequired Certifications:\nNoneARL’s purpose is to research and develop innovative solutions to challenging scientific, engineering, and technology problems in support of the Navy, the Intel Community (IC), and other federal government customers.\nFOR FURTHER INFORMATION on ARL, visit our website atwww.arl.psu.edu.\nBACKGROUND CHECKS/CLEARANCES\nEmployment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.Notice regarding employment at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL):\nEmployees must be eligible to obtain a government security clearance, participate in the ARL drug testing program, and comply with electronic and physical monitoring requirements applicable to federal contractors. ARL operates in a secure information environment involving Unclassified, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and Classified information. Personal electronic devices brought onsite must be registered and may be restricted from certain areas. You must be a U.S. citizen to apply.SALARY & BENEFITS\nThe salary range for this position, including all possible grades, is $121,704.00 - $265,704.00.Salary Structure - Information on Penn State's salary structure\nPenn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being. In addition to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, employees enjoy robust retirement plans and substantial paid time off which includes holidays, vacation and sick time. One of the standout benefits is the generous 75% tuition discount, available to employees as well as eligible spouses and children. For more detailed information, please visit our Benefits Page.\nCAMPUS SECURITY CRIME STATISTICS\nPursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and the Pennsylvania Act of 1988, Penn State publishes a combined Annual Security and Annual Fire Safety Report (ASR). The ASR includes crime statistics and institutional policies concerning campus security, such as those concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, and other matters. The ASR is available for review here.\nEEO IS THE LAW\nPenn State is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If you are unable to use our online application process due to an impairment or disability, please contact 814-865-1473.\nFederal Contractors Labor Law Poster\nPA State Labor Law Poster\nPenn State Policies\nCopyright Information\nHotlines","description_format":"text","description_chars":7521,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":19,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["DoD SkillBridge","Flexible schedule","Hybrid work","Retirement plans","Veteran hiring program"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Biotechnology","Education","Higher Education"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-08-13T00:00:00Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":23,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":0.9,"p_active":0.705,"p_room":0.36,"age_days":73,"expected_fill_days":38,"reasons":["conf:69","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-25T05:49:26Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":265704,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/psu-data-engineer-data-architecture-for-data-science-machine-learning","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/psu-data-engineer-data-architecture-for-data-science-machine-learning.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-25T10:27:55Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":15014,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-26T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":37673},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=37673"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fpsu-data-engineer-data-architecture-for-data-science-machine-learning"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fpsu-data-engineer-data-architecture-for-data-science-machine-learning"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fpsu-data-engineer-data-architecture-for-data-science-machine-learning"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/psu-data-engineer-data-architecture-for-data-science-machine-learning\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fpsu-data-engineer-data-architecture-for-data-science-machine-learning"}]}