Data Engineer

Shift5; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus program

Competitive salary

Employer-paid medical coverage

Life Insurance

Uncapped paid time off

Job summary

Shift5 is seeking a Data Engineer to join our Product Engineering team in Arlington, Virginia. In this role, you will design, build, and maintain scalable data processing pipelines, ensuring data quality and collaboration across teams.

The ideal candidate has over 2 years of software and data engineering experience, with strong skills in programming and Big Data technologies. We offer a competitive salary, bonus programs, and benefits in our fast-growing startup.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of software/data engineering experience.
• Deep understanding of software engineering practices.
• Experience with evolving modern data stack components.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain data processing pipelines.
• Collaborate with data scientists to create semantic data models.
• Analyze complex data sets to verify data quality.

Skills

Software engineering practices

Data processing

Programming languages (GoLang, Java, Python)

Relational databases

Big Data technologies (Hadoop, Spark)

Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)

Data pipelines (Apache Airflow, Benthos)

Job description

Shift5 is building the data platform for onboard operational technology (OT). We deliver cybersecurity, predictive maintenance, and compliance capabilities that enable defense and commercial fleets to operate with greater readiness, resilience, and mission assurance.

We are seeking a Data Engineer to join our growing Product Engineering team. In this role, you will design, build, and maintain data processing, storage, and integration pipelines, reporting to the Off Vehicle Manager, Software Engineering, and working in a team-based environment with engineers, product managers, program managers, and designers.

What You’ll Do

• Design & Build Pipelines: Design, build, and maintain robust, scalable batch and streaming data processing, storage, and integration pipelines.
• Feature Ownership: Interpret requirements and design specifications, taking full ownership of building features from the ground up.
• Write Quality Code: Write clean, well‑documented, scalable, extensible, and testable code to ensure application quality and maintainability.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Partner with data scientists and engineers to create semantic data models representing complex vehicular systems, and integrate applications cleanly across other Shift5 componentry.
• Support Stakeholders: Build scalable data products for data scientists, transportation engineers, and executives to drive insights and decision‑making.
• Cloud Optimization: Create efficient, reliable, cost‑effective, dynamically scalable, and observable solutions utilizing AWS cloud services.
• Data Analysis & Quality: Analyze complex data sets to create data ontologies, verify data quality/integrity, and ensure data accuracy throughout pipelines.
• Field Support: Support the design process and occasionally travel to customer sites (estimated a few times per year) to collaborate with Field Engineers on data integration and deployment.

What Success Looks Like

• High‑Impact Delivery: You successfully deliver scalable, observable, supportable, and reliable data processing applications that empower customers to run smarter, safer fleets.
• End‑to‑End Ownership: You confidently steer features from initial requirements gathering and design through planning and implementation in a fast‑paced environment.
• Collaborative Impact: You actively shape product design alongside multidisciplinary teams, contributing directly to a culture of high performance and mission readiness.
• Adaptability: You efficiently multitask and smoothly accommodate changing priorities on demand to meet the dynamic needs of a scaling company.

What We’re Looking For

• Engineering Experience: 2+ years of software/data engineering experience with a deep understanding of software engineering practices and concepts.
• Core Languages: 2+ years of experience with a major programming language (GoLang, Java, or Python).
• Databases & Big Data: 2+ years of relational database experience (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, etc.) alongside 2+ years of experience with Big Data (Hadoop, Spark) and Data Modeling.
• Cloud & Containers: 2+ years of experience with containerization and cloud services (Docker, Kubernetes) and cloud monitoring tools.
• Data Pipelines: Expertise with batch and streaming data pipelines using technologies such as Apache Airflow or Benthos.
• Modern Data Stack: Familiarity with modern data stack components including data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration.
• U.S. Citizenship: required and ability to obtain a security clearance.
• Data Architecture: Experience and understanding of data lakes/warehouses (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, Redshift).
• DevOps Practices: Proficiency with CI/CD, source control, design reviews, and integrating observable practices.
• Travel Flexibility: Willingness to travel occasionally to customer and partner sites to support field integration and deployment efforts.

Benefits

• Bonus program and equity in a fast‑growing startup.
• Competitive salary and stock options in a fast‑growing startup.
• Employer‑paid medical, dental and vision coverage.
• Health Savings Account with annual employer contributions.
• Life Insurance.
• Uncapped paid time off policy.
• Tax‑deferred public transit benefits with Metro SmartBenefits (DC/MD/VA).

Equal Opportunity Employer

Shift5 is committed to equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other protected characteristics. Shift5 is an Equal Opportunity Employer.