Data Engineer & Analyst for Federal Projects

Luminus Analytics; Washington, Baltimore (District of Columbia, MD); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k)

Contract-to-hire conversion

Job summary

Luminus Analytics is seeking a Data Engineer and Analyst to sit with federal stakeholders, design pipelines, and translate data into actionable insights for mission-driven outcomes.

The role blends production-grade Python and Apache Spark work with the ability to explain trends to both technical and non-technical audiences. It offers a hybrid schedule in the DC metro area and potential contract-to-hire conversion with benefits.

Qualifications

• 3+ years Python for data engineering, scripting, or analysis.
• 3+ years with Apache Spark (PySpark or Spark SQL) at scale.
• 7+ years overall professional programming experience.
• Strong SQL and experience across relational and/or distributed data systems.
• Data modeling chops — dimensional/star schema, normalization, ER design.
• Comfort across a mix of database technologies (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB).
• A track record of building visualizations that make data's implications clear to a non-technical audience.
• Strong written and verbal communication in English.
• Bachelor's degree in CS, Data Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field — or equivalent practical experience.
• Genuine curiosity and the ability to get up to speed fast in a new business domain.
• Comfort owning ambiguous problems and driving them to delivery.
• U.S. citizenship or Permanent Residence required.
• Based in, or willing to relocate to, the Washington, DC metro area, with availability for on-site work.
• Comfortable operating within the compliance and process rigor of federal engagements.

Responsibilities

• Design and build custom data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes in Python and Apache Spark
• Write clean, well-documented, production-grade code across diverse source systems
• Dig into large, complex datasets to surface trends, anomalies, and insights tied to the client's mission
• Build dashboards and visualizations that make findings land with technical and non-technical audiences alike
• Turn analysis into plain-language narratives — not just what the data shows, but why it matters and what to do next
• Partner directly with federal stakeholders to understand their processes, systems, and pain points
• Proactively pitch creative, high-value uses of data beyond the immediate ask
• Troubleshoot data quality issues, pipeline failures, and performance bottlenecks
• Document designs and decisions clearly for engineers and non-engineers
• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary, agile delivery team

Skills

Python

Apache Spark

SQL

Data modeling

Databases

Data visualization

English

Education

Bachelor's degree (CS/Data Science/IS/Engineering) or equivalent

Equivalent practical experience

Tools

Databricks

Power BI

Tableau

Job description

Luminus Analytics is seeking a Data Engineer and Analyst to sit with federal stakeholders, design pipelines, and translate data into actionable insights for mission-driven outcomes.

The role blends production-grade Python and Apache Spark work with the ability to explain trends to both technical and non-technical audiences. It offers a hybrid schedule in the DC metro area and potential contract-to-hire conversion with benefits.