Data Engineer - Expert

Dark Wolf; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Dark Wolf, a defense-focused analytics company, is seeking an Expert Data Engineer to lead architectural development, scaling, and governance of enterprise-grade data platforms. You will design high-throughput data meshes and establish automated data quality frameworks.

You will optimize distributed compute clusters, implement IaC across multi-cloud environments, and enforce zero-trust security, data lineage, and automated compliance scanning for regulated data domains.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field required; master's preferred.
• 7–10+ years in data engineering.
• U.S. Citizenship with TS/SCI and Full-Scope Polygraph required.
• Experience designing data meshes and multi-cloud architectures preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural design of distributed batch and streaming data platforms.
• Optimize Spark, Trino/Presto to handle petabyte-scale datasets under SLAs.
• Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to provision data platform assets across multi-cloud.
• Establish zero-trust security, data lineage tools, and automated compliance scanning.
• Act as Technical Pod Lead and mentor data engineering staff.

Skills

Apache Spark

Flink

Kafka

Python

SQL

Go

Kubernetes

Terraform

Data governance

Agile leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IS/Engineering

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Delta Lake

Apache Iceberg

Apache Hudi

Airflow

CI/CD pipelines

Terraform

Job description

Dark Wolf constructs and deploys data management and analytics solutions for the defense and intelligence communities. We're proud to boast a world-class engineering team that thrives on rolling up their sleeves to solve your mission's biggest challenges.

Dark Wolf is seeking an Expert Data Engineer to lead the architectural development, scaling, and governance of enterprise-grade data platforms. You will be responsible for designing high-throughput data meshes, establishing automated data quality frameworks, optimizing distributed compute clusters, and ensuring high resilience across air-gapped and multi-cloud networks.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the architectural design and implementation of distributed, high-throughput batch and streaming data platforms.
• Optimize distributed execution engines (Spark, Trino/Presto) to handle petabyte-scale datasets under strict SLAs.
• Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to provision data platform assets across multi-cloud infrastructure.
• Establish zero-trust security controls, data lineage tools, and automated compliance scanning for regulated data environments.
• Act as a Technical Pod Lead, driving Agile sprint deliverables, establishing technical standards, and mentoring data engineering staff.

Qualifications

• Clearance: Must be a US Citizen holding an active TS/SCI security clearance with an active Full-Scope Polygraph.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical field (Master's degree preferred).
• Experience: 7-10+ years of data engineering experience.

Technical Competencies

• Data Processing Frameworks: Expert-level mastery of Apache Spark, Flink, Kafka, Ray, and workflow orchestration engines.
• Database Systems: Deep understanding of distributed systems internals, LSM trees, column-family stores, and lakehouse storage formats (Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg, Apache Hudi).
• Data Modeling: Enterprise data strategy, conceptual-to-physical data modeling, and streaming data schema contracts.
• Programming & Scripting: Mastery of Python, Scala, SQL, and Go for high-performance data platform development.
• Containerization: Advanced Kubernetes cluster management, custom operators for data platforms, and service mesh integration.
• Agile Frameworks: Proven experience acting as a Technical Lead or Scrum Master directing engineering pods.
• Multi-Cloud Architecture: Advanced experience architecting multi-cloud and hybrid cloud data platform solutions (IaC via Terraform).
• Security Scanning Tooling: Deep understanding of DevSecOps pipelines, automated compliance testing, and secret rotation management.

Desired Qualifications

• Advanced Certifications: AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional, CISSP, or Databricks Certified Professional Data Engineer.
• Proven track record architecting data solutions for deployment in air-gapped or high-assurance defense networks.

Position Clearance Requirement

US Citizenship with an active TS/SCI security clearance with Full-Scope Polygraph

Location

Chantilly/Herndon, VA.

Target Salary Range

$165,000.00 - $200,000.00 (Commensurate with specialized expertise and technical skillset).

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are proud to be an EEO/AA employer Minorities/Women/Veterans/Disabled and other protected categories.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

We are strictly looking for direct, full-time W2 employees. We do not engage with third-party staffing agencies, C2C, or 1099 independent contractors for this role.