Data Lead (Defense)

Air space Intelligence, Inc.; Colorado; On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Air space Intelligence, Inc. seeks a data-focused engineer to own the reality layer powering defense products. You will operate, improve, and expand data flows from mission systems into usable datasets for decision-making.

This role blends data engineering, forensics, and technical communication to drive mission-critical outcomes. You will debug data, manage streaming and batch pipelines, and ensure data contracts and lineage while working across Kubernetes, hybrid cloud, and on-prem

Qualifications

• Experience building data pipelines with streaming and batch processing.
• Ability to design data contracts, ensure data quality, and maintain lineage.
• Strong debugging of data, profiling, anomaly detection, and cross-validation.
• Clear technical communication about data behavior, issues, and fixes.

Responsibilities

• Own data flows that power defense products from mission systems to trusted datasets.
• Improve, operate, and expand data pipelines for decision support.
• Translate complex data outcomes into actionable pipelines for engineers.

Skills

Data engineering

Streaming pipelines

Schema evolution

Data contracts

Data lineage

Anomaly detection

Technical communication

Kafka

Flink

Spark

Kubernetes

REST

gRPC

GraphQL

Protobuf

Hybrid cloud

Tools

Kafka

Flink

Spark

Airflow

Dagster

Temporal

REST

gRPC

GraphQL

Kubernetes

Job description

About ASI

ASI's mission-critical technology powers decision-making across aviation, defense, energy, and other critical infrastructure domains. Backed by top-tier investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital, and Renegade Partners, ASI delivers operational decision superiority—compressing days of analysis into seconds of action. ASI is leading the way and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

What You Will Do:

You will own the reality layer that powers ASI's defense products. You will operate, improve, and expand the data flows that move operational data from mission systems into usable, trusted datasets for decision-making. This role is equal parts data engineering, data forensics, and technical communication. You will dig into real-world data, determine what it actually means, and translate findings into clear, actionable pipelines ready to drive mission-critical decisions for end users.

What We Value:

• Strong fluency with modern data engineering tooling and patterns: streaming and batch pipelines, schema evolution, data contracts, and lineage.

• Demonstrated ability to debug data: profiling, anomaly detection, reconciling sources, and separating signal from noise while cross-validating.

• Strong technical communication skills: you can explain what the data is doing, what it means, what is broken, why it matters, and what engineering should change.

• Comfort with distributed messaging and processing (Kafka, Flink, Spark, or equivalents) and modern orchestration (Airflow, Dagster, Temporal, or similar).

• Strong grasp of API design and integration patterns (REST, gRPC, GraphQL) and experience working across a range of data formats and wire-level protocols (JSON, XML, Protobuf, and binary protocols like JREAP-C or CMF-B).

• Working knowledge of modern network protocols, firewalls, system level connections, cross-system authentication, and an enthusiasm to get data flowing.

• Familiarity with defense operational data and mission systems, with an appreciation for delayed reporting, inconsistent identifiers, changing semantics, and obscure edge cases.

• Comfort operating in classified network environments (e.g., SIPR, JWICS) and working within accreditation boundaries (IL5/IL6, ATO processes).

• Experience deploying data infrastructure on Kubernetes and across hybrid cloud and on-prem environments.

• A bias for action and distinct aptitude for problem solving in ambiguous environments.

• Active SECRET or TOP SECRET U.S. Security Clearance.

How We Hire:

We look at the interview process not as a screening or test, but rather as an opportunity to simulate what it would look like working together. We build the interview process around you.