Data Lead (Defense)

airspace-intelligence.com; Colorado; On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Air Space Intelligence is seeking a talented individual to own the data layer for its defense products. The role focuses on improving and expanding data flows, ensuring operational data is efficiently processed for critical decision-making.

Your expertise in data engineering, debugging, and technical communication will be vital as you translate real-world data into actionable insights. Candidates must possess strong security clearance and be comfortable operating in classified environments.

Qualifications

• Fluency with data engineering tooling and patterns.
• Ability to debug data and profile anomalies.
• Strong technical communication skills.
• Comfort with distributed messaging like Kafka or Flink.
• Understanding of API design and integration.
• Knowledge of network protocols and firewalls.
• Familiarity with defense operational data.
• Experience in classified network environments.
• Aptitude for problem solving in vague situations.
• Active U.S. Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Own the data layer that powers ASI's defense products.
• Improve and expand data flows for decision-making.
• Translate real-world data into actionable pipelines.

Skills

Data engineering tooling

Debugging data

Technical communication

Distributed messaging and processing

API design and integration

Modern network protocols

Experience with classified environments

Deploying data infrastructure

Problem solving

Security Clearance

Job description

About Air Space Intelligence

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.