Data Operations Engineer

Jobtailor; Fort Meade (MD); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor in Fort Meade, MD seeks a senior Data Operations leader to guide reliability, uptime, and speed-to-delivery of mission-critical data sets. You will act as the primary technical contact for customer stakeholders and translate data needs into engineering tasks.

Responsibilities include accelerating data availability, tuning data pipelines, and driving a proactive, automated, self-healing data platform while reusing scripts and standard templates across the ecosystem.

Qualifications

• Active Secret U.S. Government Security Clearance
• Ability to obtain TS/SCI clearance
• U.S. Citizenship required
• 9+ years in technical operations, systems engineering, or data management with a Bachelor’s degree; OR 7 years relevant experience with a Masters in related field; OR High School Diploma or equivalent and 13 years relevant experience
• Experience managing high-volume data flow and storage solutions
• Experience with distributed messaging queues, data orchestration engines, and cloud-native storage
• Familiarity with enterprise observability platforms and log analysis tools
• Understanding of network data, metadata fill rates, JSON, and XML
• Fluency managing ETL processes
• Experience with SQL for data validation
• Ability to use scripting languages such as Python or Java
• Ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and translate customer requirements into technical specifications
• Must work on customer site in Fort Meade, MD 4–5 days a week
• Flexibility to accommodate schedule changes

Responsibilities

• Lead a technically focused Data Operations team responsible for reliability, uptime, and speed-to-delivery of mission-critical data sets
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact and liaison for customer stakeholders
• Manage expectations, communicate technical roadmaps, and translate mission-specific data needs into engineering tasks
• Assist with daily DataOps team operations to accelerate data availability and minimize discovery-to-database latency
• Oversee deployment and maintenance of data flows using standardized templates and core engineering libraries
• Tune cluster performance and monitor pipelines to maintain data health and minimize discovery latency
• Drive the data platform from reactive maintenance toward a proactive, automated, adaptive, and self-healing model
• Facilitate reuse of scripts, flow strategies, and operational improvements across the ecosystem
• Implement automated Quality Gates and schema validations before production
• Decompose complex technical problems and troubleshoot dataflow issues across distributed messaging, orchestration, and cloud environments
• Perform other duties as assigned

Skills

Data Operations

ETL Process Management

SQL Data Validation

Python Scripting

Cloud-Native Storage

Data Orchestration Engines

Distributed Messaging Queues

JSON

XML

Cluster Performance Tuning

Automated Quality Gates

Schema Validation

Technical Roadmap Communication

Troubleshooting Dataflow Issues

Stakeholder Communication

Problem Decomposition

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Master’s degree in related field

Tools

Enterprise Observability Platforms

Log Analysis Tools

Job description

• Lead a technically focused Data Operations team responsible for reliability, uptime, and speed-to-delivery of mission-critical data sets
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact and liaison for customer stakeholders
• Manage expectations, communicate technical roadmaps, and translate mission-specific data needs into engineering tasks
• Assist with daily DataOps team operations to accelerate data availability and minimize discovery-to-database latency
• Oversee deployment and maintenance of data flows using standardized templates and core engineering libraries
• Tune cluster performance and monitor pipelines to maintain data health and minimize discovery latency
• Drive the data platform from reactive maintenance toward a proactive, automated, adaptive, and self-healing model
• Facilitate reuse of scripts, flow strategies, and operational improvements across the ecosystem
• Implement automated Quality Gates and schema validations before production
• Decompose complex technical problems and troubleshoot dataflow issues across distributed messaging, orchestration, and cloud environments
• Perform other duties as assigned

Requirements

• Must currently have and maintain an active Secret U.S. Government Security Clearance
• Ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI clearance
• U.S. Citizenship required
• 9+ years in technical operations, systems engineering, or data management with a Bachelor’s degree; OR 7 years relevant experience with a Masters in related field; OR High School Diploma or equivalent and 13 years relevant experience
• Experience managing high-volume data flow and storage solutions
• Experience with distributed messaging queues, data orchestration engines, and cloud-native storage
• Familiarity with enterprise observability platforms and log analysis tools
• Understanding of network data, metadata fill rates, JSON, and XML
• Fluency managing ETL processes
• Experience with SQL for data validation
• Ability to use scripting languages such as Python or Java
• Ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and translate customer requirements into technical specifications
• Must work on customer site in Fort Meade, MD 4–5 days a week
• Flexibility to accommodate schedule changes

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in managing high-volume data flows and storage solutions, with a strong focus on data operations, reliability, and performance optimization. Proficient in translating technical requirements into actionable engineering tasks while maintaining effective communication with stakeholders.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Data Operations Management
• ETL Process Management
• SQL Data Validation
• Python Scripting
• Cloud-Native Storage Solutions

Hard Skills

• Data Management
• Distributed Messaging Queues
• Data Orchestration Engines
• JSON
• XML
• Cluster Performance Tuning
• Automated Quality Gates
• Schema Validation
• Technical Roadmap Communication
• Troubleshooting Dataflow Issues

Soft Skills

• Stakeholder Communication
• Expectation Management
• Problem Decomposition

Certifications & Qualifications

• Active Secret U.S. Government Security Clearance
• Ability to Obtain TS/SCI Clearance

Industry Keywords

• Data Health
• Data Availability
• Operational Improvements
• Self-Healing Model
• Mission-Critical Data Sets

Tools & Technologies

• Enterprise Observability Platforms
• Log Analysis Tools