Data Operations Engineer (Hybrid) - 30180

Enlighten; San Antonio (TX); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) plan (10% benefit)

PTO + 10 holidays

Education/training allowances

Job summary

Enlighten, a Big Data leader, seeks a Data Operations Senior Engineer to lead a technically focused team responsible for reliability, uptime, and speed-to-delivery of mission-critical data sets. You will translate customer requirements into precise engineering workflows and ensure automated, well-documented pipelines aligned with client needs.

The role emphasizes moving from reactive fixes to an adaptive, self-healing platform, managing Flow Owners, and maintaining high-touch client

Qualifications

• Active Secret-level U.S. Government Security Clearance required.
• 9+ years in technical operations, systems engineering, or data management with a Bachelor’s degree; or 7+ years with a Master’s; or 13 years with a HS diploma.
• Experience with distributed messaging queues, data orchestration engines, and cloud-native storage.
• Strong observability and log-analysis skills for system health and latency reduction.
• Deep understanding of network data, metadata fill rates, and JSON/XML formats.
• Fluency in ETL processes enabling rapid analytics.
• SQL skills for data validation with team and customer.
• Ability to write automation scripts in Python or Java.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with non-technical stakeholders.
• Able to obtain Security+ certification within 60 days of hire.
• Hybrid work: 1–2 days/week in San Antonio, TX office.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer interface between client and technical team, translating data needs into tasks.
• Manage daily operations of the DataOps team to accelerate data availability.
• Oversee deployment and maintenance of data flows using templates and libraries.
• Tune cluster performance and monitor pipelines to minimize latency.
• Drive evolution of the data platform toward automated, self-healing operations.
• Coordinate ecosystem-wide sharing of scripts and flow strategies.
• Implement automated quality gates and schema validations before production.
• Troubleshoot complex dataflow issues across distributed environments.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

Distributed Systems

Observability

Data Standards

ETL Management

Data Validation

Scripting (Python/Java)

Technical Communication

Security Clearance

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Master’s degree in related field

High School Diploma or equivalent

Job description

Enlighten, honored as a Top Workplace from USA Today, is a leader in big data solution development and deployment, with expertise in cloud-based services, software and systems engineering, cyber capabilities, and data science. Enlighten provides continued innovation and proactivity in meeting our customers’ greatest challenges. We recognize that the most effective environment for your projects doesn’t always look the same. Our hybrid work approach ensures that you can make lasting relationships with your team and collaborate in-person to get the job done—while having the flexibility to work from home when needed to achieve focused results. Why Enlighten? At Enlighten, our team’s unwavering work ethic, top talent and celebration of innovative ideas have helped us thrive. We know that our employees are essential to our company’s success, so we seek to take care of you as much as you take care of us.

Here are a few highlights of our benefits package:

• 100% paid employee premium for healthcare, vision and dental plans.
• 10% 401k benefit.
• Generous PTO + 10 paid holidays.
• Education/training allowances.

Anticipated Salary Range:$119,574.00-$165,000.00. The salary range for this role is intended as a good faith estimate based on the role's location, expectations, and responsibilities. When extending an offer, Enlighten takes a variety of factors into consideration which include, but are not limited to, the role's function, internal equity and a candidate's education or training, work experience, certifications and key skills. Occasionally positions/roles may include additional non-recurrent compensation and will be addressed by the recruiter during the interview process.

As a member of the Data Operations Team at Enlighten, you will lead a technically focused team responsible for the reliability, uptime, and speed-to-delivery of mission-critical data sets. This role requires a heavy focus on customer interface, serving as the primary technical point of contact for stakeholders. You will translate complex mission requirements into technical workflows, ensuring that our data pipelines are automated, documented, and precisely aligned with customer needs.

This position focuses on the systems engineering and platform stability required to manage high-velocity data across complex ecosystems. You will oversee the transition from reactive data fixing to an adaptive, self-healing platform, managing the "Flow Owners" who monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize data infrastructure while maintaining high-touch communication with the client.

#LI-AB2 #Mid-Senior Level

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Customer Interface & Engagement: Serve as the lead liaison between the customer and the technical team. You will manage expectations, communicate technical roadmaps, and translate mission-specific data needs into actionable engineering tasks.
• Operational Leadership: Help manage the daily operations of the DataOps team, focusing on accelerating data availability and minimizing the latency between initial data identification and final database availability.
• Systems Engineering Oversight: Oversee the deployment and maintenance of data flows using standardized templates and core libraries provided by the Engineering team.
• Performance Tuning: Responsible for immediate cluster performance tuning and pipeline monitoring to ensure data health and discovery latency are minimized.
• Strategic Alignment: Drive the technical evolution of the data platform, moving the organization from a reactive maintenance state toward a proactive, automated, and adaptive operational model.
• Ecosystem Coordination: Facilitate technical exchanges to ensure scripts, flow strategies, and wins in one area of the ecosystem are adapted and utilized across others.
• Quality Governance: Implement automated "Quality Gates" and schema validations to ensure data integrity before it reaches production environments.
• Technical Troubleshooting: Lead the decomposition of complex technical problems and troubleshoot systemic dataflow issues across distributed messaging, orchestration, and cloud environments.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Clearance Requirement: Must currently have and maintain an active Secret level U.S. Government Security Clearance; U.S. Citizenship required.
• Must have 9+ years in technical operations, systems engineering, or data management with a Bachelor’s degree; OR 7 years relevant experience with Masters in related field; OR High School Diploma or equivalent and 13 years relevant experience.
• Distributed Systems & Cloud Platforms: Proven experience managing high-volume data flow and storage solutions, specifically distributed messaging queues, data orchestration engines, and cloud-native storage.
• Observability & Log Analysis: Strong familiarity with enterprise observability platforms and log analysis tools for monitoring system health and minimizing data discovery latency.
• Data Standards: Deep understanding of network data, metadata fill rates, and various log formats such as JSON and XML.
• ETL Management: Fluency in managing extraction, translation, and loading (ETL) processes to enable rapid analytics.
• Data Validation: Experience with Structure Query Language (SQL) for the purposes of data validation in conjunction with members of the team and the customer.
• Scripting for Automation: Ability to utilize scripting languages (e.g., Python or Java) to implement shared libraries that automate repetitive tasks and improve operational efficiency.
• Technical Communication: Exceptional ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and translate customer mission requirements into technical specifications.
• Must be able to obtain Security+ certification within 60 days of hire.
• Must be able to work in a hybrid environment, spending an average of 1-2 days per week at our San Antonio, TX office. Flexibility is essential to adapt to schedule changes as needed.

Preferred Requirements

• Can also consider candidates with a current TS/SCI.
• Customer Success Background: Prior experience in a technical account management or customer-facing engineering role.
• Scalable Architectures: Experience with distributed data processing and cloud-native storage solutions.
• Security Operations: Prior experience supporting cyber or network security operations.
• Governance & Access: Knowledge of implementing automated Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC) or data masking within production pipelines.

We have many more additional great benefits/perks that you can find on our website at www.enlighten.com.