Data Operations Engineer (Hybrid) - 30862

Virtual Company; Fort Meade (MD); Hybrid; USD 138,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, vision & dental fully paid

401k 10%

PTO + 10 holidays

Education allowances

Job summary

Enlighten is seeking a Data Operations Leader to drive reliability and speed of mission-critical data pipelines. You will serve as the primary technical liaison for stakeholders, translating requirements into automated, well-documented workflows.

The role focuses on platform stability across cloud ecosystems with a proactive, self-healing approach. You will oversee the DataOps team, manage deployments, and push for automated governance, quality checks, and reduced latency.

Qualifications

• Active Secret security clearance with ability to obtain TS/SCI.
• 9+ years in technical operations, systems engineering or data management with degree; or 7 years with a Masters; or 13 years with HS.
• Experience with distributed data flow, cloud-native storage, and data pipelines.
• Strong observability and log analysis capabilities.
• SQL for data validation; scripting for automation.

Responsibilities

• Interface with customers and translate needs into engineering tasks.
• Lead DataOps daily operations to speed data availability.
• Oversee deployment and maintenance of data flows using core libraries.
• Perform cluster performance tuning and pipeline monitoring.
• Guide strategic evolution of the data platform toward automation.
• Coordinate ecosystem efforts to reuse scripts and flow strategies.
• Implement automated Quality Gates and schema validations.
• Troubleshoot dataflow issues across distributed environments.

Skills

Customer interface

Operational leadership

System engineering

Data pipelines

Observability

SQL proficiency

Python scripting

Java scripting

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Master's degree in related field

High School Diploma + 13 years experience

Tools

Python

Java

SQL

ETL tools

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.

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

Anticipated Salary Range:$137,510.00-$195,000.00. 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.

Job Description

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-DS1 #Mid-Senior Level

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Customer Interface & Engagement: Serve as the 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: Assist in managing 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: Assist with 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 U.S. Government Security Clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI; 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 have a current/active DoD 8140 / 8570 IAT Level II compliance certifications.
• Must be able to work on customer site in Fort Meade, MD on average 2 days a week. Flexibility is essential to accommodate any changes in the schedule.

Preferred Requirements

• A current TS/SCI level clearance is desired.
• 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.