Data Scientist

Unissant; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Unissant, Inc. seeks a Data Scientist to join in Washington, DC, supporting DHS ICE LESA under the SOA Unit. The role focuses on deep Qlik development, data wrangling, ETL, visualization, and storytelling to deliver dashboards and insights for ICE leadership and operational teams.

The ideal candidate brings strong SQL, Python or R, and BI tool experience, with a background in federal or regulated environments and the ability to work independently in a matrixed team.

Qualifications

• Strong experience building Qlik dashboards and data models.
• Proficient SQL with complex queries and data prep.
• Experience with Python or R for analysis.
• Experience with federal or regulated environments preferred.
• Active ICE clearance required.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain Qlik dashboards, data models, visualizations, and reporting.
• Perform data wrangling, ETL, validation, and integration across datasets.
• Design clear dashboards and reports communicating data-driven insights.
• Write optimized SQL queries for data extraction and prep for Qlik apps.
• Collaborate with federal stakeholders and document data sources and rules.

Skills

Qlik

ETL

SQL

Python

R

Data visualization

Dashboarding

Storytelling

GitHub

Data wrangling

Education

Bachelor's in CS/DS

Master's preferred

Tools

Qlik Sense

QlikView

Tableau

Power BI

ArcGIS

Job description

Unissant, Inc. delivers innovative capabilities to the agencies that keep our nation healthy and safe. We apply our domain expertise, data acumen, and technology know-how to achieve breakthrough results for our clients. Working collaboratively, we advance missions and careers through a focus on honesty, integrity, and dependability. We continuously look for talent excited to join that effort. To learn more about our exciting organization, please visit www.unissant.com.

We are seeking a Data Scientist to join our team in Washington, DC, in support of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Law Enforcement Systems and Analysis (LESA) contract within the Strategy and Operations Analysis (SOA) Unit.

The SOA Unit provides planning, analysis, and technical support spanning the entire Enforcement Lifecycle, delivering advanced analytics, visualization, and modeling capabilities to inform ERO and ICE management decisions at headquarters and field levels, including responses to congressional inquiries and interagency working group collaborations. SOA utilizes advanced analytics, visualization, and business intelligence tools to evaluate operational performance, identify trends, and support data-driven decision-making across ICE/ERO stakeholders.

The ideal candidate will bring deep Qlik development experience, preferably supporting a federal customer, along with strong data wrangling, ETL, visualization, storytelling, Python or R, SQL, and business-intelligence skills. This role is well suited for a hands-on data scientist who can transform complex datasets into clear analytical products, dashboards, and decision-ready insights for ICE leadership and operational stakeholders.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop, maintain, and enhance Qlik dashboards, applications, visualizations, data models, and reporting products supporting LESA and SOA mission requirements.
• Perform hands-on data wrangling, extraction, transformation, loading, validation, integration, and quality-review activities across structured, semi-structured, and related operational datasets.
• Develop and maintain ETL processes that acquire, clean, standardize, transform, and prepare data from flat files, data warehouses, operational systems, and approved external sources for analysis and visualization.
• Design and develop clear, accurate, and actionable dashboards, visualizations, reports, and analytical products that communicate data-driven insights to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Apply data storytelling techniques to explain trends, patterns, risks, operational performance, and analytical findings in a manner that supports informed ICE/ERO management decisions.
• Write and optimize SQL queries to extract, join, aggregate, validate, and prepare data for Qlik applications, reporting, and analytical use.
• Use Python, R, SQL, Qlik, and other BI or visualization tools to analyze datasets, automate repeatable reporting, and support operational analytics.
• Collaborate with federal stakeholders, data owners, analysts, engineers, and program staff to gather reporting requirements, define data needs, validate results, and deliver usable analytical products.
• Support the documentation of data sources, business rules, data transformations, Qlik application logic, dashboard calculations, reporting processes, and data-quality findings.
• Identify data-quality issues, reporting inconsistencies, data gaps, and opportunities to improve analytical workflows, dashboard usability, and reporting timeliness.
• Support ad hoc analysis, executive briefings, recurring reporting, and special projects as required by the LESA SOA Unit.
• Handle sensitive law-enforcement information in accordance with applicable ICE, DHS, and program security requirements.

Work Experience and Job Skills:

• Three (3) to ten (10) years of experience in data science, data analytics, business intelligence, visualization, reporting, data engineering, or related analytical disciplines.
• Deep expertise and demonstrated hands-on experience developing Qlik applications, dashboards, data models, visualizations, scripts, calculations, and reporting solutions.
• Experience with Qlik Sense is required; experience with QlikView is preferred.
• Prior Qlik development experience supporting a federal, DHS, ICE, law-enforcement, or similarly regulated client is strongly preferred.
• Experience performing data wrangling, ETL, data profiling, data validation, data integration, data transformation, and data-quality review.
• Strong proficiency in SQL, including complex querying, joins, aggregations, stored procedures, data extraction, and data preparation.
• Proficiency with Python and/or R for data analysis, automation, data cleaning, transformation, and visualization.
• Experience developing visualizations and BI products using Qlik and other tools such as Tableau, Power BI, ArcGIS, matplotlib, seaborn, or equivalent technologies.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex data and analysis into clear stories, dashboards, reports, briefings, and recommendations for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Familiarity with relational databases, data warehouses, data marts, flat files, and structured or semi-structured datasets.
• Experience working with GitHub, version-control practices, Jupyter Notebooks, or similar development and documentation tools is preferred.
• Experience supporting federal law enforcement, DHS/ICE/ERO, government operations, or other secure/regulated environments is preferred.
• Familiarity with predictive analytics, machine learning, simulation, or geospatial analysis is a plus but is not the primary qualification for this request.
• Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a client-facing, matrixed team environment.

Education:

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Information Systems, Engineering, Business Analytics, Operations Research, or another related technical field is required.

Equivalent practical experience may be considered based on client standards.

Master's Degree in a relevant analytical, technical, or business-intelligence discipline is preferred.

Certificates, Licenses and Registrations:

Relevant certifications in Qlik, data analytics, business intelligence, Python, R, SQL, cloud platforms, or data science are preferred.

Qlik Sense Business Analyst, Qlik Sense Data Architect, Qlik Sense System Administrator, Tableau, Power BI, ArcGIS, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Databricks, or similar certifications are a plus.

Communication Skills:

Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to explain dashboards, data findings, reporting logic, data-quality issues, and analytical conclusions clearly and effectively.

Strong visualization and data-storytelling skills, including the ability to produce concise executive-ready dashboards, presentations, and reports.

Ability to communicate effectively across federal leadership, program stakeholders, technical teams, and business users.

Must work well in a matrixed team environment.

Clearance Requirements:

Active ICE clearance is required.

Preference will be given to candidates who are currently cleared or who have held an ICE clearance within the last two years.

Ability to obtain and maintain the required clearance level is a condition of employment.

Travel:

Minimal travel expected.

Environmental Requirements:

This is a local Washington, DC metropolitan area position. The selected candidate must support the client site in person at least Tuesday through Thursday each week.

Mainly a routine office environment.

May be required to lift up to ten (10) pounds.

Flexible in working extended hours.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the individual(s) assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required. Unissant management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties and to assign other duties as necessary. In addition, where applicable and available, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

Please note: Candidate(s) will be required to go through pre-employment screening.

Unissant, Inc. is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE; M/F/Disability/Vets).