Data Validation Engineer

ICF Olson; United States; Remote; USD 99,000 - 168,000; Full time

Job summary

ICF is seeking a Data Validation Engineer to implement data parity, freshness and anomaly detection across cloud data platforms. The role wires pipelines to monitoring, supports publication gates and ensures quality before customer release.

Remote role with preference for DC area, occasional onsite meetings in Washington, DC. U.S. citizenship required for federal contract work and a strong data quality mindset is essential.

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship is required due to federal contract requirements.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field; or 4 additional years of experience.
• Minimum 6 years of relevant experience aligned to the responsibilities.

Responsibilities

• Implements data quality controls, parity testing, freshness monitoring and anomaly detection.
• Wires data pipelines to monitoring and reporting mechanisms to detect quality issues before release.
• Collaborates with governance and product teams to operationalize quality requirements.

Skills

Data quality

Observability

SQL

Python

ETL/ELT

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Databricks

Delta Lake

SQL

Python

Azure Data Factory

Job description

Please note: This role is contingent upon a contract award. While it is not an immediate opening, we are actively conducting interviews and extending offers in anticipation of the award. The Work At ICF our Digital Modernization Division is an information technology and management consulting organization that delivers integrated, strategic solutions to federal clients. We bring expertise in cloud, cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, data modernization, and digital transformation to support mission-critical government programs. Join a team accelerating the modernization of a large federal agency’s enterprise data and analytics ecosystem. This cloud-based platform provides data storage, analytics, governance, and AI/ML capabilities that enable thousands of users to transform data into actionable insights. As demand continues to grow, the team is focused on migrating legacy workloads, streamlining onboarding and support, expanding platform capabilities, and helping organizations across the enterprise adopt modern data and AI solutions at scale.

The Data Validation Engingeer Implements technical controls for data parity, freshness, anomaly detection, pipeline observability, alerting, defect tracking, and release evidence. Wires pipelines to monitoring and reporting mechanisms so data quality problems are detected and acted upon before customer release. Works with Governance on rule libraries, Definitions of Done, quality thresholds, and publication gates, while ensuring the engineering team can operationalize those requirements efficiently.

Job Location: Remote, however, strong preference for candidates who live in the Washington DC Metro Area. There will be occasional onsite meetings on the client site in Washington, DC. *If you accept this position, you should note that ICF does monitor employee work locations, blocks access from foreign locations/foreign IP addresses, and prohibits personal VPN connections.

What You Will Do:

• Implements technical controls for data parity, freshness, anomaly detection, pipeline observability, alerting, defect tracking, and release evidence.
• Wires pipelines to monitoring and reporting mechanisms so data quality problems are detected and acted upon before customer release.
• Works with Governance on rule libraries, Definitions of Done, quality thresholds, and publication gates, while ensuring the engineering team can operationalize those requirements efficiently.
• Apply Data quality automation, parity testing, freshness SLAs, anomaly detection, pipeline observability, alerting, data lineage, and defect tracking to support role delivery.
• Collaborate with relevant product, engineering, security, governance, quality, and customer‑facing stakeholders as required by the role.
• Document work products, decisions, risks, and delivery evidence to support traceability and continuous improvement.

Basic Qualifications:

• U.S. Citizenship is required due to federal contract requirements.
• Candidate must reside in the U.S., be authorized to work in the U.S., and all work must be performed in the U.S.
• Candidate must have lived in the U.S. for three (3) full years out of the last five (5) years.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Data Quality Engineering, Information Systems, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Software Engineering, or related field; or a high school diploma with four (4) additional years of relevant experience in lieu of a bachelor's degree.
• Minimum 6 years of relevant experience aligned to the responsibilities of this role.
• Master's degree may substitute for two (2) years of relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience designing and implementing automated data quality, data validation, and data observability frameworks within cloud-based data and analytics platforms.
• Strong experience developing automated data quality controls, reconciliation processes, parity testing frameworks, and release validation mechanisms for large-scale data modernization and migration efforts.
• Experience implementing data freshness monitoring, service-level agreements (SLAs), data certification workflows, and publication readiness controls.
• Experience building anomaly detection, drift detection, statistical validation, and exception monitoring capabilities across structured, semi-structured, and analytical datasets.
• Strong expertise with Databricks, Delta Lake, Delta Live Tables, SQL, Python, Spark, and modern Lakehouse architectures.
• Experience implementing automated validation across medallion architecture layers (raw, bronze, silver, gold), data pipelines, data products, reporting layers, and published analytical assets.
• Experience utilizing data quality and observability frameworks such as Great Expectations, Soda, Monte Carlo, Databricks Expectations, Deequ, or comparable technologies.
• Experience monitoring and validating ETL/ELT pipelines, Azure Data Factory workflows, Spark jobs, Databricks Workflows, APIs, streaming pipelines, and enterprise integrations.
• Experience with metadata management, data lineage, governance controls, and publication certification processes leveraging Unity Catalog, Collibra EDC, Microsoft Purview, or similar technologies.
• Experience developing automated alerting, defect detection, operational dashboards, issue triage processes, and quality metrics using monitoring and reporting platforms.
• Experience implementing DataOps practices, pipeline observability, operational telemetry, root-cause analysis, error classification, and automated remediation patterns.
• Experience supporting AI/ML and analytics workloads through training-data validation, feature quality monitoring, model-input validation, model-output verification, drift monitoring, explainability assessments, and AI quality controls.
• Familiarity with MLOps practices, MLflow, Azure Machine Learning, Databricks ML, model lifecycle management, and production AI governance.
• Experience developing release evidence, validation reports, audit artifacts, quality scorecards, and engineering controls that support compliant and repeatable deployments.
• Experience collaborating with Data Governance Leads, Data Quality Analysts, Data Engineers, AI Engineers, Product Owners, Architects, QA teams, and Platform Engineers to operationalize quality requirements and governance controls.
• Experience implementing test automation and validation controls within CI/CD and DataOps pipelines utilizing GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Terraform, or equivalent automation platforms.
• Strong understanding of data governance, data stewardship, lineage, metadata management, and publication approval processes.
• Experience supporting Federal government, healthcare, or other highly regulated environments preferred.
• Experience working in Agile, DevSecOps, DataOps, or cross-functional delivery teams.

Professional Skills:

• Highly effective analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong organization, attention to detail, and the ability to prioritize and manage multiple responsibilities.
• Collaborative approach with a commitment to quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Candidate AI Usage Policy

At ICF, we are committed to ensuring a fair interview process for all candidates based on their own skills and knowledge. As part of this commitment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate or assist with responses during interviews (whether in-person or virtual) is not permitted. This policy is in place to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the interview process. However, we understand that some candidates may require accommodation that involves the use of AI. If such an accommodation is needed, candidates are instructed to contact us in advance at [e-mail]. We are dedicated to providing the necessary support to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Pay Range - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position.

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is: $98,614.00 - $167,644.00 Nationwide Remote Office (US99)

Need help? We're here: [e-mail]

We are an equal opportunity employer. Together, our employees are empowered to share their expertise and collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals. For more information, please read ourEEO policy. We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

About ICF

ICF is a global consulting and technology services company with approximately 9,000 employees, but we are not your typical consultants. At ICF, business analysts and policy specialists work together with digital strategists, data scientists and creatives. We combine unmatched industry expertise with cutting‑edge engagement capabilities to help organizations solve their most complex challenges. Since 1969, public and private sector clients have worked with ICF to navigate change and shape the future.

Learn more at icf.com.