Junior Data Engineer (ETL/GIS)

Peraton; Beltsville (MD); Remote; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Peraton is seeking a Junior Data Engineer with ETL and geospatial data experience to support a federal data migration program on a fully remote basis. You will design, develop, and deploy ETL pipelines, ingest data from multiple sources, and validate spatial data within a cloud lakehouse environment.

The role emphasizes end-to-end data processing, data quality, and documentation, with collaboration alongside GIS Engineers and data governance teams. U.S.

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship with ability to obtain Public Trust clearance.
• Hands-on experience with Databricks and Delta Live Tables or equivalent cloud ETL frameworks.
• Experience with data quality validation, source-to-target mapping, and data transformation.
• Experience with data modeling or schema design documentation.
• Proficiency in Python or Scala for ETL pipeline development.
• Proficiency in SQL for querying, validating, and transforming data in a cloud lakehouse environment.
• Familiarity with geospatial data formats and coordinate reference systems.

Responsibilities

• Develop, test, and deploy ETL pipelines using Databricks Delta Live Tables within a cloud data lakehouse staging environment.
• Execute range data aggregation and normalization across multiple source systems and normalize spatial formats and CRS.
• Implement source-to-target transformation logic with field mappings and data type conversions.
• Evaluate prototype ingestion results for completeness, accuracy, consistency, and spatial integrity.
• Document prototype ingestion results, defects, and remediation actions.
• Produce the Prototype Ingest Results Report detailing ingestion results and data quality findings.
• Maintain ETL code in a version-controlled repository with peer review.
• Support spatial data validation activities in coordination with GIS Engineers.
• Provide test datasets, pipeline execution support, and data validation assistance.

Skills

Python

SQL

ETL development

Data quality validation

Data modeling

Documentation

Geospatial data

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Associate’s degree

High school diploma

Tools

Databricks

Delta Live Tables

Job description

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and 0 years of professional experience, or an Associate’s degree and 2 years of professional experience, or a high school diploma/equivalent and 4 years of professional experience.
• U.S. Citizenship required; must have the ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance; all work must be performed within the United States.
• Hands-on experience with Databricks and Delta Live Tables or equivalent cloud ETL frameworks
• Experience with data quality validation, source-to-target mapping, and data transformation
• Experience with data modeling or schema design documentation
• Experience documenting test/ingest results and logging defects with severity classifications
• Proficiency in Python or Scala for ETL pipeline development
• Proficiency in SQL for querying, validating, and transforming data within the cloud data lakehouse environment
• Familiarity with geospatial data formats and coordinate reference systems

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with AWS GovCloud or equivalent FedRAMP-authorized cloud environments
• Familiarity with GIS tools such as ArcGIS or QGIS
• Experience with federal data governance and metadata standards
• Databricks Associate certification or equivalent

Peraton is seeking a Junior Data Engineer with ETL development and geospatial data experience to support the data engineering workstream on a federal data migration program. You will develop and deploy ETL pipelines, execute data ingestion workflows, and support spatial data validation activities within a cloud data Lakehouse environment. This is a fully remote position.

The Department of the Interior (DOI), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have identified a critical gap in the federal government's ability to conduct comprehensive Endangered Species Act (ESA) research. While FWS operates an authoritative web-based platform for managing data for terrestrial and freshwater species, it does not currently include NMFS marine and anadromous species data forcing agencies to rely on separate, manual processes. This program closes that gap by integrating marine and anadromous species data into the existing FWS platform, creating a single, unified experience for all ESA-listed species.

Work Location:

Remote

Day to Day Responsibilities:

• Develop, test, and deploy ETL pipelines using Databricks Delta Live Tables within a cloud data lakehouse staging environment.
• Execute range data aggregation and normalization activities, collecting data from multiple authoritative source systems and normalizing spatial formats and coordinate reference systems.
• Implement source-to-target transformation logic within ETL pipelines, applying field-level mapping rules, data type conversions, and null-handling logic
• Execute prototype data ingestion workflows using representative taxa, evaluating results against completeness, accuracy, consistency, and spatial integrity quality criteria.
• Document prototype ingestion results, defects, and remediation actions
• Produce the Prototype Ingest Results Report, documenting ingestion outcomes, data quality findings, defect severity classifications, and remediation actions for each representative taxa batch.
• Log all data quality defects with severity classifications and remediation tracking
• Maintain all ETL pipeline code in a version-controlled repository with mandatory peer review documentation.
• Support spatial data validation activities in coordination with GIS Engineers.
• Support interoperability testing by providing test datasets, pipeline execution support, and data validation assistance.