Senior AI Data Engineer: Data Pipelines, AI-Ready Datasets

General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc.; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 174,000 - 236,000; Full time

Job summary

Iron EagleX (IEX), a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics Information Technology, seeks a Senior Principal AI Data Engineer to design, build, and operate data pipelines for AI/ML workloads in Crystal City, VA.

You will partner with software, analytics, and product teams to create model-ready datasets, implement storage layers like a data lakehouse, and enable low-latency retrieval for inference and RAG applications.

Qualifications

• Clearance: Current TS/SCI with CI polygraph or willingness to obtain.
• 10+ years of related experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field (or equivalent).

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate scalable data pipelines and ETL for AI data.
• Develop search capabilities with ElasticSearch/OpenSearch and indexing strategies.
• Enable low-latency retrieval for AI inference and RAG applications.
• Collaborate with analytics to define schemas and interfaces for downstream use.
• Use Git for version control, CI/CD, and reproducible pipeline deployments.
• Optimize Linux-based pipelines, storage layers, and compute resources.

Skills

Apache Airflow

Python

SQL

Vector databases

Embedding models

Git

Linux

Event-driven architecture

Cloud services (MinIO)

Data pipelines & ETL

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field

Tools

ElasticSearch/OpenSearch

MinIO

CI/CD

Job description

Iron EagleX (IEX), a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics Information Technology, seeks a Senior Principal AI Data Engineer to design, build, and operate data pipelines for AI/ML workloads in Crystal City, VA.

You will partner with software, analytics, and product teams to create model-ready datasets, implement storage layers like a data lakehouse, and enable low-latency retrieval for inference and RAG applications.