Senior Data Engineer

Leidos Inc; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 131,300 - 237,350; Full time

Job summary

Leidos is seeking a mission-driven Senior Data Engineer to advance the DOMEX Data Discovery Platform (D3P) for the IC. You will design scalable data pipelines, optimize Elasticsearch and graph databases, and collaborate with data scientists, engineers, and government stakeholders to deliver mission-critical analytics for national security.

The role emphasizes building robust data platforms, shaping architecture, and mentoring peers in a fast-paced, agile environment with a focus on data-driven

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or related field with 12–15 years of relevant experience, or Master’s with 10–13 years of experience.
• Active Top Secret/SCI clearance and ability to obtain Polygraph.
• Expertise in Elasticsearch/OpenSearch architecture, index design, mappings, analyzers, and query optimization.
• Experience with graph databases (JanusGraph, Neo4j, TigerGraph, Amazon Neptune, Memgraph).
• Data modeling for hierarchical and highly connected datasets.
• Large-scale ETL/ELT pipeline development.
• Kubernetes deployment and operations for stateful data services.
• Distributed storage systems and high-volume data ingestion.
• Python or Java for data engineering and automation.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and optimize data management solutions for analytics and AI/ML workloads.
• Build and maintain Elasticsearch indices and a graph data store for large hierarchical datasets.
• Develop scalable ingestion pipelines and data schemas for performance and storage efficiency.
• Collaborate with infra teams to deploy and optimize services in Kubernetes.
• Partner with data scientists to manage datasets across the data lifecycle.
• Develop automated data loading, transformation, validation, and QA pipelines.
• Ensure high availability and resilience of graph/search infrastructure.

Skills

Elasticsearch/OpenSearch architecture

Graph databases

Data modeling

ETL/ELT pipelines

Python or Java

Kubernetes deployment

Distributed storage

Search optimization

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

12-15 years of experience OR Master's with 10-13 years" experience

Tools

Kubernetes

Elasticsearch

Neo4j / JanusGraph / TigerGraph / Neptune / Memgraph

Job description

Description

Are you ready to join Leidos all-star team? Through training, teamwork, and exposure to challenging technical work, let Leidos show how to accelerate your career path.

Leidos is seeking a mission-driven Senior Data Engineer to join our high-impact team supporting the National Digital Exploitation and Open Source Center (NDOC) DOMEX Technology Platform (DTP). In this role, you will help improve data intelligence pipelines serving both Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) operations and document media exploitation for the Department of War (DoW) and the broader Intelligence Community (IC). You'll play a critical role in developing a future state AI-managed DOMEX Data Discovery Platform (D3P) and DIA-NDOC's mission.

As a key technical leader, you will collaborate with talented engineers, product owners, and government stakeholders to design, develop, and deploy innovative software solutions that make a real difference to national security. You'll have the opportunity to shape the architecture, drive technical direction, and mentor others, all while working in a collaborative, agile, and growth-oriented environment.

You will work closely with the team on the following key tasks

As a Data Engineer, you will design, develop, and optimize scalable data management solutions supporting advanced analytics and AI/ML workloads. Working closely with data scientists, software engineers, and infrastructure teams, you will build and maintain Elasticsearch and graph-based data platforms that enable efficient storage, discovery, and analysis of complex hierarchical data.

• Design and optimize Elasticsearch indices to efficiently manage large-scale hierarchical classification structures, ensuring high-performance search, aggregation, and update operations.
• Design, implement, and maintain a graph data store supporting hierarchical graph structures optimized for large, dense batch updates and high-throughput analytics.
• Develop scalable ingestion pipelines that support scalable graph analytics.
• Design data schemas, indexing strategies, and partitioning approaches to maximize query performance, scalability, and storage efficiency.
• Collaborate with infrastructure and platform engineering teams to deploy, operate, and optimize Elasticsearch and graph database services in a Kubernetes environment using cloud-native technologies.
• Partner with Data Scientists and AI/ML engineers to ingest, curate, manage, analyze, and securely expunge datasets throughout the data lifecycle.
• Develop automated data loading, transformation, validation, and quality assurance pipelines supporting production analytics workflows.
• Optimize graph and search infrastructure for high availability, resilience, and performance under large-scale analytical workloads.
• Collaborate with software engineers and system architects to integrate graph and search services into microservice-based applications.
• Participate in SAFe Agile development activities, including sprint planning, design reviews, architecture discussions, and technical demonstrations.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and professional development within the team.
• Ensure sound engineering practices, compliance with policies, and delivery of high-quality software.
• Coordinate with test teams to develop and monitor automated system integration tests.
• Engage with cross-functional teams to identify and develop high-value integrations with other systems/applications.
• Provide specific input to the software components of system design to include hardware/software trade-offs, software reuse, use of COTS/GOTS in place of new development, and requirements analysis and synthesis from system level to individual software components.

To be successful in this role you need these skills (required)

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or related field and 12-15 years of relevant experience, or Master's with 10-13 years of experience.
• Must possess an Active Top Secret/SCI clearance and ability to obtain and maintain a Polygraph.
• Elasticsearch/OpenSearch architecture, index design, mappings, analyzers, and query optimization.
• Graph databases such as JanusGraph, Neo4j, TigerGraph, Amazon Neptune, or Memgraph.
• Data modeling for hierarchical and highly connected datasets.
• Large-scale ETL/ELT pipeline development.
• Kubernetes deployment and operations for stateful data services.
• Distributed storage systems and high-volume data ingestion.
• Python or Java for data engineering and automation.

You will wow us even more if you have some of these skills

• Experience supporting AI/ML and data science workflows. Apache Kafka or similar streaming technologies.
• Experience with Linux, containerization, CI/CD pipelines, and Infrastructure-as-Code.
• Graph analytics frameworks and algorithms, including graph traversal, centrality, community detection, similarity analysis, and link prediction.
• Experience with Keycloak, and security best practices (authN/Z, secrets management).
• Experience building and maintaining microservices in Kubernetes.
• Familiar with infrastructure-as-code (CloudFormation, Terraform, Pulumi).

#NMECDTP-ALL

#ASBA

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 - and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting: July 27, 2026

For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range $131,300.00 - $237,350.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.

About Leidos

Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $16.7 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Pay and Benefits

Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers. Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement. More details are available at www.leidos.com/careers/pay-benefits.

Securing Your Data

Beware of fake employment opportunities using Leidos' name. Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information during any part of the employment application process (i.e., ask you for money), nor will Leidos ever advance money as part of the hiring process (i.e., send you a check or money order before doing any work). Further, Leidos will only communicate with you through emails that are generated by the Leidos.com automated system - never from free commercial services (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail) or via WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. If you received an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information (e.g., about you or your previous employer), and you are concerned about its legitimacy, please make us aware immediately by emailing us at [e-mail].

If you believe you are the victim of a scam, contact your local law enforcement and report the incident to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.