Senior Data Engineer — AI-Driven Data Platform

ICF International; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

ICF International is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to design, build, and operate scalable data pipelines and data products that support analytics, reporting, and AI initiatives. You will work across data governance, automation, and platform stewardship while collaborating with analysts and data scientists to deliver trusted data assets.

The role emphasizes CI/CD, IaC, and governance integration within modern cloud platforms (Azure/AWS/Databricks).

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 5+ years of data engineering experience in a production environment.
• Strong SQL and Python/PySpark skills.
• Experience with at least one major cloud platform (Azure/AWS) or Databricks.
• Git-based development and CI/CD practices.
• Knowledge of data governance concepts such as cataloging, lineage, data quality, or access control.
• Ability to balance delivery speed, reliability, safety, and governance considerations.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate batch and streaming data pipelines on modern cloud data platforms.
• Develop robust ETL/ELT processes using SQL, Python, and PySpark with strong error handling, monitoring, and cost awareness.
• Implement layered / medallion data architectures and analytics-ready data models to support BI and AI workloads.
• Partner with analysts and data scientists to deliver trusted, production-grade data assets.
• Partner with platform and business stakeholders to support and enhance data governance practices using Microsoft Purview or comparable platforms.
• Contribute to governance standards and best practices for data products, analytics solutions, AI/ML features, and agent-based workflows as organizational capabilities continue to evolve.
• Help incorporate governance considerations into platform workflows and data engineering practices.
• Support ongoing data and AI governance initiatives and grow into greater ownership of governance patterns as experience and organizational standards evolve.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of AI-enabled tools and automation workflows that support data platform and governance operations.
• Partner with technical teams to explore and develop automation that assists with metadata enrichment, data quality checks, anomaly detection, and governance workflows.
• Help ensure AI-enabled tools and automation operate only on approved, governed data sources with appropriate logging and auditability.
• Build knowledge of evolving AI governance patterns, including agent lifecycle management and input/output traceability.

Skills

SQL

Python

PySpark

CI/CD

Git

Data governance

Cloud platforms

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Azure

AWS

Databricks

Job description

ICF International is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to design, build, and operate scalable data pipelines and data products that support analytics, reporting, and AI initiatives. You will work across data governance, automation, and platform stewardship while collaborating with analysts and data scientists to deliver trusted data assets.

The role emphasizes CI/CD, IaC, and governance integration within modern cloud platforms (Azure/AWS/Databricks).