Senior Data Engineer - PostgreSQL & ML Data Pipelines

The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 146,000 - 319,000; Full time

Job summary

The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to design scalable PostgreSQL-based data systems that support data science and ML workflows. You will optimize storage, govern data, and evaluate NoSQL/graph options to fit various use cases.

Collaborate with data scientists and ML engineers, tune queries, and guide architectural choices across relational and non-relational databases while partnering with software engineers.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of data engineering, database architecture, or related roles.
• Expert-level PostgreSQL (schema design, indexing, partitioning, replication).
• Experience with non-relational databases (MongoDB, Cassandra, Neo4j, Redis, or DynamoDB).
• Familiarity with ML workflows and data for training/evaluation/deployment.
• Experience with cloud database services (AWS RDS/Aurora, Cloud SQL, Azure).
• Proficiency in SQL and Python.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain scalable, high-performance database solutions for data science workflows and ML experimentation.
• Partner with data scientists to understand data access patterns and storage needs.
• Serve as internal PostgreSQL SME (schema, indexing, partitioning, tuning).
• Evaluate and integrate alternative databases where advantageous.
• Lead data pipeline optimization for structured and unstructured data.
• Ensure data integrity, security, and governance across storage systems.
• Implement monitoring and performance tools for all databases.
• Advise on data lifecycle management balancing access and compliance.

Skills

PostgreSQL expert

SQL

Python

Data modeling

NoSQL

Graph databases

Time-series databases

Cloud databases

Data security

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS/Engineering/Data

Tools

MongoDB

Neo4j

Redis

Cassandra

DynamoDB

PostgreSQL

Job description

The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to design scalable PostgreSQL-based data systems that support data science and ML workflows. You will optimize storage, govern data, and evaluate NoSQL/graph options to fit various use cases.

Collaborate with data scientists and ML engineers, tune queries, and guide architectural choices across relational and non-relational databases while partnering with software engineers.