Data Engineer - Jr.

The Data Engineer designs, develops, and maintains scalable data architectures and pipelines that enable advanced intelligence analysis across the Joint Intelligence Operations Center (JIOC). This role is responsible for implementing robust extract, transform, load (ETL) workflows, real-time data processing solutions, and data integration frameworks that support multi-INT datasets and mission-critical intelligence operations.

The Data Engineer ensures that all data systems adhere to Intelligence Community (IC) security, governance, and compliance standards while enabling analysts and mission partners to access reliable, high-quality, and timely intelligence data.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement scalable and resilient data architectures capable of supporting complex intelligence missions and growing data volumes.

• Develop automated ETL and data transformation processes to ingest, normalize, and integrate data from diverse and non-standard intelligence sources.

• Build optimized data storage solutions using SQL and NoSQL technologies tailored to JIOC's analytic requirements.

• Create and maintain batch and real-time data pipelines to provide consistent, timely access to mission-critical datasets.

• Implement data quality validation mechanisms and monitoring systems to ensure the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of intelligence data.

• Optimize database performance and data retrieval patterns to support rapid intelligence production and analyst workflows.

• Apply data governance and security best practices to ensure compliance with IC and DoD data management policies.

• Maintain detailed documentation, including data dictionaries, schema definitions, and data lineage tracking.

• Implement and maintain data security measures aligned with classification guidelines and compartmentation requirements.

• Collaborate closely with intelligence analysts, data scientists, and computer scientists to translate analytic needs into technical data solutions.

• Participate in JIOC planning conferences, technical working groups, capability development meetings, and national-level intelligence coordination forums to align data engineering solutions with mission needs.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, or a related technical field.

Required Skills

• Proficiency in core data engineering programming languages, especially Python.

• Experience with SQL and NoSQL database systems (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Elasticsearch).

• Solid understanding of ETL/ELT tools, workflow orchestration frameworks, and data pipeline development.

• Hands-on experience with cloud-based data platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.).

• Understanding of data governance, metadata management, and IC data security requirements.

• Experience optimizing database performance and developing highly efficient queries.

• Ability to integrate structured and unstructured data from multiple intelligence data sources.

• Familiarity with intelligence data types and collection methodologies is preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 1-2 years of experience in data engineering, database development, or related technical roles.