Senior FDE Data Engineer
Core
Deploy, harden, and operate a forward-deployed data stack (UDS Data Capability) in classified DoD environments, bridging data across classification boundaries and integrating with legacy mission systems.
Role type
Senior forward-deployed data engineer (defense)
Builds
Production data platforms, streaming pipelines, and governed data stores for mission-critical DoD workloads
Domain
Defense / Government / Classified Data Engineering
Deliverable
production ML models | product features | infrastructure
Required skills
Unstructured data at scale, streaming & integration, data warehousing, pipelines & orchestration, data modeling & SQL
Preferred skills
Data provenance & governance, DoD/defense program experience, Kubernetes awareness, Linux fundamentals, IaC, AI/ML awareness
Technologies
Apache Iceberg, Rook/Ceph, pgvector, Postgres, Strimzi/Kafka, Zarf, Keycloak, Velero, Vector/Loki, Airflow, Dagster, Argo Workflows, Spark, Kafka, Redpanda, Flink, Terraform, Pulumi, Flux, ArgoCD
Responsibilities
Deploy and harden UDS Data Capability in mission hero environments; Integrate with legacy mission systems (databases, APIs, message buses); Map complex data landscapes across interconnected government systems; Build pipelines moving data through classification boundaries; Establish data provenance, lineage, and governance practices; Operate deployed platforms (capacity, backup, observability, incident response); Generate accreditation artifacts (STIG, cATO, FIPS); Mentor junior Data Engineer FDEs
Seniority
Senior, hands-on IC with mentorship responsibilities