Data Engineer – Legacy Systems & AI Workflows

Groundswell builds a mission-focused platform with AI-enabled capabilities in controlled environments, and the team supports that work with secure data foundations. In this onsite role in McLean, VA, you will design and operate data ingestion, integration, and pipeline operations that help turn diverse source data into reliable, governed data products. You will also collaborate across engineering, security, and stakeholders to ensure the platform can deliver trustworthy analytics and AI workflows.

What you’ll do

• Design, develop, and operate batch and streaming ETL/ELT pipelines that ingest data from multiple structured and semi-structured sources into secure cloud data platforms.
• Onboard legacy data sources by reviewing schemas, mappings, interfaces, validation rules, ownership, and operational support procedures.
• Build automated data-quality checks for completeness, accuracy, consistency, timeliness, and referential integrity, including monitoring and alerting that make issues actionable.
• Automate deployments and pipeline operations using SOAP APIs, workflow orchestration, and environment-specific configurations.
• Troubleshoot pipeline failures across distributed data systems using logs, metrics, lineage, and other operational signals, and communicate root causes and recovery plans clearly.
• Collaborate with software engineers, cloud engineers, data scientists, security teams, architects, and customer stakeholders to translate mission needs into measurable data products.

What we’re looking for

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of professional data engineering experience, including production pipeline development and operations.
• Proficiency in Python, Java, R, or another programming language used for data engineering.
• Experience with legacy systems that use SOAP APIs for data interaction.
• Experience implementing data-quality frameworks, validation processes, monitoring, and alerting for production pipelines.
• Working knowledge of data security, access controls, encryption, auditability, and governance in regulated or compliance-oriented environments.
• Experience working with APIs (SOAP/REST) and structured data formats including JSON, XML, CSV, and Parquet.
• Ability to document technical decisions and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and customer stakeholders.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen per contract requirements.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust Clearance in accordance with contract requirements.

Technologies you may work with

• Python, Java, R
• SOAP APIs; SOAP/REST; JSON, XML, CSV, Parquet
• Jupyter Notebook, numpy, pandas
• AWS, Databricks
• LLM, AI/ML, C3.ai

Preferred qualifications

• Experience building preprocessing, chunking, filtering, metadata-enrichment, or evaluation pipelines for LLM and other AI/ML workflows.
• Experience operating data platforms with segmented networks, limited connectivity, strict change control, or formal authorization requirements.
• Strong SQL skills, including query optimization, data modeling, joins, window functions, and analysis of large datasets.
• Experience with Jupyter Notebook or equivalent tools for data analysis.
• Hands-on experience with numpy, pandas, and similar libraries.
• Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud provider, with AWS experience strongly preferred.
• Additional consideration for candidates with C3.ai experience.
• Active Public Trust Clearance.
• Preference given to candidates local to the Washington, DC metro area.

Compensation and benefits

• Salary: USD 89,886 - 175,444 per year
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans
• Flexible Spending Account
• 4% 401K Match (immediate vesting)
• Paid Time Off
• Tuition reimbursement, certification programs, and professional development
• Flexible work schedule
• On-site gym and childcare option

Certifications (preferred)

• AWS Data Engineer Certification, Databricks, cloud data engineering, or other relevant professional certification

Additional information

Unsolicited resumes: Groundswell does not accept unsolicited resumes through or from search firms or staffing agencies. All unsolicited resumes will be considered the property of Groundswell, and Groundswell will not be obligated to pay a placement fee.

Disability accommodation: If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation as part of the employment selection process, contact [email protected] or 703-639-1777.

Employee rights resources: EO 13496 Notification of Employee Rights under NLRA. Know your rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal.