Forward Deployed Data Engineer

Join Spear AI as a Forward Deployed Data Engineer and help build real-time and offline data pipelines, scalable data warehouses, and high-performance models for maritime domain awareness. This position offers a remote-friendly arrangement with on-site collaboration with customers in Groton, CT and requires a U.S. Secret clearance. You’ll work in a practical, impact-driven environment with direct access to leadership and a culture that values clear thinking, quality work, and real-world contributions.

Benefits

• Unlimited PTO to support work–life balance
• Dedicated sick time to safeguard health
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 11 paid holidays
• Professional development with educational resources
• Collaborative environment with direct leadership and a flat structure
• Mission-driven work that supports national security and real-world impact
• Growth opportunities during a phase of expansion
• 401(k) with company match
• Onsite, remote, flexible, or hybrid work arrangements depending on role
• Relocation assistance where applicable
• Referral and performance bonuses
• Life insurance and disability coverage
• Home office stipend for technology setup
• Professional certification reimbursement where applicable

Why work with us

• We deliver tangible products, not long-running projects
• Our work directly supports national security and submarines integration work
• We prioritize responsible growth and value-aligned teammates
• Remote collaboration via real-time tools and asynchronous workflows
• We are profitable with committed investors supporting our success
• We encourage meticulous, high-quality work without unnecessary bureaucracy
• We maintain a light, collaborative culture focused on meaningful impact

Responsibilities

• Design and implement real-time data pipelines using MQTT and Redpanda for stream processing
• Build offline data pipelines for batch processing with Dagster
• Parse and process binary message formats from diverse data sources
• Develop data warehouses using Postgres, Apache Iceberg, Parquet, and S3
• Craft data models that support high-performance query workloads
• Validate and normalize data sources to ensure reliability
• Improve local development and CI/CD workflows with modern tooling and GitHub Actions

Requirements

• Active or current U.S. Secret clearance
• Expertise in time-series data processing and analysis (windowing, resampling, interpolation, etc.)
• Proficiency in Python and Rust for data engineering tasks
• Experience with binary message parsing
• Experience with both row-based and columnar data formats
• Familiarity with OLTP and OLAP databases
• Understanding of distributed systems, streaming architectures, and batch processing patterns
• Hands-on experience with batch orchestrators such as Dagster or Airflow
• Hands-on experience with streaming platforms such as Redpanda or Kafka
• Hands-on experience with binary formats like Protobuf

Technologies

• MQTT
• Redpanda
• Dagster
• Apache Iceberg
• Parquet
• Postgres
• S3
• Python
• Rust
• Protobuf
• Airflow
• GitHub Actions
• Kafka

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience with IoT devices and sensors
• Digital signal processing experience
• Geospatial analysis and GIS experience
• Familiarity with working in monorepos