IC Data Engineer

Join MITRE as an IC Data Engineer (Lead) embedded on-site with an Intelligence Community sponsor in McLean, VA. In this senior role, you will help design, assess, and modernize enterprise data capabilities that support mission operations, analytics, and AI.

What you’ll do

• Act as a lead data engineer and technical advisor to support sponsor priorities, enterprise data modernization, architecture decisions, and executive decision-making.
• Collaborate with IC sponsors, mission owners, architects, developers, cybersecurity teams, analysts, and other stakeholders to translate mission needs into implementable data engineering requirements, technical designs, and integration plans.
• Architect and evaluate enterprise data platforms and end-to-end pipelines for ingestion, transformation, storage, distribution, and access across batch and streaming, with focus on scalability, performance, resilience, security, and cost.
• Define and assess data models, schemas, APIs, interface specifications, data contracts, exchange formats, and integration patterns across ETL/ELT, event-driven integration, messaging, and federated or virtualized data access.
• Establish engineering approaches for metadata and cataloging, data lineage, data quality and observability, master and reference data, lifecycle management, access controls, and interoperability across cloud, hybrid, legacy, and modern environments.
• Build prototypes, proofs of concept, benchmarks, and test strategies, including technical trade studies, to validate integration approaches and reduce implementation risk.
• Create and refine data architecture documentation, engineering requirements, interface specifications, implementation plans, technical assessments, and executive briefings, and mentor staff supporting related data engineering efforts.

Required qualifications

• Typically requires minimum 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 6 years with a Master’s; or 3 years with a PhD; or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Data Science, Data Engineering, Information Systems, Systems Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical tasks or small multidisciplinary engineering teams, including hands-on work designing, implementing, or modernizing enterprise data architectures, data integration solutions, and production pipelines.
• Strong proficiency in SQL and experience using at least one modern programming language such as Python, Java, or Scala for data processing, automation, or integration.
• Experience with data integration methods and technologies including ETL/ELT, APIs, batch and streaming processing, data modeling, schema design, and interface development.
• Experience with cloud or hybrid data platforms, distributed data processing, scalable storage and compute, and modern warehouse, lake, or lakehouse patterns.
• Strong understanding of metadata and cataloging, data lineage, data quality and observability, data lifecycle management, interoperability standards, and enterprise information sharing.
• Ability to assess tradeoffs in scalability, performance, resilience, security, and cost, and to identify and resolve complex integration risks and technical dependencies.
• Experience developing technical requirements, data and system architecture artifacts, interface documentation, implementation plans, and test or verification approaches.
• Strong understanding of Intelligence Community missions, organizations, data-sharing environments, interoperability challenges, security considerations, and enterprise coordination mechanisms.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a complex, classified, matrixed, fast-paced sponsor environment.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including translating complex engineering topics into clear recommendations for senior executives or national-level decision makers.
• Must have an active Top Secret/SCI w/Poly U.S. Government issued Security Clearance. Per U.S. Government eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S. Citizen to be considered for clearance.
• On-site requirement of 5 days a week on-site.

Salary

$155,200 - $194,000 - $232,800 Annual

Technologies you may work with

• SQL, Python, Java, Scala
• ETL/ELT, APIs, batch and streaming processing
• Data modeling, schema design
• Cloud and hybrid data platforms, distributed data processing
• Modern warehouse, lake, and lakehouse architecture patterns
• Metadata and cataloging, data lineage, data quality and data observability
• Interoperability standards, master and reference data, access controls
• Messaging, event-driven integration, federated or virtualized data access

Preferred qualifications

• Experience supporting data engineering, enterprise data architecture, or data integration efforts within the Intelligence Community or broader national security enterprise.
• Advanced degree in a related technical discipline (Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Data Science, Data Engineering, Information Systems, Artificial Intelligence, or similar).
• Experience with modern enterprise integration approaches such as data mesh, data fabric, API-centric architectures, event-driven architectures, or federated data services.
• Experience applying DevSecOps or DataOps practices, including automated testing, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, containerized data services, and repeatable deployment patterns.
• Experience using structured technology evaluation frameworks, metrics, benchmarks, and scoring methodologies for data platforms or integration technologies.
• Experience enabling AI/ML use cases through data engineering, including scalable data preparation and model-data integration.
• Experience modernizing legacy data environments, migrating workloads to cloud or hybrid platforms, and managing transition risk.
• Ability to build trust quickly with senior sponsors and operate with discretion, sound judgment, and minimal direction.
• Experience working across multiple IC elements and technical organizations to coordinate enterprise data strategy, architecture, and implementation activities.

Security clearance requirements

• Requires a minimum clearance of: Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph.
• Must have or obtain (within one year from the date of hire): Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph.