Data Engineer - Junior

XPECT Solutions, LLC provides high-quality IT and security resources to help clients meet strategic goals and mission objectives. We specialize in developing, testing, deploying, and supporting secure, reliable solutions that enhance system functionality and ensure compliance with federal standards.

About the role

The Junior Data Engineer will support a Federal Government customer in delivering secure, cloud-based mission systems. This role involves contributing to end-to-end technical design across full-stack applications, microservices, and AWS infrastructure, guiding a team of engineers through delivery. The position requires fluency in front-end (React, JavaScript, HTML/CSS), back-end (Java, Spring Boot, Python, Apache Camel, GraphQL), data, and cloud layers, translating mission requirements into scalable, maintainable solutions that meet federal compliance (NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, DHS 4300A). The ideal candidate is a hands-on technical leader who can move between whiteboard design, code review, and stakeholder briefings. This is a hybrid position with an onsite requirement of one day per week.

Responsibilities

• Design end-to-end solution architectures for secure, cloud-based data platforms supporting federal mission workloads, including data ingestion, processing, storage, and analytics layers.
• Develop reference architectures, design patterns, and architectural decision records (ADRs) to guide engineering teams and ensure consistency across the program.
• Architect distributed data processing pipelines using Spark and PySpark, defining partitioning, caching, and resource strategies to optimize throughput and cost.
• Lead database design and data modeling efforts for relational and analytical workloads, including schema design, indexing strategy, and SQL performance tuning.
• Define storage and compute optimization strategies—tiering, right-sizing, autoscaling, and workload placement—to balance performance against budget constraints.
• Collaborate with DevSecOps to embed security and compliance controls (NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, DHS 4300A) into architectural designs and CI/CD workflows using GitHub, Jenkins/CloudBees, Ansible, Terraform, and Vault.
• Conduct architectural reviews, design trade-off analyses, and proof-of-concept evaluations to validate solutions before full implementation.
• Produce architecture documentation, diagrams, and technical briefings tailored to engineering, security, and government stakeholder audiences.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineering teams, guiding implementation decisions and resolving complex design issues.
• Partner with program leadership to assess emerging technologies, evaluate vendor offerings, and recommend roadmap investments aligned to mission needs.

Requirements

• Must be able to obtain Public Trust Level 6C clearance.
• 3-5 years of Information Assurance experience.
• Experience with the following technologies:
  • Python
  • Spark
  • PySpark
  • SQL and Database Implementation
  • Data Engineering and Data Pipelines
  • Storage and Compute Optimization
  • GitHub
  • Jenkins/CloudBees
  • Ansible
  • Terraform
  • Vault

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related field (preferred).

Benefits

• Competitive medical, dental, and vision plans.
• Retirement savings plan.
• Life insurance and AD&D insurance.
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• 3 weeks of annual PTO.
• 11 days of holiday PTO.
• Performance awards.
• Referral bonus plan (up to $5,000/year).
• Education reimbursement/training (up to $2,500/year).