Data Operation Technical Lead with Security Clearance

The role

Own the foundational data infrastructure that turns SOF Enterprise data into a strategic asset. Lead the engineering team that builds and operates the platform beneath the analytics, AI/ML models, and mission applications.

About the program

Intrepid Prosperity is staffing senior technical leadership roles on a major multi-year cleared program in support of a U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) customer. Work is based in Tampa, FL with hybrid flexibility, plus a distributed footprint across U.S. and OCONUS locations (Germany, Korea, and other comparable sites).

The mission

Bring the data, analytics, and AI capabilities the SOF Enterprise needs to win in the digital warfare domain.

Why it matters

This is a senior, named-position technical leadership role on a multi-year program. You’ll be a founding member of a senior team building from day one, in direct contact with senior mission owners. The team is built deliberately senior-heavy — you’ll work alongside peers at the top of their craft.

What you’ll do

• Own the data infrastructure, data engineering, and data operations stack — the scalable systems beneath the analytics, AI/ML models, and mission applications.
• Lead the data engineering team — set the technical bar, mentor senior engineers, run on-call rotations, own production incidents and postmortems.
• Translate senior Government mission-owner requests into multi-team work plans; bridge customer requirements and the engineering teams that deliver them.
• Drive agile development across distributed teams — sprint cadence, backlog grooming, release management, retros.
• Manage data operations processes: data governance, data quality SLAs, VAULTIS compliance, data product delivery.
• Own the technical relationship with Government ISSOs and SCARs — drive RMF artifacts, ATO packages, and continuous monitoring for the data platform.
• Partner with the Data Science & Analytics Technical Lead, AI/ML Engineering Lead, and DevSecOps team to support the full analytics and AI lifecycle.

Must have

• Active TS/SCI clearance (held within last 5 years; no break >24 months in eligibility).
• U.S. Citizenship.
• Minimum 8 years managing digital projects in support of SOF Enterprise customers.
• Hybrid skill set: technical depth (modern data engineering / data platform stack) AND a program management track record.
• Hands-on experience with at least three of: AWS GovCloud, Snowflake/Redshift, Apache Spark, Kafka, Airflow, dbt, Kubernetes, Terraform.
• Direct experience as technical owner of an ATO / RMF / STIG cycle on a production system.

Nice to have

• 3+ years managing SOF agile development processes; 3+ years managing SOF data operations processes; 3+ years translating SOF customer requests into team assignments.
• CIPoly or FSPoly.
• Prior senior engineering leadership at a cleared defense data firm with SOF program experience.
• MLOps platform experience (MLflow, SageMaker, Kubeflow).