Data Engineer and Analyst

Location: Washington, DC Metro Area — Hybrid (3 days remote / 2 days on-site at client location per week)Employment Type: Contract-to-Hire (conversion to full-time upon successful demonstration of performance)Clearance/Eligibility: U.S. Citizenship required (client requirement; may be subject to additional suitability/clearance processing) About the Role We're looking for a hands-on Data Engineer and Analyst to join our analytics consulting team supporting a U.S. federal government client. In this role, you'll design, build, and maintain custom data pipelines and analytical solutions, while also digging into the data yourself to uncover patterns, generate insights, and communicate what they mean to technical and non-technical stakeholders alike. This is not a purely back-end engineering role — we need someone who is equally comfortable writing production-quality code and explaining, in plain English, why a trend in the data matters to a client's mission. You'll work closely with government stakeholders to understand their business processes and data deeply enough to propose creative, high-value solutions they may not have thought to ask for. This position begins as a contract-to-hire role, with conversion to a full-time position once you've had the opportunity to demonstrate your skills and fit with the team and client. The role follows a hybrid schedule, with three days per week working remotely and two days per week on-site at the client's location in the Washington, DC metro area. What You'll Do • Design, develop, and maintain custom data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes using Python and Apache Spark • Write clean, efficient, well-documented, production-grade code for data ingestion, transformation, and integration across diverse source systems • Analyze large and complex datasets to identify trends, anomalies, and actionable insights relevant to the client's mission • Build clear, compelling data visualizations and dashboards that communicate findings to both technical and non-technical audiences • Translate analytical results into plain-language narratives — explaining not just what the data shows, but why it matters and what to do about it • Partner directly with federal client stakeholders to understand their business processes, data ecosystems, and pain points • Proactively identify opportunities to apply data engineering and analytics in creative, high-value ways beyond the immediate ask • Troubleshoot data quality issues, pipeline failures, and performance bottlenecks • Document technical designs, processes, and decisions clearly for both engineering and non-technical audiences • Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of engineers, analysts, and consultants in an agile delivery environment Required Qualifications • 3+ years of hands-on experience with Python for data engineering, scripting, or analysis • 3+ years of hands-on experience with Apache Spark (PySpark or Spark SQL) for large-scale data processing • Strong written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to explain technical and analytical concepts to non-technical stakeholders • Demonstrated experience building data visualizations and communicating the meaning and implications of data patterns • Strong SQL skills and experience working with relational and/or distributed data systems • Experience with data modeling (e.g., dimensional/star schema, normalization, entity-relationship design) for analytical and operational use cases • Experience working with a variety of database technologies, including relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle) and NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB, or similar) • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field — or equivalent practical experience • Intellectual curiosity and the aptitude to quickly learn a client's business domain and underlying data • Proven ability to work independently, take ownership, and drive solutions from ambiguous requirements to delivery • Must be a U.S. citizen • Must reside in, or be willing to relocate to, the Washington, DC metro area, and be available to work on-site at client facilities as required • Comfortable working within the security, compliance, and process requirements typical of U.S. federal government engagements Preferred Qualifications • Hands-on experience with the Databricks platform in a cloud environment (Azure, AWS, or GCP) • Experience with cloud-native data services (e.g., Azure Data Factory, AWS Glue, S3/ADLS, Delta Lake) • Experience with BI/visualization tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or similar • Prior experience supporting U.S. federal government clients or working within a consulting services environment • Familiarity with data governance, security, and compliance considerations relevant to federal data (e.g., FISMA, FedRAMP) • Active Public Trust determination or other active federal security clearance is a plus, but not required What We're Looking For Beyond the technical checklist, we're looking for someone who: • Gets genuinely curious about a client's mission and wants to understand why the data looks the way it does • Takes initiative to propose better, smarter, or more creative approaches rather than just executing tickets • Can move fluidly between hands-on coding and clear, confident client communication • Takes pride in producing work that is both technically sound and genuinely useful to the people who rely on it Compensation & Benefits We offer market-competitive compensation for this role. Upon successful conversion from contract to full-time employment, you'll be eligible for our employee benefits package, including health insurance and a 401(k) plan. About Us Luminus Analytics is a consulting services firm partnering with federal government agencies to modernize how they collect, manage, and derive insight from their data. We combine deep technical expertise in AI, Analytics and Data Engineering with a consultative approach, helping our clients turn raw data into decisions that matter. Luminus Analytics is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other protected characteristics.