Data Engineer

Job Title: Data Engineer (Databricks) Location: Ashburn, VA – Hybrid (2 days onsite, 3 days remote) Clearance: Active Public Trust or Higher (final round interview onsite – active clearance required) Employment Type: Contract Position Overview: We are seeking highly skilled Data Engineers with strong Databricks experience to support critical data initiatives for a federal client. The ideal candidate will have a proven background in building, optimizing, and managing large-scale data pipelines and architectures using Databricks, Spark, and cloud-native data platforms. This role requires candidates to hold and maintain an Active Public Trust or higher clearance. The role is hybrid with a requirement of 2 days onsite in Ashburn, VA, and 3 days remote. The final round of interviews will be conducted in person. Key Responsibilities: Design, develop, and maintain scalable data pipelines and ETL workflows using Databricks and Apache Spark. Collaborate with data architects, analysts, and stakeholders to design robust data models and integrate multiple data sources. Optimize data processing performance, ensuring high availability, scalability, and reliability of the data platform. Implement data governance, security, and compliance measures aligned with federal agency requirements. Work with large structured and unstructured datasets, ensuring data quality and consistency. Develop reusable frameworks for ingestion, transformation, and storage of data. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define and implement best practices for data engineering. Support production systems, troubleshoot issues, and implement performance tuning. Document technical processes, workflows, and architectures. Required Qualifications: Must hold an Active Public Trust or higher clearance. Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, or related field (or equivalent work experience). 5+ years of hands-on data engineering experience with strong expertise in Databricks. Proficiency in Apache Spark, SQL, and Python (PySpark preferred). Strong experience with cloud data platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP – Azure Databricks highly preferred). Experience with ETL/ELT pipeline development and orchestration tools (Airflow, Data Factory, etc.). Solid understanding of data modeling, warehousing, and governance best practices. Strong knowledge of big data frameworks, distributed systems, and data lake/lakehouse architectures. Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and Git-based workflows. Excellent communication and problem-solving skills. Preferred Qualifications: Prior experience working with federal agencies or public sector clients. Experience with Delta Lake and advanced Databricks features (MLflow, Unity Catalog, etc.). Knowledge of data security and compliance frameworks in federal environments. Experience with streaming data pipelines (Kafka, Kinesis, Event Hubs). Strong knowledge of containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and cloud-native deployments. Job Type: Contract Pay: $55.00 - $60.00 per hour Expected hours: 40 per week Application Question(s): Have Databricks Certification Work Location: In person