Data Engineer - General

Pegasi Defense is seeking an experienced Data Engineer to support the operations, maintenance, development, and continuous improvement of mission-critical enterprise data systems within a Department of Defense (DoD) environment.

The Data Engineer will be responsible for designing, developing, maintaining, and optimizing data pipelines, database integrations, and data processing solutions to ensure the availability, accuracy, security, and reliability of enterprise data. This position will focus on production data operations, data integration, database performance, data quality, troubleshooting, and compliance with federal cybersecurity requirements.

The ideal candidate will have strong experience supporting complex enterprise data environments, working with relational databases, developing reliable data processing solutions, and resolving production data issues within highly regulated federal environments.

Key Responsibilities

Data Engineering & Pipeline Development • Design, develop, maintain, and enhance data pipelines to support enterprise applications and operational business processes. • Develop and optimize Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) and Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) processes for efficient and reliable data movement. • Build and maintain automated data ingestion, transformation, validation, and processing workflows. • Develop and maintain SQL queries, stored procedures, scripts, and database functions to support data processing and integration requirements. • Implement data validation, error handling, logging, and recovery mechanisms to ensure data integrity and reliability. • Support structured and semi-structured data processing across multiple enterprise systems. • Identify opportunities to improve data processing efficiency, automation, and operational performance.

Database Development & Optimization • Develop, maintain, and optimize relational database structures, queries, views, stored procedures, and supporting data components. • Work extensively with Oracle databases and SQL-based technologies to support enterprise application requirements. • Analyze and resolve database query performance issues, inefficient data access patterns, and data processing bottlenecks. • Support database schema changes, data migrations, indexing strategies, and query optimization. • Collaborate with database administrators to support database upgrades, patching, backup and recovery, and performance tuning. • Develop and maintain database documentation, data mappings, and technical specifications. • Support data consistency, referential integrity, and database reliability across production environments.

Operations & Maintenance (O&M) • Provide ongoing operational support for enterprise data pipelines, databases, and data integration processes. • Monitor data processing jobs, database connectivity, system performance, and data availability. • Troubleshoot and resolve production data issues, failed processing jobs, data inconsistencies, and integration errors. • Conduct root cause analysis and implement corrective actions to prevent recurring data-related incidents. • Support scheduled maintenance activities, application updates, database changes, and production deployments. • Develop and maintain operational runbooks, troubleshooting procedures, and technical documentation. • Coordinate with software engineers, DevSecOps engineers, database administrators, and cybersecurity personnel to resolve complex technical issues. • Support incident management, change management, and production release activities. • Assist with backup validation, disaster recovery testing, and data recovery procedures.

Data Integration & Application Support • Design, develop, and maintain data integrations between enterprise applications, databases, APIs, and external systems. • Support secure and reliable data exchange using RESTful APIs, web services, file-based transfers, and other integration technologies. • Develop and maintain data transformation logic to support application interoperability and business requirements. • Troubleshoot data synchronization, connectivity, formatting, and processing issues across integrated systems. • Support data mapping, schema validation, and reconciliation between source and destination systems. • Collaborate with application development teams to improve database interactions and data access performance. • Support secure data transmission, authentication, and authorization mechanisms for data integrations.

Data Quality, Security & Compliance • Develop and implement data quality controls to ensure accuracy, completeness, consistency, and reliability. • Identify and resolve duplicate records, missing data, invalid values, and data integrity issues. • Implement automated data validation, reconciliation, and monitoring processes. • Support secure data handling in accordance with DoD cybersecurity requirements and applicable federal regulations. • Apply data protection practices, including encryption, access controls, auditing, and secure data transmission. • Support compliance with the DoD Risk Management Framework (RMF), NIST SP 800-53, and applicable security requirements. • Collaborate with cybersecurity teams to identify and remediate database and data processing vulnerabilities. • Support security assessments, audit activities, and continuous monitoring requirements. • Ensure data engineering changes follow established configuration management, security, and release management processes.

Automation & Continuous Improvement • Develop automation scripts using Python, SQL, Bash, or comparable technologies to streamline data processing and operational tasks. • Integrate data engineering workflows into CI/CD pipelines and automated deployment processes. • Support version control, automated testing, and deployment of database scripts and data processing components. • Identify opportunities to modernize legacy data processing solutions and improve system maintainability. • Evaluate and implement improvements to data architecture, processing performance, and operational reliability. • Participate in Agile development activities, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, technical reviews, and retrospectives. • Collaborate with technical teams and government stakeholders to translate data requirements into reliable engineering solutions.

Required Qualifications • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or a related technical field. Equivalent relevant experience may be considered. • 4+ years of professional experience in data engineering, database development, data integration, or related technical roles. • Experience supporting enterprise data systems or applications in federal government, DoD, or similarly regulated environments. • Strong proficiency in SQL, including complex queries, joins, stored procedures, views, and query optimization. • Hands-on experience with Oracle databases or comparable enterprise relational database management systems. • Experience designing, developing, maintaining, and troubleshooting ETL/ELT processes and data pipelines. • Proficiency in Python, PL/SQL, Bash, or comparable scripting and programming languages. • Experience with data modeling, database schema design, and relational database concepts. • Experience developing and maintaining integrations between applications, databases, APIs, and external systems. • Strong understanding of data quality, data validation, data integrity, and error handling. • Experience troubleshooting production data processing issues, database performance problems, and integration failures. • Familiarity with Linux operating systems, particularly Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). • Experience using Git or comparable version control tools. • Familiarity with automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, and software deployment processes. • Knowledge of secure data handling, access controls, encryption, and federal cybersecurity requirements. • Strong analytical, troubleshooting, documentation, and communication skills. • Ability to work effectively with software engineers, DevSecOps engineers, database administrators, and cybersecurity professionals.

Preferred Qualifications • Previous experience supporting mission-critical DoD or federal government enterprise data systems. • Experience supporting high-availability production databases and enterprise applications. • Advanced experience with Oracle SQL, PL/SQL, stored procedures, packages, and performance tuning. • Experience with Oracle database administration concepts, execution plans, indexing, and query optimization. • Experience with enterprise ETL tools such as Informatica, Talend, SSIS, Apache NiFi, or comparable technologies. • Familiarity with data orchestration and scheduling tools such as Apache Airflow or comparable solutions. • Experience developing data integrations using REST APIs, JSON, XML, and secure file transfer technologies. • Experience with large-scale data processing, complex data transformations, and high-volume transactional data. • Familiarity with enterprise application architectures, middleware, and database connectivity technologies. • Experience with data migration, legacy system modernization, and database integration initiatives. • Experience with enterprise monitoring and logging solutions such as Splunk, ELK Stack, or comparable platforms. • Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, or other containerization technologies. • Experience with AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, or other government-authorized cloud environments. • Knowledge of database security, DISA STIGs, DoD RMF, and NIST SP 800-53 requirements. • Experience supporting automated database deployments, CI/CD processes, and DevSecOps practices. • Familiarity with data governance, metadata management, data lineage, and data lifecycle management. • Knowledge of identity and access management, PKI, CAC/PIV authentication, and secure enterprise data access.

Relevant certifications such as: • CompTIA Security+ • Oracle Database SQL Certified Associate • Oracle Database PL/SQL Developer Certified Professional • AWS Certified Data Engineer • Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate • Other relevant data engineering or database certifications

Security Requirements • Must be a U.S. citizen. • Must possess or be eligible to obtain the security clearance required for the position. • Must meet applicable DoD cybersecurity workforce qualification requirements. • Must comply with all applicable government security, access control, and information protection requirements.