Data Engineer (GovCon; Public Trust)

About this role

Attain Talent is searching for talented data engineers for our GovCon client. This is a full time position with benefits, and applicants MUST BE US Citizens (no dual-citizenship) and have the ability to obtain a Public Trust clearance.

Our client partners with federal agencies to build secure, scalable, and mission-driven solutions that make a meaningful impact on millions of people. Recognized by The Washington Post as a Top Workplace in 2025 and 2026.

About the Role

We are seeking a Data Engineer to design, build, and maintain scalable, efficient data pipelines and systems following modern data engineering best practices. The Data Engineer will partner with other Data Engineers to evaluate and prototype new tools and technologies, assessing their risks and benefits to deliver exceptional value to our clients.

You Will Get To

• Design, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines, ETL/ELT workflows, and data models using Python, Apache Spark (PySpark), Databricks, dbt, SQL (PostgreSQL), and AWS Glue.

• Develop and optimize AWS-native data platforms leveraging AWS Glue, Amazon EMR, Amazon MWAA (Apache Airflow), Lambda, Step Functions, Amazon S3, Redshift, RDS, DMS, and CloudWatch.

• Build high-performance ingestion, transformation, and orchestration workflows for structured and semi-structured data using Apache Iceberg, Parquet, ORC, and Avro.

• Design and optimize analytical data platforms using Amazon Athena, Trino, Hive, OpenSearch, and enterprise data catalog technologies.

• Integrate enterprise and external data sources across relational and NoSQL platforms including PostgreSQL, Oracle, Redshift, GraphDB, and other NoSQL databases.

• Build AI-enabled data solutions using Amazon Bedrock, RAG pipelines, and vector search technologies including Amazon S3 Vector and OpenSearch vector indexes.

• Develop cloud infrastructure using CloudFormation (Infrastructure as Code), GitHub, Harness, and enterprise CI/CD pipelines while leveraging SNS, SQS, and EventBridge for event-driven architectures.

• Improve the reliability, scalability, performance, and maintainability of enterprise data platforms through monitoring, troubleshooting, automation, and continuous optimization.

• Support mission-critical analytics and reporting solutions within large-scale AWS-based federal data environments, implementing solutions that comply with FedRAMP and NIST 800-53 security controls.

• Lead modernization initiatives migrating legacy platforms including IBM DataStage, Hadoop, RunDeck, and shell-based workflows to cloud-native AWS services.

• Mentor junior engineers through technical guidance, architecture discussions, and code reviews while promoting engineering best practices.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams in an Agile environment to define requirements, deliver high-quality data solutions, and communicate technical concepts effectively to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Who You Are

• A strategic data engineer who enjoys designing complex systems and solving complex challenges

• Strong in modern cloud-based solution design

• Comfortable balancing business needs with technical constraints and long-term strategy

• A strong communicator

• Collaborative, proactive, and comfortable navigating ambiguity

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field

• 4+ years of professional experience in data engineering or related domains

• Strong hands-on experience with:

• Databricks, Apache Spark (PySpark), Python, SQL (PostgreSQL), and dbt for large-scale data engineering, ETL/ELT development, data transformation, and data modeling.

• Designing, building, and maintaining AWS-native data platforms using AWS Glue, Amazon…