Big Data Engineer Principal

Job Description

SAIC is seeking qualified applicants to support a cutting-edge data, analytics, and AI platform. Roles include managing customer relationships, service portfolio and catalog management, software engineering & development, data/AI engineering, IT systems operations, and use case intake and analytics for DoW enterprise-scale mission objectives expected in Spring/Summer 2026.
Positions are contingent pending contract award.

Place of Performance: The work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia. Some work may be performed remotely, subject to Government approval.


Job Responsibilities:

• Design, build, and maintain the core WDP data infrastructure and pipelines using agentic workflows to streamline operations and enhance automation.

• Ensure the scalability, reliability, and security of the platform to support data ingestion, processing, storage, and transformation for various consumers, including data tooling teams.

• Build and operate data pipelines and Lakehouse solutions leveraging AWS (e.g., S3, Glue, Lake Formation, EMR, Kinesis, Redshift, Athena, Lambda, IAM) and Databricks (e.g., Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Delta Live Tables, Apache Spark) within an AWS GovCloud environment.

• Develop enterprise data products accessible via a modern data marketplace, implement a medallion architecture for data storage (bronze, silver, gold zones), and establish self-service inbound and outbound data connection methods.

• Implement data quality monitoring tools, proactive alerting for pipeline issues, and data drift detection mechanisms.

• Enforce data security policies, optimize infrastructure for performance and scalability, ensure data backup and recovery, and implement robust data governance policies.

• Document pipelines, models, and governance standards while ensuring compliance with data privacy and security regulations.

• Design and develop solutions to complex applications problems, system administration issues, or network concerns.

• Perform systems management and integration functions.

Qualifications

• Bachelors and nine (9) years or more experience; Masters and seven (7) years or more experience ; PhD or JD and four (4) years or more experience.
• TS/SCI Clearance is required.
• Required Certification: CompTIA Security+ (CE)

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Competencies:

• Data Architecture & Engineering
  • Expertise in data architecture and medallion data storage frameworks (bronze, silver, gold zones).
  • Proficiency in developing and managing enterprise data products and marketplaces.
  • Hands-on experience designing and operating enterprise data platforms using AWS (S3, Glue, Lake Formation, EMR, Redshift, Kinesis, Athena, Lambda, IAM) for data lake/medallion storage, ingestion, ETL, and governance.
  • Proven experience building and managing data pipelines on the Databricks Lakehouse Platform , including Delta Lake (medallion architecture), Unity Catalog (governance, lineage, access control), and Delta Live Tables for declarative pipeline development and data quality enforcement.
  • Proficiency with Apache Spark (PySpark/Scala/SQL) for large-scale data processing and transformation.
  Data Quality & Governance
  • Ability to implement and maintain data quality monitoring tools, including proactive alerting and data drift detection (e.g., DLT expectations, Lakehouse Monitoring).
  • Knowledge of data backup, recovery, and robust governance protocols.
  • Skill in documenting data pipelines, models, and governance standards.
  • Familiarity with compliance requirements for data privacy and security regulations.
  Security & Infrastructure
  • Strong understanding of data security policies and practices, including encryption (KMS), least-privilege IAM, and secure networking constructs.
  • Familiarity with deploying and operating workloads within AWS GovCloud (US) and DoD security boundaries (IL4-IL6).
• • Experience optimizing infrastructure for performance and scalability.
  • Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform and/or AWS CloudFormation for repeatable, secure provisioning.
  Soft Skills
  • Effective communication and collaboration skills for cross-functional teamwork.
  • Analytical and problem-solving abilities for troubleshooting and resolving technical challenges.
  Preferred Certifications
  
  
  The following certifications are considered a plus:
  
  
  AWS
  • AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate
  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate or Professional
  • AWS Certified Security - Specialty
  Databricks
  • Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate
  • Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional
  • Databricks Certified Apache Spark Developer

About Us

SAIC® is a premier mission integrator focused on advancing the power of technology and innovation to serve and protect our world. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, intelligence, and civilian markets includes secure high-end solutions in mission IT, enterprise IT, engineering services, and professional services. We integrate emerging technology, rapidly and securely, into mission critical operations that modernize and enable critical national imperatives.


We are approximately 23,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and inspired by opportunities. SAIC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $7.3 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom.