Data Engineer (Washington DC-Baltimore Area)

Forward Deployed Data Engineer

Location: Washington, DC Area (Hybrid)

Travel: Nationwide, based on customer and mission requirements

Security Clearance: Active TS/SCI Clearance Eligibility Required

Job Summary

We are seeking a Forward Deployed Data Engineer to work directly with Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC) customers, developing and maintaining production-ready data pipelines within Palantir Foundry-based Maven Smart System (MSS) environments.

This hands-on role involves working onsite with customer engineers, analysts, and government stakeholders to transform raw data into reliable, well-structured, mission-ready data assets. The ideal candidate has strong experience with Palantir Foundry, SQL, Python, ETL development, and data modeling, along with the ability to work independently in dynamic, mission-critical environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with customer engineers, data analysts, and government stakeholders to understand data requirements and design effective data workflows within Palantir Foundry.
• Design, develop, deploy, and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines to ingest, cleanse, transform, validate, and load data from multiple sources.
• Build and manage Foundry Ontology object types, relationships, and data models to support operational workflows and analytics.
• Use Palantir Foundry tools, including Pipeline Builder, Code Repositories, and Code Workbooks, to develop and maintain production data pipelines.
• Troubleshoot data quality issues, schema inconsistencies, pipeline failures, and performance bottlenecks across large and complex datasets.
• Translate changing mission requirements into scalable, reliable data solutions while working directly with onsite technical teams.
• Document data architecture, pipeline dependencies, transformation logic, and data lineage to support system maintenance and knowledge transfer.
• Coordinate with internal engineering teams to share technical solutions, deployment practices, and reusable data engineering patterns.
• Support multiple customer engagements across the United States, adapting to changing project priorities and deployment requirements.
• Work in secure government environments, including Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs), when required.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field; equivalent practical experience will also be considered.
• At least 3 years of experience in data engineering, ETL development, data integration, or a related technical discipline.
• Hands-on, production-level experience with Palantir Foundry , including Pipeline Builder, Code Repositories or Code Workbooks, and Foundry Ontology.
• Strong proficiency in SQL and Python, or a comparable programming language, for data transformation and pipeline development.
• Experience designing, implementing, and troubleshooting production data pipelines and data models.
• Strong understanding of data quality, data validation, schema management, data lineage, and pipeline performance optimization.
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and deliver solutions in ambiguous or rapidly changing environments.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to collaborate with technical teams and explain complex data concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• U.S. citizenship and residence within the United States.
• Ability to work in a hybrid arrangement supporting customers in the Washington, DC area, with onsite work and nationwide travel as required.
• Active Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) security clearance eligibility.

Preferred Qualifications

• Palantir Foundry certifications.
• Experience supporting Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, or other government customers.
• Familiarity with the Maven Smart System (MSS) or similar mission-critical data platforms.
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or data engineering platforms such as Databricks.
• Security+ certification or an equivalent IT security certification.
• Experience deploying and supporting data systems in classified or restricted-access environments.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a hands-on data engineer who takes ownership of technical problems from initial requirements gathering through production deployment. They are comfortable working directly with customers, adapting to evolving mission needs, troubleshooting complex datasets, and building dependable data pipelines in secure operational environments. They combine strong technical expertise with sound judgment, initiative, and the ability to deliver results with limited supervision.