Senior Data Engineering Specialist

Role Description

The Leidos Digital Modernization Group seeks a Senior Data Engineering Specialist with an extensive Data engineering background to support the Global Management Systems (GMS) Team for the Global Solutions Management – Operations II (GSM-O II) contract. This contract includes the Operations, Sustainment, Maintenance, Repair and Defense of the Defense Information System Network (DISN) within the DOD Information Network (DODIN) in support of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). It also includes support for other key tasks for DISA, including the transformation of DISA’s operational mission through innovation, and support to DISA’s mission partners.

Candidate must be within driving distance of Scott AFB. At a minimum, a Secret clearance and Security + certification upon the start of employment.

The candidate will be responsible for:

• Providing technical leadership in data engineering.
• Serving as a customer-facing expert on DISN network topology data to enable advanced data correlation and enrichment.
• Representing the team in technical discussions with internal and external stakeholders.
• Designing and implementing robust data enrichment pipelines, integrating diverse data sources into Confluent (Kafka) and Elastic platforms.
• Managing complex, multi-site Kafka and Elastic clusters to support mission-critical operations.
• Ensuring platform sustainment and reliability, proactively addressing operational challenges.
• Leading the automation of the software development lifecycle, including CI/CD pipeline creation, containerization, and automated testing.
• Driving DevOps best practices.
• Collaborating within Agile scrum teams, mentoring junior members, and fostering continuous improvement.
• Authoring and maintaining comprehensive technical documentation, ensuring all solutions meet DoD security standards and compliance requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college in a related discipline, or equivalent experience/combined education, with 8-12 years of professional experience; or 6-10 years of professional experience with a related master’s degree.
• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, data engineering, or business/data analysis, with demonstrated leadership in Agile/Scrum teams.
• Extensive hands-on software development experience with Python, Java, SQL, and working knowledge of JavaScript and HTML.
• Advanced experience with distributed version control systems such as Git and Bitbucket.
• Deep expertise in data analytics and visualization tools, including Kibana, Power BI, Tableau, and the ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana).
• Proven experience designing, developing, and optimizing ETL processes and complex data pipelines, including integration with event streaming platforms such as Kafka.
• Strong background in data modeling, unification, and analytics to support data-driven projects and advanced enrichment.
• Demonstrated ability to architect and implement application and system integrations, including Kafka and Elastic platform integrations.
• Solid understanding of networking and internet protocols, with experience supporting network-centric and data-driven environments.
• Experience developing and deploying software on UNIX/Linux command line platforms.
• Strong facilitation, stakeholder engagement, and communication skills, with the ability to bridge business and technical perspectives and collaborate with customer representatives, domain experts, systems engineers, and architects.
• Experience with Agile project management and collaboration tools such as JIRA and Confluence.
• Demonstrated leadership in mentoring junior team members and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
• Active Secret DoD Security clearance prior to start date.
• Active Security+ Certification (or other applicable DoD 8570 IAT II certification) prior to start date.

Requirements

• Advanced experience with CI/CD techniques, containerized pipelines, and DevOps practices, including architecting and automating end-to-end software delivery processes.
• Proven expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, with a demonstrated ability to design, build, and integrate AI/ML capabilities into production data platforms.
• Deep experience in data integration, storage, and analysis technologies such as Kafka, Elastic, Spark, and NiFi, including architecting scalable, high-performance data solutions.
• Extensive experience with Kafka connector integrations, custom connector development, and strong working knowledge of ksqlDB and Kafka Streams for real-time data processing.
• Skilled in developing detailed software designs for streaming data applications, particularly using ksqlDB and Kafka Streams.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and optimize Kafka system integrations between Elasticsearch/Logstash and other enterprise systems.
• Expertise in designing and implementing application deployment pipelines and developing software in containerized environments using Kubernetes and Docker.
• Strong familiarity with Kubernetes deployment strategies, Agile methodologies, and related tools for collaborative development.
• Experience developing and deploying software in AWS cloud environments, including configuration of cloud infrastructure, networking, and security policies (GovCloud experience preferred).
• Comprehensive experience in full software lifecycle automation (design, development, testing, deployment), including production-grade deployments.
• Advanced skills in designing and building automated software testing pipelines using tools such as Ansible, Selenium, JMeter, Junit, and others.
• Demonstrated experience developing and deploying software in DoD environments (DISA experience preferred), including building applications that meet DoD security standards, updating code for security scans, and implementing security guidelines (e.g., STIGs).
• Ability to develop DoD requirements, traceability matrices, and detailed project plans/schedules; author software systems engineering documents and interface documents (IDDs/ICDs).
• Extensive experience with Agile methodologies and Atlassian tools, including JIRA and Confluence, for project tracking and collaboration.
• Proven ability to work effectively in remote, geographically dispersed teams, demonstrating strong communication and collaboration skills.

Benefits

• Pay Range: $107,900.00 - $195,050.00
• The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary.
• Additional factors considered in extending an offer include responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.