About this role.
This senior Data Engineer role builds and operates secure, scalable data workflows, pipelines, databases, and exchange services across AWS and on-premises environments. The work centers on Kubernetes-based streaming platforms such as Kafka, Redpanda, and Kinesis, with infrastructure automation through Terraform and strong configuration, security, and performance practices. The engineer will partner with platform and cybersecurity specialists to protect sensitive data and meet DoD and industry compliance requirements. Candidates need at least five years of production data-engineering experience, U.S. citizenship, and the ability to obtain and retain a Secret-level DoD clearance.
Role DNA
A quick view of the complexity, pace, ownership and collaboration implied by the job description.
Job Complexity
5/5Pace & Pressure
4/5Autonomy Level
4/5Communication Load
4/5Salary analysis
Estimated compensation compared with the broader US market for similar roles.
Core skills
Skills and capabilities most closely associated with this opportunity.
Sample interview questions
I would begin with data classification, interface contracts, throughput and latency requirements, and applicable compliance controls. I would use encrypted transport and storage, least-privilege IAM, network segmentation, managed secrets, audit logging, and schema validation, then implement resilient ingestion and processing with retries, dead-letter queues, idempotency, and monitoring. I would also document recovery objectives and regularly test backup, restoration, and failure scenarios.
I use declarative configuration and an operator or Helm-based deployment model to standardize broker, topic, ACL, and observability configuration. I plan persistent storage, replication factors, partitioning, resource limits, pod disruption budgets, secure authentication and encryption, and capacity thresholds. Operationally, I monitor consumer lag, broker health, throughput, disk usage, and replication health, while validating upgrade and disaster-recovery procedures in nonproduction environments.
I design pipelines as modular, version-controlled components with clear ownership, data contracts, automated tests, and infrastructure-as-code. I add data-quality checks for freshness, completeness, validity, and schema drift, plus alerting tied to defined service-level objectives. For maintainability, I provide runbooks, lineage documentation, dashboards, and controlled deployment and rollback processes.
I would define reusable modules for foundational components such as networking, IAM, encryption, Kubernetes resources, monitoring, and data services. Changes would run through pull requests, policy checks, security scanning, plan review, and controlled CI/CD promotion across environments. I would protect state appropriately, use short-lived credentials where possible, and continuously assess drift and configuration compliance.
I translate the issue into mission impact, likelihood, decision options, cost, and timeline rather than leading with implementation details. For example, I might explain that insufficient backup testing could delay recovery of a critical data service, then recommend a tested recovery plan with clear ownership and measurable recovery targets. I confirm the stakeholder's decision, document the accepted risk or remediation plan, and provide concise progress updates.
EMPLOYER IS A CONTRACTOR FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. THIS POSITION WILL REQUIRE U.S. CITIZENSHIP.
Responsibilities:
- Designing data workflows, pipelines, and pathways to support ETL/ELT, while ensuring data-quality and exchange of sensitive information across AWS cloud and on-prem environments.
- Implementing systems engineering principles to ensure the reliability, scalability, and maintainability of data layer systems, including backup and recovery strategies
- Architecting, deploying, and operating data streaming technologies (Kafka, Redpanda, Kinesis, etc ) on Kubernetes with an emphasis on declarative definitions to reduce complexity in day-2 operations
- Working with a platform team to implement best practices for configuration management, security, and performance optimization within Kubernetes and AWS environments
- Working with a platform team to automate infrastructure provisioning, monitoring, and scaling using tools such as Terraform working with cybersecurity SMEs to incorporate best practices and techniques to defend our data layer against potential threats
- Ensuring that our data layer systems are compliant with industry and DoD regulations, standards, and best-practices
- Staying up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies related to Kubernetes, containerization, and data engineering
Travel Expectations/Requirements: 6-10 times per year
The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise.
*Preferred Experience and Qualifications:
- Demonstrated experience (minimum 5 years) in building and maintaining production data pipelines, databases, and data exchange services on Kubernetes Experience in designing, deploying, and operating Kafka / Redpanda data streaming solutions on Kubernetes
- Experience in creating data pipelines from scratch with the ability to process data in large volumes and manage data stores
- Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker and container orchestration systems like Kubernetes
- Knowledge of systems engineering principles to ensure the reliability, scalability, and maintainability of data layer systems Familiarity with API Security, Container Security, AWS Cloud Security Familiarity with cybersecurity principles and best practices for securing data layer systems
- Excellent problem-solving skills, with the ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas to both technical and non-technical team members
- The selected candidate will be subject to a pre-employment background check (“CBI”) and must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret-level DoD security clearance
- Experience with machine learning and generative AI models
Full compensation packages are based on candidate experience. Compensation ranges are established using national benchmarking data and apply across all geographic locations within the United States.
Remote – USA
$148,750—$201,250 USD
Who We Are
Defense Unicorns delivers mission value by streamlining software delivery so our customers can focus on the most important challenges. We share a vision of freedom and security for the advancement of progress and innovation. Our commitment to this vision, and to our mission-driven customers, means a commitment to speed, user experience and optionality, without compromising security. Our team is composed of innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across the federal market.
What We Do
We create and deliver secure solutions for continuous software integration and delivery. Defense Unicorns consolidates the best practices for security pipelines, testing, and deployment automation in order to meet the high security requirements valued by mission owners. Our solutions are agnostic by design and we believe that growing a robust ecosystem of secure, cloud-native software solutions can help enterprise customers inside and outside the federal market buy and integrate software more easily.
Who We Serve
Defense Unicorns’ customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products.
What We Work On
- Kubernetes
- Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure)
- Infrastructure-as-code (like Terraform/Pulumi)
- Continuous Delivery and automation tooling
- GitOps
- Containers
- CNCF projects and open source products and packages
- Helm/Kustomize-Value Stream Mapping
- Building and improving security delivery
- Building Kubernetes and cloud native applications
Benefits Our Unicorns Enjoy
Health:
- Medical/Dental/Vision
- Premiums are 100% Company Paid
- Health Savings Account
- Life Insurance
- Disability Insurance
Financial:
- 401k Retirement Plan
- Company Stock Options
- Home Office Budget
Leave:
- We offer all full-time Unicorns Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s
- Paid Parental Leave
Learning:
- Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions
- Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees)
Don’t have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don’t meet every requirement listed.
At Defense Unicorns, we’re committed to diversity. If you’re enthusiastic about the role but don’t match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
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