Data Engineer

Summary

540 is a forward-thinking company that delivers technology solutions for mission-critical government challenges. The Data Engineer will support a federal health data modernization initiative by building scalable data pipelines, APIs, models, and reusable data products, while integrating complex data from defense and federal systems. The role also involves optimizing production workflows, implementing data quality and governance practices, and collaborating with technical teams and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable, production-ready data pipelines using Spark, Python, and SQL in a Databricks environment
• Integrate and transform diverse health, financial, and operational datasets into reliable, reusable data products
• Develop data models and analytics datasets that support enterprise reporting and operational decision-making
• Build and maintain API-based integrations for ingesting and exchanging data across systems
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize scheduled workflows and production pipelines for performance, reliability, and scalability
• Implement data validation, quality checks, lineage, and governance practices that improve trust in data products
• Contribute to automated testing, code reviews, technical documentation, and reusable engineering patterns
• Collaborate with engineers, architects, analysts, and customer stakeholders to translate data needs into practical technical solutions

Skills

• Location: Remote within the continental United States. Periodic travel may be required
• Citizenship & Clearance Requirement: per client requirements, candidates must be U.S. Citizens with an active DoW Secret (or higher) clearance
• 3+ years of data engineering, software engineering, or related technical experience
• Strong proficiency with Python and SQL
• Experience with Apache Spark or similar distributed data-processing frameworks
• Experience working with Databricks or a similar modern data platform
• Experience building and maintaining production data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes
• Working knowledge of data modeling and transforming raw data into reusable analytics datasets or data products
• Experience integrating or consuming data through REST APIs
• Experience troubleshooting and optimizing data pipelines for performance and reliability
• Familiarity with data validation, quality, governance, security, privacy, and compliance considerations
• Experience with Git-based development workflows and modern software engineering practices
• Comfort working in terminal and command-line environments
• Strong communication skills and experience working with customers or stakeholders to understand and resolve data needs
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, learn unfamiliar systems, and independently drive assigned work toward resolution
• AWS cloud experience
• Experience working with very large datasets, including datasets containing billions of records
• Experience with Palantir Foundry
• Experience with Advana or similar DoW data environments
• Experience with GitLab, CI/CD pipelines, or automated deployment workflows
• Experience working with federal health, financial, or other regulated and sensitive data
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools to accelerate routine engineering tasks, testing, documentation, and debugging
• Education Requirement: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related technical field (preferred)

Qualifications

Must Haves

• Location: Remote within the continental United States. Periodic travel may be required
• Citizenship & Clearance Requirement: per client requirements, candidates must be U.S. Citizens with an active DoW Secret (or higher) clearance
• 3+ years of data engineering, software engineering, or related technical experience
• Strong proficiency with Python and SQL
• Experience with Apache Spark or similar distributed data-processing frameworks
• Experience working with Databricks or a similar modern data platform
• Experience building and maintaining production data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes
• Working knowledge of data modeling and transforming raw data into reusable analytics datasets or data products
• Experience integrating or consuming data through REST APIs
• Experience troubleshooting and optimizing data pipelines for performance and reliability
• Familiarity with data validation, quality, governance, security, privacy, and compliance considerations
• Experience with Git-based development workflows and modern software engineering practices
• Comfort working in terminal and command-line environments
• Strong communication skills and experience working with customers or stakeholders to understand and resolve data needs
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, learn unfamiliar systems, and independently drive assigned work toward resolution
• AWS cloud experience
• Experience working with very large datasets, including datasets containing billions of records
• Experience with Palantir Foundry
• Experience with Advana or similar DoW data environments
• Experience with GitLab, CI/CD pipelines, or automated deployment workflows
• Experience working with federal health, financial, or other regulated and sensitive data
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools to accelerate routine engineering tasks, testing, documentation, and debugging

Nice to Haves

• Education Requirement: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related technical field (preferred)

Benefits

• Flexible PTO + all Federal holidays off
• Health, dental and vision insurance plans
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• 401k with employer match
• Company-sponsored life insurance, short- and long-term disability
• Professional development (training, certifications, conferences)
• Paid cloud developer accounts
• Referral bonuses
• HQ office perks (parking / metro reimbursement, nitro coffee & lunches)
• Annual social events (540 Week, hackathon, charity golf tournament, etc.)
• Access to 540’s Washington Capitals & Nationals tickets
• Remote within the continental United States