Data Engineer Asset Management

Overview

Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) is a political subdivision established by Chapter 1230 of the 2020 Acts of Assembly. VPRA is responsible for promoting, sustaining, and expanding passenger and commuter rail services in the Commonwealth, including administrative and fiduciary responsibilities for Virginia's state-supported passenger rail services. VPRA funds Virginia Railway Express (VRE) and administers all capital expansion projects, infrastructure, and land acquisitions related to Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative, which will double Amtrak and VRE service over the next decade.

VPRA acts as a  responsible public entity  for the acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, or operation, or any combination thereof, of a qualifying transportation facility under the Public Private Partnership Act of 1995.

Data Engineer to provide expert analytical support and transform complex data into business intelligence tools that enhance asset decision-making. Reporting to the Asset Management Senior Manager, this role focuses on developing and maintaining database architecture, GIS solutions, and data visualization tools for VPRA's large and dynamic rail infrastructure program. This new position will create data-driven asset management systems, including backend databases and user-facing interfaces, and support GIS-based Enterprise Asset Management tools for new and existing assets.

The Data Engineer will collaborate with Engineering and Construction, Planning, IT, and Rail Services teams, serving as VPRA's subject-matter expert in asset-focused data solutions.

Location:

This full-time position may be based in Alexandria or Richmond, Virginia.

• Build, automate, deploy, and support software solutions for asset management using contemporary programming practices and Dev Ops methods; use Git effectively; participate in code reviews; and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver resilient, maintainable applications.
• Contribute to the improvement and development of operational workflows.
• Design, implement, and maintain secure, efficient, and scalable database solutions for asset management data, including creating logical and physical data models, query optimization, and automation.
• Implement and maintain data integration processes (ETL/ELT pipelines, data imports/exports) utilizing relevant languages, use version control for database scripts, automate deployment workflows, and ensure all database work meets and follows VPRA's security and compliance standards.
• Provide technical oversight and quality review for contractors on the EAM development team, guide decisions related to data architecture and tech stack, and serve as a liaison with the Asset Management Senior Manager.
• Mine, translate, and prepare data sources to determine what data is available on new or conveyed assets; convert data into usable tables or geospatial data, and integrate the new data into the asset management databases.
• Develop, oversee, and maintain ETL processes for various data sources and adjust as needed when new assets require data extraction.
• Support the creation of business processes and workflows for asset data collection or handover; identify automation opportunities; ensure efficiency and quality of results; and contribute to streamlining or improving existing workflows that enhance efficiency and quality.
• Transform raw data into meaningful information using data-oriented programming languages and visualization software; support testing of data mining, modeling, NLP, and machine learning techniques; contribute to dashboards and other decision-support tools.
• Provide technical guidance to ensure analysis of asset data is accurate and identifies emerging needs.
• Conduct statistical, predictive, and geospatial analyses (including GIS techniques) to support asset management questions and validate analytical approaches.
• Recommend new analytical methods, GIS techniques, and other emerging technologies to develop decision-support tools for asset management.
• Other duties as assigned by the manager.

• Required
  
  Education:
  
  Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software…