Data Engineer

U.S. Citizenship Required

All of the programs we support require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment. All work must be conducted within the continental U.S.

Raft ( ) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional small business with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development, with headquarters in McLean, VA. Our range of clients includes innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting-edge tech stack, and cloud-native ecosystem. We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans.

We’re looking for an experienced Data Engineer to support our customers and join our passionate team of high-impact problem solvers. This staff role focuses on building data platforms that make it easy for different types of user personas to access data from a central control plane. Responsibilities include building backend services, connecting OSS projects in a repeatable and performant way, and extending feature sets.

The candidate will work closely with Technical SMEs on government stakeholders to build, configure, and deploy the next generation of data platform for mission‑critical needs.

• Subject Matter Expertise on a backend language like Java, Go, Python
• Hands‑on experience with Kafka and Delta Lake in real‑world applications.
• Must have educational background in STEM such as Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mathematics
• Up‑to‑date knowledge of industry trends in Data Engineering, Data Streaming, and Data Search, actively engaging with the community.
• Proven expertise in working with DoD datasets, with a deep understanding of data transformation techniques.
• Ability to break down complex requirements into smaller, actionable tasks, demonstrating feasibility through proof‑of‑concepts (POCs).
• Experience with Kubernetes, along with a strong background in CI/CD pipelines and Platform as a Service (PaaS) environments.

• Hands‑on experience with Trino and/or DuckDB, as well as Flink or another Stream Processing Engine.
• Experience in building quick POCs and evaluating the operational pros and cons of Custom Off‑The‑Shelf (COTS) products versus their Open Source Software (OSS) alternatives.

• Active Secret security clearance
• Must be able to maintain and obtain a Top Secret clearance

• Onsite at Hanscom AFB
• May require up to 15% travel

• $140,000 – $180,000
• The determination of compensation is predicated upon a candidate's comprehensive experience, demonstrated skill, and proven abilities

• Highly competitive salary
• Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) and company match
• Take as you need PTO + 11 paid holidays
• And More!

We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.