Senior Data Engineer; Public Trust

Location: Bethesda, MD (Hybrid)
Clearance: Public Trust (Role may require additional background investigations)
Employment Type: Full-Time
US Citizenship Required.

Praescient Analytics is seeking an experienced Senior Data Engineer
to support a major federal data modernization and analytics program. This role is responsible for the design, development, optimization, and operational support of scalable, secure, and high-quality data pipelines that enable advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI-driven decision support in a regulated government environment.

The Senior Data Engineer plays a critical role in the client’s transition from legacy, on-premises systems to a cloud-native, open-source analytics ecosystem built on Microsoft Azure
. This position ensures that data is reliable, performant, well-governed, and readily consumable by data scientists, analysts, and AI/ML engineers supporting mission-critical use cases.

• Design, build, and maintain production-grade ETL/ELT pipelines to ingest, transform, and curate large volumes of structured and unstructured data.
• Develop data workflows using Python-based frameworks and Microsoft Azure services
  , ensuring scalability, reliability, and fault tolerance.
• Optimize data pipelines for performance, cost efficiency, and maintainability.
• Architect and implement data solutions within Microsoft Azure
  , including:
  • Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS Gen2)
  • Azure SQL and related data services
  • Azure Synapse Analytics
• Design and manage workflow orchestration using Azure Data Factory (or equivalent) for scheduling, monitoring, and automation.
• Build and maintain Python-based data services and utilities using open-source libraries such as Pandas, Num Py, and related frameworks.
• Implement logging, monitoring, alerting, and performance tuning to support operational reliability.
• Apply data governance best practices, including data lineage, reproducibility, auditability, and compliance with federal standards.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation, including data dictionaries, pipeline designs, and process flows.
• Work closely with data scientists, AI/ML engineers, analysts, architects, and Agile project managers to ensure data pipelines meet analytical and operational requirements.

• Minimum of 5+ years of experience designing, building, and operating data pipelines supporting analytics and/or machine learning.
• Demonstrated experience working with large-scale datasets in production environments.
• Proven experience supporting cloud-based data platforms.
• Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, or related field — or equivalent professional experience.

• Strong proficiency in Python (Pandas required; Num Py, scikit-learn, and related libraries preferred).
• Advanced SQL skills and experience integrating relational data sources.
• Hands‑on experience with Microsoft Azure
  , including Azure Data Lake Storage and Azure SQL.
• Experience with workflow orchestration tools such as Azure Data Factory
  .
• Familiarity with open-source data processing and ETL frameworks.
• Experience with logging, monitoring, and performance optimization for data systems.
• Proficiency with Git-based version control and collaborative development practices.

• Master’s degree or higher in Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, or related field — or equivalent professional experience.
• Microsoft Azure certifications (e.g.,
  Azure Data Engineer Associate
  ) strongly preferred.
• Experience working in federal, public‑sector, or other regulated environments
  .
• Familiarity with data engineering patterns for secure, scalable systems
  .
• Experience supporting AI/ML workloads, feature engineering pipelines, or near‑real‑time analytics.

• Real opportunity for career growth in an environment where your achievements will be celebrated
• Constant collaboration with numerous teams to ensure client success
• A team that respects and embraces your ideas and expertise
• Coworkers that are motivated by pursuing excellence, rather than the prospect of personal gain
• A workplace dedicated to supporting and bettering public safety and government agencies

• Very competitive salary based on qualifications and experience
• Comprehensive, Company paid healthcare for you (We pay your premiums and deductibles)
• 401(k) with company match
• Travel & performance incentives
• 3 weeks paid time off (plus Federal Holidays)
• $5K annual training allowance
• $500 book allowance