Platform Data Engineer - US Defense Public Sector

Responsibilities

You will work with a cross‑functional team that includes senior firm leaders, CST leaders, practice leaders and cutting‑edge engineers. Your team is led by senior leaders and is scaling to a large team of full‑stack engineers, data engineers, data scientists, and designers. You will focus on customization and additional features required to deploy this platform for Defense and other Government clients.

Your expertise in Python development, including data workflows, knowledge graphs, and/or generative AI will serve you well. You will work closely with software engineers, data scientists, UI/UX designers, and other technologists.

Your work will include but not be limited to: creation of Python code, tests, creation and modification of CI/CD pipelines, working with multiple cloud infrastructures (AWS, Azure, GCP) and Docker containers; and developing data ingestion pipelines and data processing capabilities that ingest data into a data system used by GenAI applications.

• US citizenship required
• Defense experience and experience working with data at various classification levels required
• SECRET Security Clearance required; TS+ clearance preferred
• 3+ years of professional experience as a data engineer, with a strong focus on cloud‑based data engineering using AWS services; other clouds (Azure, GCP) a plus
• Previous enterprise platform experience preferred
• Significant previous experience with Neo4j and strong understanding of knowledge graphs, as well as strong experience with relational databases
• Practicing high coding standards with clean code, modularity, error handling, testing automation and more
• Hands‑on experience with Docker
• Solid and demonstrable background in data pipeline performance and diagnostics
• Excellent problem‑solving skills and the ability to analyze and resolve complex data engineering challenges
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a cross‑functional team environment

For new joiners for this role in the United States, a reasonable estimated salary range is $176,000 - $179,500 USD. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonuses, subject to McKinsey's discretion and based on performance. Additionally, we provide a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, mental health, dental and vision coverage, telemedicine services, life, accident and disability insurance, parental leave and family planning benefits, caregiving resources, a generous retirement contributions program, financial guidance, and paid time off.

FOR U.S. APPLICANTS:
McKinsey & Company is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

FOR NON-U.S. APPLICANTS:
McKinsey & Company is an Equal Opportunity employer. For additional details regarding our global EEO policy and diversity initiatives, please visit our McKinsey Careers and Diversity & Inclusion sites.