Data Engineer – Data Architecture Data Science & Machine Learning

## Data Engineer – Data Architecture for Data Science & Machine Learning Apply locations:
Reston, VAtime type:
Full time posted on:
Posted Yesterday job requisition :
REQ #
** APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:*** ## CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.* ## CURRENT PENN STATE STUDENT (not employed previously at the university) and seeking employment with Penn State, please login to Workday to complete the student application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.
* ## If you are NOT a current employee or student, please click “Apply” and complete the application process for external applicants.###
** Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.**###   
** POSITION SPECIFICS
** We are seeking a
** Senior Data Engineer
** with deep expertise in database design, optimization, and data access strategies to support our growing data science and machine learning initiatives within the Information Science Division of the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State. In this role, you will architect and optimize data systems that empower our data scientists to efficiently research, train, and deploy both traditional and ML-based algorithms and applications.

The ideal candidate is a
** PostgreSQL expert
** who also brings hands-on experience with other modern data storage technologies—such as
** No

SQL, graph, and time-series databases**—and can guide the organization in choosing the right tools and structures for each data use case.
** Located in either State College, PA or Reston, VA
** ARL is an authorized DoD Skill Bridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply.
****** You will:
*** Design and maintain scalable, high-performance database solutions to support data science workflows and ML experimentation
* Partner with data scientists to understand data access patterns and develop storage strategies that accelerate analysis and model training
* Serve as the internal subject matter expert on
** PostgreSQL**—including schema design, indexing, partitioning, and query optimization
* Evaluate and integrate alternative database technologies (e.g., MongoDB, Neo4j, Redis, Cassandra) where they provide clear advantages
* Lead efforts to optimize data pipelines for both structured and unstructured data used in algorithm development
* Ensure data integrity, security, and governance across storage systems
* Implement monitoring, automation, and performance-tuning tools for all database environments
* Advise on data lifecycle management—balancing accessibility for R&D with efficiency and compliance requirements
** Required skills/experience includes:**
* ** 5+ years
** of experience in data engineering, database architecture, or related technical roles
* ** Expert-level proficiency in PostgreSQL** (query tuning, schema design, indexing, partitioning, replication)
* Strong understanding of
** data modeling**, normalization vs. denormalization tradeoffs, and query optimization
* Experience with
** non-relational databases** (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra, Neo4j, Redis, or DynamoDB)
* Familiarity with
** machine learning workflows
** and how data is consumed for training, evaluation, and deployment
* Experience with
** cloud database services** (AWS RDS/Aurora, GCP Cloud SQL, Azure Database)
* Proficiency in SQL and one or more scripting languages (Python preferred)
* Excellent communication and collaboration skills—comfortable working closely with data scientists, ML engineers, and software…