Senior Principal AI Data Engineer

Type of Requisition:

Regular

Clearance Level Must Currently Possess:

Top Secret/SCI

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain:

Top Secret SCI + Polygraph

Public Trust/Other

Required:

None

Job Family:

Data Science and Data Engineering

Job Qualifications:

Skills:

Apache Airflow, Database Optimization, Extract Transform Load (ETL), Git, Structured Query Language (SQL)

Certifications:

None

Experience:

10 + years of related experience

US Citizenship

Required:

Yes

Job Description:

YOUR IMPACT

Own your opportunity to work with the largest government agency in the nation. Make an impact by advancing the Department ofWar’s mission to keep our country safe and secure.

OUR COMPANY

IronEagleX(IEX), a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics Information Technology(GDIT), delivers agile IT and Intelligence solutions. Combining small-team flexibility with global scale, IEX leverages emerging technologies to provide innovative, user-focused solutions that empower organizations and end users tooperatesmarter, faster, and more securely in dynamic environments.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Iron Eagle Xis  seeking a Senior Principal AI Data Engineer to support our AI teamin

Crystal City,  this role, you will design, build, andoperatedata pipelines that ingest, store, and process high-volume, multi-source data primarily for modern AI/ML processes. You will partner with software, analytics, and product teams to create model-ready datasets (including features, embeddings, and prompts), implement scalable storage layers (such as a datalakehouseand vector stores), and enable low-latency retrieval for query, inference, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

MEANINGFUL WORK AND PERSONAL IMPACT

As a Senior Principal AI Data Engineer, you will turn raw, multi-source data into reliable, high-performance inputs that directly power AI models and advanced analytics. Your work will make it faster and easier for teams across engineering, analytics, and products to develop, deploy, and improve AI capabilities by ensuring datasets are ready and accessible.

JOB DUTIES (INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO)

• Design, develop, and implement scalable data pipelines and ETL processes using Apache Airflow, with a focus on data for AI

• Build and tune search and retrieval capabilities using
  
  Elastic
  
  Search/Open Search, including indexing strategies, schema mappings, and relevance/performance optimization.

• Enable low-latency retrieval for AI inference and RAG applications byoptimizingdata access patterns, caching approaches, and index refresh strategies.

• Collaborate with analytic teamsto define requirements, schemas, and interfaces for downstream consumption.

• Use Git for version control, peer code reviews, CI/CD workflows, and reproducible pipeline deployments across environments.

• Operate within Linux environments and perform performance tuning across pipeline components, storage layers, and compute resources.

REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Experience with Apache Airflow for workflow orchestration.

• Strong programming skills in Python.

• Experience with
  
  Elastic
  
  Search/Open Search for data indexing and search functionalities.

• Understanding of vector databases, embedding models, and vector search for AI applications.

• Expertise in event-driven architecture and microservices development.

• Hands-on experience with cloud services (e.g.MinIO), including data storage and compute resources.

• Strong understanding of data pipeline orchestration and workflow automation.

• Working knowledge of Linux environments and database optimization techniques.

• Strong understanding of version control with Git.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO SUCCEED

• Clearance:
  
  CurrentTS/SCIClearancewith current or willingness to obtain CI polygraph

• Experience:
  
  10+years of related experience

• Education:
  
  Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience)

• Role requirements:
  
  Work is onsite in Crystal City, VA with optional CONUS travel

• Due to US Government Contract Requirements, only US Citizens are eligible for this role

GDIT IS YOUR PLACE
At GDIT, the mission is our purpose, and our people are at the center of everything we do.

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