Senior Data Engineer

Leidos is seeking a mission-driven Senior Data Engineer to support the NDOC DOMEX Technology Platform. This role focuses on improving data intelligence pipelines for OSINT operations and document media exploitation through scalable search and graph-based data solutions.

Role Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and optimize scalable data management solutions for advanced analytics and AI/ML workloads.
• Build and maintain Elasticsearch and graph-based data platforms to enable efficient storage, discovery, and analysis of complex hierarchical data.
• Design and optimize Elasticsearch indices for large-scale hierarchical classification structures, supporting high-performance search, aggregations, and update operations.
• Design, implement, and maintain a graph data store for hierarchical graph structures optimized for large, dense batch updates and high-throughput analytics.
• Develop scalable ingestion pipelines that support scalable graph analytics.
• Create data schemas, indexing strategies, and partitioning approaches to maximize query performance, scalability, and storage efficiency.
• Collaborate with infrastructure and platform engineering teams to deploy, operate, and optimize Elasticsearch and graph database services in a Kubernetes environment using cloud-native technologies.
• Partner with Data Scientists and AI/ML engineers to ingest, curate, manage, analyze, and securely expunge datasets across the data lifecycle.
• Develop automated data loading, transformation, validation, and quality assurance pipelines supporting production analytics workflows.
• Optimize graph and search infrastructure for high availability, resilience, and performance under large-scale analytical workloads.
• Collaborate with software engineers and system architects to integrate graph and search services into microservice-based applications.
• Participate in SAFe Agile development activities, including sprint planning, design reviews, architecture discussions, and technical demonstrations.
• Coordinate with test teams to develop and monitor automated system integration tests.
• Engage with cross-functional teams to identify and develop high-value integrations with other systems and applications.
• Provide specific input for system design software components, including hardware and software trade-offs, software reuse, use of COTS/GOTS instead of new development, and requirements analysis and synthesis from system level to individual components.
• Ensure sound engineering practices, compliance with policies, and delivery of high-quality software while fostering innovation, collaboration, and professional development within the team.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or related field and 12–15 years of relevant experience, or Master’s degree with 10–13 years of experience.
• Active Top Secret/SCI clearance and ability to obtain and maintain a Polygraph.
• Experience with Elasticsearch/OpenSearch architecture, including index design, mappings, analyzers, and query optimization.
• Experience with graph databases such as JanusGraph, Neo4j, TigerGraph, Amazon Neptune, or Memgraph.
• Data modeling for hierarchical and highly connected datasets.
• Large-scale ETL/ELT pipeline development.
• Kubernetes deployment and operations for stateful data services.
• Experience with distributed storage systems and high-volume data ingestion.
• Programming skills in Python or Java for data engineering and automation.

Preferred / Additional Skills (If You Have Them)

• Experience supporting AI/ML and data science workflows.
• Experience with Apache Kafka or similar streaming technologies.
• Experience with Linux, containerization, CI/CD pipelines, and Infrastructure-as-Code.
• Graph analytics frameworks and algorithms, including graph traversal, centrality, community detection, similarity analysis, and link prediction.
• Experience with Keycloak and security best practices (authN/Z, secrets management).
• Experience building and maintaining microservices in Kubernetes.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure-as-Code tooling such as CloudFormation, Terraform, or Pulumi.

Technologies

• Elasticsearch, OpenSearch
• JanusGraph, Neo4j, TigerGraph, Amazon Neptune, Memgraph
• Kubernetes, cloud-native technologies
• Python, Java
• Elasticsearch indices, graph data store
• Elasticsearch/OpenSearch mappings, analyzers, query optimization
• Microservice-based applications, SAFe Agile

Location, Experience, and Posting Details

• Location: Bethesda, MD (onsite)
• Experience Level: 10+ years
• Original Posting Date: July 27, 2026

Compensation and Benefits

• Salary Range: USD 131,300 - 237,350 per year
• Health and Wellness programs
• Income Protection
• Paid Leave
• Retirement

Security and Application Notice

• Leidos will never ask for payment-related information during any part of the employment application process.
• Leidos will only communicate through emails generated by the Leidos.com automated system.
• If an email asks for payment-related information or other personal information, email [email protected].
• If you believe you are the victim of a scam, contact local law enforcement and report the incident to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Non-Discrimination Commitment

• All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to protected characteristics, including sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law.
• Leidos will also consider applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.