Data Engineer at Steampunk
McLean, VA
$110,000–$160,000from the description
Jul 27, 2026
McLean, VA
Jul 29, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A federal-contracting firm is hiring a Data Engineer to design and build enterprise-grade data platforms, pipelines, and cloud-based data warehouse solutions for government clients. The role involves leading data environment migrations, architecting ETL workflows, and supporting data scientists and developers building analytics and ML-driven products. It suits an experienced technologist comfortable working in an Agile environment with strong Python and AWS skills.
Senior level · 5+ years · Bachelor's required · Full-time
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“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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How this req sits in the market our data
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $142,568 (middle half $111,775–$173,013). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 29, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (5)
The posting does not specify a work location or remote policy; no CBSA could be determined. The compensation range ($110,000–$160,000/year) is stated as a 'projected' range and may vary by geography or contract.
The clearance requirement is stated as 'ability to hold a position of public trust with the US government,' which is a suitability determination, not a formal security clearance (Confidential/Secret/TS). It is not treated as a clearance gate here, but candidates should be aware this likely requires US citizenship or permanent residency and a background investigation.
The 2–4 years of direct Data Engineering experience and 5+ years total experience are both stated in the qualifications block; the overall years minimum is set to 5 (the higher overall requirement). The 2–4 year figure for specific Data Engineering experience is a sub-requirement within that.
All technologies in the qualifications block are listed under a single required experience section with 'tools such as' phrasing. The 'such as' qualifier means the specific named tools are interchangeable examples of a required capability — the underlying capability is required, but the exact tool is not. Skills are marked required accordingly, with alternatives grouped where the posting presents them as equivalent options.
SOC classification is Medium confidence: the role emphasizes pipeline/warehouse architecture (15-1243) but also involves significant software development in Python/Java (15-1252), making it a genuine hybrid.
Read the full posting
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