Data Scientist (Exploitation Specialist-Expert) - NGA - WASH at Masego
Springfield, VA
$158,000–$168,000
Jul 7, 2026
Springfield, VA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
An expert-level data scientist role supporting geospatial intelligence work, requiring extensive experience building and maintaining operational data pipelines across multiple formats and interfaces. The position involves working with SQL or NoSQL databases, cloud architectures, and APIs for data querying and migration, with programming in Python, JavaScript, or Java. Familiarity with NGA enterprise systems and dynamic visualization development is a plus.
Principal level · 15+ years · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
Pay in the description: $158,000
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $135,107 (middle half $108,024–$176,763). 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 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
The posting explicitly labels this an 'Expert-level' role and requires 15–18+ years of experience depending on degree level; this maps to Principal on the seniority ladder despite no formal 'Principal' title in the posting.
The clearance requirement is TS/SCI plus an active CI Polygraph — captured as TopSecretSci.
Degree requirement is None: the JD explicitly accepts 18+ years of experience in lieu of any degree, making a degree non-mandatory.
SQL and NoSQL are presented as interchangeable alternatives ('SQL or NoSQL'); Python, JavaScript, and Java are similarly presented as interchangeable programming language options.
The alt SOC (15-1243 Database Architects) reflects the significant data pipeline and cloud architecture emphasis; however, the explicit 'Data Scientist' title and data science framing make 15-2051 the stronger primary classification.
Salary is stated as '$158,000+' with no upper bound; the top of the pay band is left null accordingly.
Desired qualifications reference NGA-specific enterprise tools (NGA CORE, NGA MLOps), ATO processes, SAFe, and dynamic visualizations — all treated as preferred.
Requires a TS/SCI clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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