Mid-Level Data Engineer at Kentro

Job description

Overview Thank you for considering IT Concepts dba Kentro, where innovation drives opportunity and collaboration leads to success. Our dynamic community of experts is fully committed to advancing our customers' missions, fostering professional growth, and making a positive impact on our communities. By joining our supportive community, you will find that Kentro is dedicated to your personal and professional development. Together, we can drive meaningful change, spark innovation, and achieve extraordinary milestones. Kentro is hiring for a Mid-Level Data Engineer to support secure cloud data and applied AI initiatives for government customers. You will build governed data pipelines, automate cloud and operational tasks, solve cross-layer technical problems, and turn evolving requirements into reliable, well-documented solutions. This role is well suited to an engineer who brings strong fundamentals and, above all, the drive to take ownership, learn quickly, communicate clearly, and see important work through to a verified outcome. You will contribute independently within a defined scope while collaborating with technical leaders and growing toward broader platform ownership. Location: Remote - This position can be performed remotely within the United States and will support Eastern Time working hours. Compensation Range: The anticipated base salary range for this position is $101,000–$140,000 annually and reflects Kentro’s good-faith expectations at the time of posting. Final compensation is determined based on the role’s requirements, relevant skills, experience, education, certifications, work location, applicable security clearance requirements, market conditions, internal equity, and contract requirements. This Job Description reflects the primary duties of the role; however, it is not intended to be all‑inclusive. Team members may be asked to take on additional responsibilities in alignment with customer expectations, business needs, and Kentro’s culture of collaboration and adaptability. Responsibilities • Develop, test, deploy, and maintain batch and API-based data ingestion, transformation, and publishing workflows. • Write clear, maintainable Python, PySpark, and SQL for data processing, validation, reconciliation, and automation. • Build and support Databricks workflows using notebooks, jobs, compute, Delta tables, catalogs, schemas, permissions, and governed data products. • Implement layered data designs, including landing/raw, Bronze, Silver, and curated or presentation outputs. • Add data-quality checks, lineage, audit metadata, checksums, retry and recovery behavior, logging, and reproducible tests to pipelines. • Support Azure data-platform services, cloud storage, secrets, workload identities, role-based access, monitoring, networking, and private connectivity. • Develop and review Infrastructure as Code, primarily Terraform, using reusable modules and environment-specific configuration. • Deliver traceable changes through Git branches, pull requests, code reviews, issue tracking, and CI/CD workflows. • Troubleshoot data, code, access, authentication, permissions, deployment, networking, and runtime issues using logs, tests, queries, and documented evidence. • Support AI-enabled data workflows, including model endpoints, response validation, evaluation, regression testing, and responsible-use controls. • Create and maintain architecture diagrams, runbooks, implementation notes, decision records, status updates, and handoff documentation. • Communicate progress, risks, availability, and blockers promptly; ask for help early enough to protect delivery and close the loop on commitments. • Participate in stand-ups, design reviews, demonstrations, and stakeholder discussions, translating technical findings for the intended audience. • Develop working expertise in selected AI and data platforms, including Seekr, and support platform installation, configuration, integration, administration, and ongoing operations. • Help establish Kentro-hosted platform environments in AWS or other approved cloud environments, coordinating with infrastructure, security, and IT teams. • Evaluate platform capabilities, limitations, architecture, APIs, extensibility, portability, security boundaries, and appropriate use cases. • Design and build demonstrations, prototypes, proofs of concept, MVPs, and reusable technical accelerators that support customer solutions and internal capability development. • Determine which solution components should run within a platform and which should remain external, reusable, or portable. • Support technical capture and solution-development activities by translating customer needs into demonstrable architectures, implementation approaches, and technical evidence. • Develop training materials, operational runbooks, integration patterns, evaluation criteria, and adoption playbooks that enable Kentro teams to operate supported platforms independently. • Assess platform suitability for government workloads, including FedRAMP alignment, government-hosted deployment options, security controls, data protection, and authorization-to-operate considerations. • Monitor platform roadmaps and emerging capabilities and recommend opportunities for future adoption or integration. Qualifications • Three to five years of relevant experience in data engineering, software engineering, cloud engineering, analytics engineering, or a closely related discipline. • Hands-on programming experience with Python or a comparable language, including reading unfamiliar code and debugging systematically. • Practical SQL experience with joins, aggregations, transformations, and row-level and aggregate validation. • Experience developing or supporting data pipelines, schemas, APIs, databases, cloud storage, or distributed data-processing workflows. • Working knowledge of Git, including commits, branches, pull requests, code review, and ordinary conflict resolution. • Experience testing work, retaining evidence, and writing documentation or runbooks that another engineer can follow. • Demonstrated ownership, learning agility, persistence, responsiveness, and follow-through when solving unfamiliar or ambiguous problems. • Ability to communicate technical status, risks, assumptions, and blockers clearly to both technical and nontechnical stakeholders. • Commitment to security, least privilege, responsible data handling, and compliance with customer requirements. • Ability to work effectively in a remote environment and collaborate during Eastern Time working hours. • Experience integrating cloud-hosted platforms through APIs, SDKs, identity services, networking, and data interfaces. • Experience deploying or supporting solutions in AWS, Azure, or another major cloud platform. • Ability to evaluate a new technology platform, document its strengths and limitations, and recommend appropriate use cases. • Experience developing demonstrations, prototypes, proofs of concept, or MVPs from evolving requirements. • Ability to communicate technical architectures and platform capabilities to engineering, leadership, capture, and customer audiences. •   Preferred Qualifications:  • Experience with Azure, Azure Government, AWS, or another major cloud platform. • Experience with Databricks, Apache Spark, PySpark , Delta Lake, Lakeflow , or a comparable data-processing platform. • Experience with Terraform or another Infrastructure-as-Code tool. • Familiarity with Azure Data Lake Storage, Data Factory, Key Vault, Entra ID, managed identities, RBAC, private endpoints, DNS, or virtual networks. • Knowledge of data governance, catalogs, lineage, stewardship, audit trails, observability, and reproducible processing. • Experience with Seekr or comparable enterprise AI, machine-learning, model-serving, or data platforms. • Experience supporting technical capture, solution architecture, product evaluation, or customer demonstrations. • Familiarity with AWS platform deployment, containerization, infrastructure automation, and integration architecture. • Familiarity with FedRAMP, NIST controls, government cloud environments, continuous ATO/cATO concepts, or government authorization processes. • Experience creating reusable accelerators, evaluation frameworks, or technical enablement materials. • Experience with REST APIs, JSON/JSONL, CSV, Parquet, large-file processing, third-party ingestion, CI/CD, containers, or structured logging. • Exposure to AI/LLM-enabled applications, model-serving endpoints, evaluation, or automated regression testing. • Experience in a government, healthcare, or other regulated or compliance-sensitive environment. • Bachelor's degree in computer science, data science, information systems, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience. Clearance Requirement: • US Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident (Green Card) • Must be willing and able to obtain and maintain the level of Public Trust suitability required by the customer Benefits The Company We believe in generating success collaboratively, enabling long-term mission success, and building trust for the next challenge. With you as our partner, let’s solve challenges, think innovatively, and maximize impact. As a valued member of our team, you have the unique opportunity to work in a diverse range of technology and business career paths, all while supporting our nation and delivering innovative technology solutions. We are a close community of experts that pride ourselves on creating an environment defined by teamwork, dedication, and excellence. We hold three ISO certifications (27001:2013, 20000-1:2011, 9001:2015), two CMMI ML 3 ratings (DEV and SVC) and CMMC Level 2 Certification. Industry Recognition Growth | Inc 5000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies, DC Metro List Fastest Growing; Washington Business Journal: Fastest Growing Companies, Top Performing Small Technology Companies in Greater D.C. Culture | Northern Virginia Technology Council Tech 100 Honoree; Virginia Best Place to Work; Washington Business Journal: Best Places to Work, Corporate Diversity Index Winner – Mid-Size Companies, Companies Owned by People of Color; Department of Labor’s HireVets for our work helping veterans transition; SECAF Award of Excellence finalist; Victory Military Friendly Brand; Virginia Values Veterans (V3); Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Corporate Breath Award Benefits We offer competitive benefits package including paid time off, healthcare benefits, supplemental benefits, 401k including an employer match, discount perks, rewards, and more. We invest in our employees – Every employee is eligible for education reimbursement for certifications, degrees, or professional development. Reimbursement amounts may fluctuate due to IRS limitations. We want you to grow as an expert and a leader and offer flexibility for you to take a course, complete a certification, or other professional growth and networking. We are committed to supporting your curiosity and sustaining a culture that prioritizes commitment to continuous professional development. We work hard; we play hard. Kentro is committed to incorporating fun into every day. We dedicate funds for activities – virtual and in-person – e.g., we host happy hours, holiday events, fitness & wellness events, and annual celebrations. In alignment with our commitment to our communities, we also host and attend charity galas/events. We believe in appreciating your commitment and building a positive workspace for you to be creative, innovative, and happy. Commitment Equal Opportunity Employment & VEVRAA Kentro is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law. Kentro is strongly committed to compliance with VEVRAA and other applicable federal, state, and local laws governing equal employment opportunity. We have developed comprehensive policies and procedures to ensure our hiring practices align with these requirements. As part of our VEVRAA compliance efforts, Kentro has established an equal opportunity plan outlining our commitment to recruiting, hiring, and advancing protected veterans. This plan is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure its effectiveness. We encourage protected veterans to self-identify during the application process. This information is strictly confidential and will only be used for reporting and compliance purposes as required by law. Providing this information is voluntary and will not impact your employment eligibility. Our commitment to equal employment opportunity extends beyond legal compliance. We are dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace where all employees, including protected veterans, are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness. How to Apply To apply to Kentro Positions- Please click on the job link and then click the blue “Apply” button at the top right of Job Description. Please upload your resume and complete all the application steps. You must fully submit the application for Kentro to consider you for a position. If you need alternative application methods, please email careers@kentro.us and request assistance. Accommodations To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable Accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. If you need to discuss reasonable accommodations, please email careers@kentro.us . #LI-JG1

Requirements

Must-haves

By joining our supportive community, you will find that Kentro is dedicated to your personal and professional development. Together, we can drive meaningful change, spark innovation, and achieve extraordinary milestones.
Location: Remote - This position can be performed remotely within the United States and will support Eastern Time working hours.
Develop, test, deploy, and maintain batch and API-based data ingestion, transformation, and publishing workflows.
Write clear, maintainable Python, PySpark, and SQL for data processing, validation, reconciliation, and automation.
Build and support Databricks workflows using notebooks, jobs, compute, Delta tables, catalogs, schemas, permissions, and governed data products.
Implement layered data designs, including landing/raw, Bronze, Silver, and curated or presentation outputs.
Add data-quality checks, lineage, audit metadata, checksums, retry and recovery behavior, logging, and reproducible tests to pipelines.
Support Azure data-platform services, cloud storage, secrets, workload identities, role-based access, monitoring, networking, and private connectivity.
Develop and review Infrastructure as Code, primarily Terraform, using reusable modules and environment-specific configuration.
Deliver traceable changes through Git branches, pull requests, code reviews, issue tracking, and CI/CD workflows.
Troubleshoot data, code, access, authentication, permissions, deployment, networking, and runtime issues using logs, tests, queries, and documented evidence.
Support AI-enabled data workflows, including model endpoints, response validation, evaluation, regression testing, and responsible-use controls.

Nice-to-haves

Experience with Azure, Azure Government, AWS, or another major cloud platform.
Experience with Databricks, Apache Spark, PySpark , Delta Lake, Lakeflow , or a comparable data-processing platform.
Experience with Terraform or another Infrastructure-as-Code tool.
Familiarity with Azure Data Lake Storage, Data Factory, Key Vault, Entra ID, managed identities, RBAC, private endpoints, DNS, or virtual networks.
Knowledge of data governance, catalogs, lineage, stewardship, audit trails, observability, and reproducible processing.
Experience with Seekr or comparable enterprise AI, machine-learning, model-serving, or data platforms.
Experience supporting technical capture, solution architecture, product evaluation, or customer demonstrations.
Familiarity with AWS platform deployment, containerization, infrastructure automation, and integration architecture.
Familiarity with FedRAMP, NIST controls, government cloud environments, continuous ATO/cATO concepts, or government authorization processes.
Experience creating reusable accelerators, evaluation frameworks, or technical enablement materials.
Experience with REST APIs, JSON/JSONL, CSV, Parquet, large-file processing, third-party ingestion, CI/CD, containers, or structured logging.
Exposure to AI/LLM-enabled applications, model-serving endpoints, evaluation, or automated regression testing.

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

aiapipythonsqlazureci/cdawsrestllmml

Platform: jibe
Effort: medium

Benefits

Benefits detected in the listing.

401k

Paid Time Off

Wellness

Professional Development