Data Engineer 2 - TS required - Washington DC area
The Data Engineer 2 role involves assisting in the design, development, and maintenance of ETL pipelines to ingest, transform, and load data under guidance. The position supports data quality assurance, migration tasks, and collaborates with analysts and stakeholders to implement data transformations, while monitoring pipeline performance and documenting processes. This entry-level role emphasizes foundational skills in SQL, Python, ETL tools, and cloud platforms, with a focus on learning and adaptability in a dynamic environment.
About Careertakes
👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, IT.
Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.
What You’ll Do
This is an entry-level Data Engineer role supporting secure, production-grade ETL/data pipeline work in the Washington, DC area. You will work with engineers, analysts, and stakeholders to ingest, validate, transform, and load datasets that power analytics and downstream applications.
- Assist in designing, developing, and maintaining ETL pipelines for ingesting, transforming, and loading datasets under the guidance of more experienced engineers.
- Support analysis of data structures, mappings, and data quality checks to identify issues or gaps.
- Run validation queries, profile datasets, and participate in data cleanup to help ensure accuracy and integrity.
- Contribute to data migration tasks by mapping source data to target systems and executing migration scripts.
- Translate analyst and stakeholder requirements into simple transformations or pipeline updates.
- Monitor pipeline performance, help troubleshoot operational issues, and escalate complex problems as necessary.
- Document data flows, transformation logic, and operational processes to support maintainability and knowledge sharing.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree (or equivalent coursework) in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, or a related field — or equivalent hands-on experience.
- 0–1 years of professional experience; internships, coursework, or personal projects are acceptable.
- Working knowledge of SQL: writing basic queries, joins, aggregations, and simple data validation queries.
- Familiarity with Python for data manipulation or automation tasks (introductory level acceptable).
- Introductory exposure to ETL or workflow/orchestration tools such as Apache Airflow, Talend, or similar.
- Understanding of basic data warehousing concepts (staging layers, fact/dimension models, schema design).
- Exposure to cloud-based storage/compute (e.g., AWS S3/Redshift, Google BigQuery, or Azure Storage).
- TS clearance required (ability to obtain or current TS clearance). Candidates must meet clearance eligibility — specific clearance sponsorship or requirements will be provided by the hiring organization.
Preferred Qualifications
- Coursework or hands-on experience with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.
- Exposure to big data tools such as Hadoop, Spark, or distributed processing frameworks.
- Familiarity with data visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau, Looker) and version control (Git).
- Experience building or supporting automated data workflows using orchestration tools or scheduled scripting.
Compensation & Schedule
- Employment type: Full-time
- Compensation: $80,000–$85,000 per year
- Location: Crystal, VA (Washington, DC area). This role is expected to be local to the Crystal/Washington DC area; remote applicants should confirm location flexibility before applying.
Core Skills & Competencies
- Foundational ETL development and data pipeline understanding
- Data profiling, validation and basic troubleshooting
- SQL and Python fundamentals
- Understanding of data warehousing fundamentals
- Strong communication, documentation, and collaboration skills
- Problem-solving mindset and eagerness to learn in a fast-paced environment
Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency
Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.
If you have questions about how your data is used, please contact us directly.
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