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, Defense & National Security (Information Technology).

Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.

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What You’ll Do

Confidential Client is hiring Database Engineers at multiple experience levels (Entry → SME) to support mission-critical national-security systems. You will work on designing, operating, securing, and optimizing relational and NoSQL databases used by enterprise applications and analytic pipelines.

Responsibilities (by level):

• Entry / Junior

  • Assist with routine backups, patching, and system health monitoring.
  • Write and test basic SQL queries, views, and simple stored procedures.
  • Help troubleshoot connectivity, data integrity, and performance issues.
  • Maintain technical documentation for schemas, data flows, and configs.
  • Support integration with applications and follow change-control processes.

• Mid

  • Design and evolve scalable RDBMS and NoSQL solutions (e.g., PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, MongoDB).
  • Build, automate, and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines; implement partitioning and indexing strategies.
  • Architect backup & recovery and disaster-recovery procedures.
  • Act as escalation point for Tier 1 support and mentor junior staff.
  • Use scripting (Python, Bash) to automate operational tasks.

• Senior / SME

  • Lead architecture for high‑availability, multi‑region database systems (PostgreSQL, Oracle RAC, distributed NoSQL).
  • Perform deep performance tuning: query plans, indexing, sharding, caching, and memory tuning.
  • Design zero‑downtime migration and ingestion frameworks at scale (hundreds of millions to billions of transactions).
  • Establish enterprise database coding standards, governance, and security (RBAC, encryption, compliance).
  • Provide technical leadership across engineering and executive stakeholders and lead code/design reviews.

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Minimum Requirements

• Active TS/SCI security clearance with Polygraph — required for all levels.
• Education / experience ranges (role open across levels; match your experience to the appropriate level):
  • Entry: HS/GED +4 yrs relevant, or AA +2 yrs, or BA +0 yrs.
  • Junior: HS/GED +6 yrs, AA +4 yrs, BA +2 yrs, or MS +0 yrs.
  • Mid: HS/GED +8 yrs, AA +6 yrs, BA +4 yrs, MS +2 yrs, or PhD +0 yrs.
  • Senior: HS/GED +10 yrs, AA +8 yrs, BA +6 yrs, MS +4 yrs, or PhD +2 yrs.
  • SME: HS/GED +12 yrs, AA +10 yrs, BA +8 yrs, MS +6 yrs, or PhD +4 yrs.
• Technical skills (vary by level):
  • Strong SQL proficiency; experience with stored procedures, query tuning, and execution plans.
  • Experience with relational DBs (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle) and familiarity with NoSQL (MongoDB, Redis, DynamoDB).
  • Mid-to-SME: cloud-managed DB experience (AWS RDS/Aurora, Azure SQL/GCP Cloud SQL) and infra-as-code (Terraform) preferred.
  • Scripting/programming for automation (Python, Shell/Bash, PL/SQL) for mid and senior roles.
  • CI/CD and tooling experience (Git, Jira, Confluence, Jenkins, Kubernetes/Ansible) for senior/SME.
• Analytical mindset, strong troubleshooting skills, and effective communication with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

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Location & Work Model

• Location: Fort Myer, Virginia (VA) — on-site presence required for cleared roles; hybrid schedules may be allowed per assignment.
• Employment Type: Full Time
• Clearance: Active TS/SCI with Poly required.

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Compensation & Benefits

• Confidential Client provides a competitive compensation package. A reasonable estimate of the current U.S. range for this role is $89,600.00 - $204,000.00 (varies by level, experience, and qualifications).
• Typical benefits include health insurance, 401(k) with match, paid time off, parental leave, tuition assistance, and wellness programs. Specific benefits and exact pay will be provided during the hiring process.

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Why Work with Careertakes & Confidential Client

• Work on high-impact national-security projects alongside highly skilled engineers.
• Career growth paths from hands-on engineer to technical leader / SME.
• Collaborative culture emphasizing technical excellence, security, and mission impact.
• Careertakes supports the hiring process as a third‑party recruiter and can connect you to similar cleared opportunities.

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Keywords & Skills to Highlight on Your Application

• TS/SCI with Poly
• SQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server
• Database performance tuning, indexing, partitioning
• ETL/ELT pipeline automation
• Cloud databases (AWS/Azure/GCP)
• Python, Bash, PL/SQL
• Backup & recovery, DR planning
• Database security, RBAC, encryption

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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.