Remote Data Engineer at Defense Unicorns - USA — Columbus
Traveler-Friendly Insight
This role is listed as Remote – USA, but the location flexibility is strictly limited to U.S. citizens residing in the United States. The position requires obtaining and maintaining a Secret-level DoD security clearance, which legally ties the holder to U.S. residency requirements. Working from abroad — even temporarily — would almost certainly be incompatible with clearance obligations and government contractor compliance.
Not suitable for digital nomads or location-independent workers outside the U.S. The role also requires 6–10 business trips per year, meaning you'll need reliable proximity to airports and the ability to travel domestically on relatively short notice.
That said, for U.S.-based remote workers, there are meaningful location-independence perks:
- Fully remote within the U.S. — no required physical office
- Home office budget helps set up a productive workspace anywhere stateside
- Flexible Time Off (FTO) with generous holiday blocks allows extended domestic travel during off periods
- Conference reimbursement (travel + lodging) adds travel value for career development
At $148K–$201K, purchasing power varies significantly by U.S. city — excellent in lower cost-of-living areas like Austin, TX or Raleigh, NC versus tight in San Francisco or NYC. If nomadism is your goal, this role is not the right fit; look instead for non-cleared remote engineering roles with explicitly international hiring.
EMPLOYER IS A CONTRACTOR FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. THIS POSITION WILL REQUIRE U.S. CITIZENSHIP.
Responsibilities:- Designing data workflows, pipelines, and pathways to support ETL/ELT, while ensuring data quality and exchange of sensitive information across AWS cloud and on-prem environments.
- Implementing systems engineering principles to ensure the reliability, scalability, and maintainability of data layer systems, including backup and recovery strategies.
- Architecting, deploying, and operating data streaming technologies (Kafka, Redpanda, Kinesis, etc.) on Kubernetes with an emphasis on declarative definitions to reduce complexity in day-2 operations.
- Working with a platform team to implement best practices for configuration management, security, and performance optimization within Kubernetes and AWS environments.
- Working with a platform team to automate infrastructure provisioning, monitoring, and scaling using tools such as Terraform; working with cybersecurity SMEs to incorporate best practices and techniques to defend our data layer against potential threats.
- Ensuring that data layer systems are compliant with industry and DoD regulations, standards, and best practices.
- Staying up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies related to Kubernetes, containerization, and data engineering.
Travel Expectations/Requirements: 6–10 times per year.
The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise.
Preferred Experience and Qualifications:- Demonstrated experience (minimum 5 years) in building and maintaining production data pipelines, databases, and data exchange services on Kubernetes; experience in designing, deploying, and operating Kafka/Redpanda data streaming solutions on Kubernetes.
- Experience in creating data pipelines from scratch with the ability to process data in large volumes and manage data stores.
- Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker and container orchestration systems like Kubernetes.
- Knowledge of systems engineering principles to ensure reliability, scalability, and maintainability of data layer systems; familiarity with API Security, Container Security, and AWS Cloud Security; familiarity with cybersecurity principles and best practices for securing data layer systems.
- Excellent problem-solving skills, with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas to both technical and non-technical team members.
- The selected candidate will be subject to a pre-employment background check ("CBI") and must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret-level DoD security clearance.
- Experience with machine learning and generative AI models.
Full compensation packages are based on candidate experience. Compensation ranges are established using national benchmarking data and apply across all geographic locations within the United States.
Remote – USA
$148,750 – $201,250 USD
Who We AreDefense Unicorns delivers mission value by streamlining software delivery so our customers can focus on the most important challenges. We share a vision of freedom and security for the advancement of progress and innovation. Our commitment to this vision, and to our mission-driven customers, means a commitment to speed, user experience, and optionality, without compromising security. Our team is composed of innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across the federal market.
What We DoWe create and deliver secure solutions for continuous software integration and delivery. Defense Unicorns consolidates the best practices for security pipelines, testing, and deployment automation in order to meet the high security requirements valued by mission owners. Our solutions are agnostic by design and we believe that growing a robust ecosystem of secure, cloud-native software solutions can help enterprise customers inside and outside the federal market buy and integrate software more easily.
Who We ServeDefense Unicorns' customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products.
What We Work On- Kubernetes
- Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure)
- Infrastructure-as-code (Terraform/Pulumi)
- Continuous Delivery and automation tooling
- GitOps
- Containers
- CNCF projects and open source products and packages
- Helm/Kustomize – Value Stream Mapping
- Building and improving security delivery
- Building Kubernetes and cloud-native applications
Health:
- Medical/Dental/Vision
- Premiums are 100% Company Paid
- Health Savings Account
- Life Insurance
- Disability Insurance
Financial:
- 401k Retirement Plan
- Company Stock Options
- Home Office Budget
Leave:
- Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year's
- Paid Parental Leave
Learning:
- Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions
- Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees)
Don't have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don't meet every requirement listed.
At Defense Unicorns, we're committed to diversity. If you're enthusiastic about the role but don't match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
Frequently Asked Questions
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