Data Lead (Defense)

Air Space Intelligence

• $120K — $145K *
Aerospace & Defense
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of experience in data engineering and analytics roles.
  • Proficiency with modern data engineering tools and methodologies.
  • Ability to debug and validate complex datasets effectively.
  • Strong communication skills to convey technical data insights clearly.
  • Experience with distributed systems and orchestration tools like Kafka or Airflow.
  • Familiarity with API design and diverse data protocols.
  • Active U.S. Security Clearance (SECRET or TOP SECRET) required.

Responsibilities

  • Own and manage the reality layer for ASI's defense products.
  • Operate and enhance data pipelines for trusted decision-making datasets.
  • Analyze operational data for actionable insights and drive improvements.
  • Translate complex data findings into clear, usable structures.
  • Collaborate with engineering teams to communicate data-related needs.
  • Ensure efficient data integration and flow across various systems.
  • Work within classified environments adhering to security protocols.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work on mission-critical defense projects.
  • Collaborative interview process focused on candidate experience.
  • Access to cutting-edge data engineering tools and technologies.
  • Potential for growth and leadership within a specialized domain.
Full Job Description
What You Will Do:

You will own the reality layer that powers ASI's defense products. You will operate, improve, and expand the data flows that move operational data from mission systems into usable, trusted datasets for decision-making. This role is equal parts data engineering, data forensics, and technical communication. You will dig into real-world data, determine what it actually means, and translate findings into clear, actionable pipelines ready to drive mission-critical decisions for end users.

What We Value:
  • Strong fluency with modern data engineering tooling and patterns: streaming and batch pipelines, schema evolution, data contracts, and lineage.
  • Demonstrated ability to debug data: profiling, anomaly detection, reconciling sources, and separating signal from noise while cross-validating.
  • Strong technical communication skills: you can explain what the data is doing, what it means, what is broken, why it matters, and what engineering should change.
  • Comfort with distributed messaging and processing (Kafka, Flink, Spark, or equivalents) and modern orchestration (Airflow, Dagster, Temporal, or similar).
  • Strong grasp of API design and integration patterns (REST, gRPC, GraphQL) and experience working across a range of data formats and wire-level protocols (JSON, XML, Protobuf, and binary protocols like JREAP-C or CMF-B).
  • Working knowledge of modern network protocols, firewalls, system level connections, cross-system authentication, and an enthusiasm to get data flowing.
  • Familiarity with defense operational data and mission systems, with an appreciation for delayed reporting, inconsistent identifiers, changing semantics, and obscure edge cases.
  • Comfort operating in classified network environments (e.g., SIPR, JWICS) and working within accreditation boundaries (IL5/IL6, ATO processes).
  • Experience deploying data infrastructure on Kubernetes and across hybrid cloud and on-prem environments.
  • A bias for action and distinct aptitude for problem solving in ambiguous environments.
  • Active SECRET or TOP SECRET U.S. Security Clearance.

How We Hire:

We look at the interview process not as a screening or test, but rather as an opportunity to simulate what it would look like working together. We build the interview process around you.

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