Job Description
We are seeking a visionary Senior Data Engineer to join our elite team responsible for the 2026 Census of Agriculture. In this pivotal role, you will architect and maintain the robust data infrastructure that underpins the nation's most comprehensive agricultural survey. You will lead the migration to cloud-native architectures, ensuring data integrity, security, and accessibility for millions of records. If you are passionate about public service and possess a mastery of big data technologies, this is your opportunity to shape the future of statistical methodology.
Join us in delivering precision data that informs policy, supports farmers, and drives economic growth for the 2026 cycle and beyond.
Responsibilities
- Lead the design, development, and maintenance of scalable data pipelines for the 2026 Census of Agriculture, ensuring 99.99% data accuracy and availability.
- Architect secure, cloud-native data lakes (AWS/Azure) to handle petabytes of agricultural data, optimizing storage and query performance.
- Collaborate with subject matter experts to translate complex agricultural metrics into technical data models and schemas.
- Implement rigorous data governance frameworks and security protocols to protect sensitive farmer and business information.
- Mentor junior engineers and data scientists, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the analytics division.
- Drive the modernization of legacy census systems to support advanced analytics and AI-driven insights for 2026.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science, or a related field; Master's degree preferred.
- 7+ years of professional experience in data engineering, with a specific focus on large-scale survey data or government statistics.
- Expert proficiency in SQL, Python, and modern ETL/ELT tools (e.g., Airflow, dbt, Talend).
- Strong experience with cloud platforms (AWS or Azure) and big data technologies (Spark, Hadoop, Kafka).
- Deep understanding of data governance, metadata management, and compliance standards (e.g., FedRAMP, OMB Circular A-123).
- Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.