Senior Data Engineer / DevOps Engineer – Next-Gen Geospatial Data
Fairfax County, VA (Hybrid or Remote) | U.S. Person (ITAR) | Full-Time
We’re supporting a high-growth satellite intelligence company that’s on the cutting edge of RF geolocation data, expanding fast off the back of strong commercial traction, a proven tech stack, and series D backing. They build, launch, and operate their own satellite constellation – and what they do with the data is where you come in.
They’re hiring a Senior Data Engineer / DevOps Engineer to help build the infrastructure and pipelines powering machine learning at scale – ingesting, processing, and analyzing signal and sensor data at global scale. This role blends DevOps with distributed computing and cloud-native data engineering – all to serve internal data science and algorithm teams in their mission-critical work.
️ Why This Role?
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Real-world data, real-world impact – Their geolocation intelligence is already in use by defense and humanitarian teams worldwide.
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Mission-driven engineering – From raw sensor data to production ML models – your work enables real outcomes, not just dashboards.
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Modern tech – Apache Spark/Ray/Dask, Python, Kubernetes, MLflow, Terraform, Crossplane, AWS, GPUs, and more.
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Scale-up stage – They’re through D-round funding and scaling fast, with profitability and product-market fit in sight.
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High-impact seat – Join a close-knit, senior-level team where your voice shapes the future architecture and dev practices.
What You’ll Do
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Build distributed pipelines using Apache Spark, Ray, or Dask to ingest and transform data from their satellite constellation
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Work closely with Data Science and Algorithm teams to deploy ML workflows in real-world production settings
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Enable scalable ML training environments across AWS and on-prem GPU clusters
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Containerize ML applications and deploy via Kubernetes; implement CI/CD and MLOps workflows
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Own monitoring, rollback, and observability of deployed models using tools like MLflow, Prometheus, and Grafana
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Champion infrastructure-as-code practices using Terraform or Crossplane
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Maintain high availability, reliability, and performance of data infrastructure
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Debug, diagnose, and resolve system-level production issues in real time
What You Bring
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3+ years professional software/data engineering experience
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Strong Python development background, including scientific stack (NumPy, Pandas, SciKit, etc.)
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Experience with distributed computing (Spark, Ray, or Dask)
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Solid background in DevOps/MLOps and cloud-native infrastructure (AWS preferred)
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Strong understanding of Docker, Kubernetes, and container-based orchestration
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Hands-on experience with IaC tools like Terraform or Crossplane
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Experience managing the full ML lifecycle: training, versioning, deployment, monitoring
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U.S. Citizenship or Green Card (due to ITAR requirements)
➕ Bonus Points For
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Familiarity with Apache Kafka or AWS Kinesis for real-time data streaming
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Experience with Snowflake, BigQuery, or other modern data warehouses
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Exposure to PyTorch or TensorFlow
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Experience supporting on-prem GPU compute clusters
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C++ experience for compute-heavy environments
Package & Perks
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Bonus: 20-25% annual bonus target, paid consistently
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Location: Hybrid (Northern Virginia preferred)
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Benefits: Comprehensive health, dental, vision, PTO, and more
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Culture: Agile, high-impact, no red tape. Empowered engineers building truly useful systems
Location & Requirements
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Herndon, VA HQ – Preference for candidates local or open to relocate
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Security: Must be a U.S. Person
Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.
Adam Slade