Senior Data Engineer – Data Architecture for Data Science & Machine Learning

Job Description

Company: Penn State University (Applied Research Laboratory)
Location: State College, PA or Reston, VA
Workplace Type: On-site
Employment Type: Full-time
Pay / Compensation: $121,704.00 – $265,704.00

About the Role

The Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State is seeking a Senior Data Engineer with deep expertise in database design, optimization, and data access strategies to support our growing data science and machine learning initiatives. In this role, you will architect and optimize data systems that empower our data scientists to efficiently research, train, and deploy both traditional and ML-based algorithms and applications. Note: U.S. citizenship and eligibility to obtain a government security clearance are required.

What You’ll Do / Key Responsibilities

• Database Architecture: Design and maintain scalable, high-performance database solutions to support data science workflows and ML experimentation.
• Collaborative Engineering: Partner with data scientists to understand data access patterns and develop storage strategies that accelerate analysis and model training.
• PostgreSQL Subject Matter Expertise: Serve as the internal subject matter expert on PostgreSQL—including schema design, indexing, partitioning, and query optimization.
• Alternative Tech Integration: Evaluate and integrate alternative database technologies (e.g., MongoDB, Neo4j, Redis, Cassandra) where they provide clear advantages.
• Data Pipeline Optimization: Lead efforts to optimize data pipelines for both structured and unstructured data used in algorithm development.
• Security & Governance: Ensure data integrity, security, and governance across storage systems.
• Performance Tuning: Implement monitoring, automation, and performance-tuning tools for all database environments.

Requirements & Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in data engineering, database architecture, or related technical roles (with higher tiers available for up to 19+ years of experience).
• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Engineering, Science, or a related field.
• Expert-level proficiency in PostgreSQL (query tuning, schema design, indexing, partitioning, replication).
• Strong understanding of data modeling, normalization vs. denormalization tradeoffs, and query optimization.
• Experience with non-relational databases (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra, Neo4j, Redis, or DynamoDB).
• Familiarity with machine learning workflows and how data is consumed for training, evaluation, and deployment.
• Proficiency in SQL and one or more scripting languages (Python preferred).
• Must be a U.S. citizen eligible to obtain a government security clearance, participate in drug testing, and comply with security requirements.

Preferred / Bonus Qualifications (if applicable)

• Experience architecting hybrid data ecosystems spanning relational, NoSQL, and analytical databases.
• Knowledge of data lake, warehouse, and feature store architectures (e.g., Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Feast).
• Familiarity with ETL/ELT frameworks and data orchestration tools (e.g., Airflow, dbt).

Benefits & Perks (if applicable)

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with robust retirement plans.
• Substantial paid time off including holidays, vacation, and sick time.
• Generous 75% tuition discount, available to employees as well as eligible spouses and children.

Penn State is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.