Chief Data Engineer

Job Title: Chief Data Engineer
Job Category: Information Technology
Time Type: Full time
Minimum Clearance Required to Start: None
Employee Type: Regular
Percentage of Travel Required: None
Type of Travel: None
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The Opportunity:
CACI is seeking an accomplished Chief Data Engineer to support the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG). This role offers a unique opportunity to lead the technical implementation of an enterprise data platform that centralizes critical investigative, audit, and oversight data to strengthen national security operations.
As the Chief Data Engineer, you will architect and lead the development of cloud-based data pipelines that ingest, transform, and integrate data from diverse sources including investigative systems, hotline complaints, DHS component datasets, and external federal data. You will oversee the migration from legacy ETL platforms to modern cloud-native solutions, establish data integration patterns with DHS data fabric and Delta Sharing, and ensure data quality, governance, and security across all pipelines. Leading a team of data engineers, you will coordinate data onboarding priorities, provide technical leadership for complex analytical needs, and enable AI and advanced analytics through authoritative, governed datasets. Working within secure Azure Government environments, you will build the data foundation for a transformational program of national importance. Join us to make a meaningful impact by engineering the data infrastructure that powers next-generation federal oversight capabilities.
Responsibilities:
Lead the design, development, testing, and implementation of enterprise data ingestion and transformation pipelines that consolidate investigative records, hotline data, DHS datasets, and federal/commercial data sources into a centralized, governed data platform
Oversee migration from legacy Informatica PowerCenter, Informatica Data Quality, and on-premises Python scripts to modern cloud-based data integration solutions using Azure Data Factory, Databricks, or equivalent technologies
Architect and implement scalable data integration patterns supporting batch processing, incremental updates, streaming ingestion, and metadata-driven pipelines with comprehensive error handling and monitoring
Lead ongoing operation, automation, monitoring, and reporting of production data pipelines, including performance optimization, failure remediation, data quality validation, and SLA compliance
Design and implement integration with DHS data fabric, Delta Sharing, APIs, secure file transfer mechanisms, and data-sharing protocols while preserving DHS OIG independence and preventing unauthorized reciprocal access
Coordinate phased data onboarding approach based on Government priorities, including technical discovery, source system analysis, data profiling, pipeline design, testing, and production deployment
Provide technical leadership for data architecture and cloud analytics engineering, including lakehouse design, data modeling (relational, graph, geospatial), and optimization for analytical and AI workloads
Lead and coordinate data engineering resources, including surge support for complex analytical needs, forensic data reconstruction, and specialized technical problem sets
Develop and maintain comprehensive technical documentation including data lineage, pipeline architecture, integration specifications, operational runbooks, and data engineering best practices
Collaborate with Government stakeholders, platform architects, AI engineers, and governance specialists to ensure data pipelines support mission analytics, comply with data governance policies, and enable AI model consumption of authoritative datasets
Qualifications:
Required –
Bachelor's degree + 15 years of experience in data engineering, data architecture, software engineering, or related field; equivalencies considered (Master's + 12 years; 21 years with no degree; AA + 17 years)
Proven leadership experience architecting and delivering enterprise-scale data integration and ETL/ELT solutions with demonstrated ability to lead data engineering teams
Deep expertise in cloud data engineering using Azure services (Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, Azure Data Lake, Azure Synapse) or equivalent AWS/GCP platforms
Extensive hands-on experience with data pipeline development using Python, SQL, PySpark, and modern data integration frameworks with understanding of lakehouse architectures and Delta Lake
Strong background in data architecture, data modeling, data quality, performance optimization, and operationalizing production data pipelines at scale
Desired –
Experience with Informatica PowerCenter, Informatica Data Quality, or other legacy ETL platforms and successful migration to cloud-native solutions
Hands-on experience with DHS data fabric, Delta Sharing, or federal data-sharing mechanisms in secure government cloud environments (Azure Government, AWS GovCloud)
Background in federal government, law enforcement, investigative, or national security data environments with understanding of sensitive data handling, data governance, and compliance requirements (NIST 800-53, FedRAMP)

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What You Can Expect:

 A culture of integrity.

At CACI, we place character and innovation at the center of everything we do. As a valued team member, you’ll be part of a high-performing group dedicated to our customer’s missions and driven by a higher purpose – to ensure the safety of our nation.

An environment of trust.

CACI values the unique contributions that every employee brings to our company and our customers - every day. You’ll have the autonomy to take the time you need through a unique flexible time off benefit and have access to robust learning resources to make your ambitions a reality.

A focus on continuous growth.

Together, we will advance our nation's most critical missions, build on our lengthy track record of business success, and find opportunities to break new ground — in your career and in our legacy.

Pay Range:

There are a host of factors that can influence final salary including, but not limited to, geographic location, Federal Government contract labor categories and contract wage rates, relevant prior work experience, specific skills and competencies, education, and certifications. Our employees value the flexibility at CACI that allows them to balance quality work and their personal lives. We offer competitive compensation, benefits and learning and development opportunities. Our broad and competitive mix of benefits options is designed to support and protect employees and their families. At CACI, you will receive comprehensive benefits such as; healthcare, wellness, financial, retirement, family support, continuing education, and time off benefits.

Since this position can be worked in more than one location, the range shown is the national average for the position.

The proposed salary range for this position is:

$114,600-$252,100

CACI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected characteristic.