Data Operations Engineer (TS/SCI) with Security Clearance

Zachary Piper Solutions is seeking a TS/SCI cleared Data Operations Engineer to support the United States Air Force's Joint Fires Network program in San Diego, California. This full-time, on-site role focuses on managing real-time data ingest operations, monitoring data quality, and supporting the delivery of mission-critical data feeds. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in data engineering, scripting, data visualization, and operational support within technical environments. Period of Performance (Contract Length): * 5 years.
* Program has been awarded and is live.
* Currently in month 7 out of 5 years.
Location and Work Environment: * Full-time on-site role in San Diego, California, supporting operational data pipelines and mission systems. Travel up to 15% to Oahu, Hawaii may be required, including long-distance trips to additional government or contractor facilities. * Position operates in a low supervision independent capacity, working with cross-domain groups across the nation. Responsibilities: * Support continuous data ingest operations, monitoring data feeds, pipeline health, and overall data quality. * Visualize and interpret data findings through dynamic reports and dashboards for leadership and users. * Use data manipulation and visualization tools to communicate real-time and historical trends. * Collaborate with platform, software, and data engineering teams to reconfigure pipelines for improved reliability. * Work with data in multiple formats including Excel, CSV, JSON, and XML. * Support incident management processes including issue documentation, resolution, and root-cause analysis for recurring data outages. * Develop and maintain software to automate monitoring of real-time data feeds, including alerts for timeliness, lineage, volume, and distribution issues. * Leverage historical pipeline data to identify improvements in ingest performance and reliability. * Assist with designing, developing, testing, and implementing web-based collaboration and reporting tools. * Demonstrate proficiency in Python or Bash scripting for analytics, automation, and data operations. * Utilize open-source analytics and visualization tools to monitor system performance. Qualifications: * Must have an active TS/SCI clearance * Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, Information Systems, or related field. * 5-15 years of experience in data engineering or related experience * At least 1+ years of experience with real-time data streaming * Strong experience handling structured and unstructured data across various formats. * Proficiency with Python
* Experience with JSON or XML
* Experience with any of the following data streaming tools such as: Apache (Kafka, Pulsar, Flink, Storm, Samza, Spark, Beam, Redpanda, or NiFi), Confluent Platform, StreamNative Platform, Cloudera Streaming, AWS Kinesis Data Streams/Firehose, AWS MSK, Google Cloud Data Stream, Google Dataflow (stream mode), RabbitMQ, NATS Jetstream, ZeroMQ. * Experience with Linux OS Preferred Experience: * Experience with intelligence and C2 data sets (ELINT, COMINT, MASINT, GEOINT). * Knowledge of data mining, data modeling, statistics, and machine learning. * Familiarity with Kubernetes cluster deployment and management. Compensation: * Pay range: $150,000 - $230,000 (Based on years of relevant experience) Benefits: * Comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401k, 20 days of paid time off, 11 federal holidays, and sick leave. Application Period: Opens on 08/03/2026 and will be accepted for at least 30 days from the posting date. #LI-NJ1 #LI-Onsite