Senior Data Engineer

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), is NASA’s science operations center for missions including the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes. We are seeking a Senior Data Engineer to join our Data Management Division. We’re looking for a talented and experienced professional to help manage the backend data pipelines, MPP database system and ensure high-performance, reliable data access for our advanced astronomical public data archive, the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) one of the world’s most advanced astronomical public data archives— serving missions such as HST, JWST, Roman, and TESS. This position can support hybrid work (around twice a quarter, in the office). Candidates must reside in or be willing to relocate to our local market. (MD, DE, VA, PA, DC & WV). This position requires US Citizenship or Permanent Residence to meet ITAR requirements.

Responsibilities

• PostgreSQL/MPP Platform Performance & Operations
• Airflow Pipelines — Design, develop, deploy, monitor, and troubleshoot complex data pipelines using Apache Airflow to process, transform, and load large-scale datasets efficiently and reliably.
• Build, maintain, and continuously improve data systems supporting scientific research, including relational databases and cloud-based Lakehouse
• Ensure data accuracy, accessibility, observability, and reliability through proactive monitoring, alerting, and incident response
• Work with scientists, data engineers, and cross-functional teams to translate requirements into robust, scalable platform solutions.

Required Technical Skills

• Advanced expertise in PostgreSQL and Greenplum MPP
• Strong proficiency with Apache Airflow
• Hands-on experience with AWS cloud services
• Strong Python programming skills and proficiency in SQL and SQL performance tuning

Nice to Have

• Experience with Lakehouse technologies: Trino and Apache Iceberg
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform for provisioning and managing cloud resources.
• Hands-on CI/CD pipeline setup and management for data tools and platform components.
• Kubernetes operational experience beyond basics

Required Qualifications

Degree: Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related discipline

Experience: 8+ years of professional experience in Linux-based environments, with deep expertise in data engineering, data management, and scalable distributed data architectures

Our excellent benefits include:

• Employer retirement contribution – direct STScI contribution of 10% of your salary from your first day
• 12 days sick leave, up to 24 days’ vacation, and 10 paid holidays
• Flexible work schedule with healthy work/life balance
• Comprehensive medical/dental/vision/prescription plans, and more!

Salary

Salary range is $125,000 - $150,000. Final compensation is based on experience, skills, internal equity, and market conditions.

Application link

Position: Senior Data Engineer

Applications received by 04/03/2026 will receive full consideration. Applications received after this date will be considered until the position is filled. Reference #: 0015514

Contact

Individuals needing assistance with the employment process can contact us at careers@stsci.edu.