Senior Cloud Data Architect - Databricks Lakehouse

Peraton's Department of the Interior (DOI), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have identified a critical gap in the federal government's ability to conduct comprehensive Endangered Species Act (ESA) research. While FWS operates an authoritative web-based platform for managing data for terrestrial and freshwater species, it does not currently include NMFS marine and anadromous species data forcing agencies to rely on separate, manual processes. This program closes that gap by integrating marine and anadromous species data into the existing FWS platform, creating a single, unified experience for all ESA-listed species.

Peraton is seeking a Senior Cloud Data Architect SME with expertise in Databricks and cloud data lakehouse architectures to lead the data engineering foundation for a federal data migration program. You will design and oversee the implementation of ETL pipelines, schema harmonization, and data quality frameworks within a FedRAMP-compliant hybrid AWS cloud environment.

Work Location: Remote

Roles and Responsibilities

Lead the design and implementation of the cloud data lakehouse architecture for federal species data ingestion, ensuring compatibility with existing infrastructure and platform constraints
• Design the Delta Live Tables ETL pipeline architecture, defining pipeline topology, data flow patterns, transformation stages, and error-handling frameworks
• Lead schema harmonization activities, conducting gap analysis between source schemas and the target data model and producing field-level mapping documentation
• Define metadata standards for all ingested datasets including naming conventions, data types, null handling, and authoritative source attribution
• Design the Metadata and Authoritative Source Registry structure and population methodology
• Oversee ETL pipeline development and deployment, ensuring all pipelines are version-controlled and peer-reviewed
• Design data quality validation frameworks within ETL pipelines, defining completeness, accuracy, consistency, and spatial integrity quality criteria
• Produce the Data Model Harmonization Report, documenting gap analysis findings between source schemas and the target data model, field-level mapping decisions, and metadata standard definitions for government review and approval
• Lead the operational handoff of ETL pipeline architecture, producing documentation for routine data refresh, pipeline monitoring, and maintenance procedures
• Provide cloud data architecture guidance for FedRAMP-compliant production deployment

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelors degree and 12 years professional experience or a Masters degree and 10 years professional experience or an Associates degree and 14 years professional experience; or a high school diploma/equivalent and 16 years' professional experience.
• U.S. Citizenship required; must have the ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance
• Extensive years of experience in cloud data architecture with expertise in Databricks and Delta Lake/Delta Live Tables
• Demonstrated experience designing data lakehouse architectures for large-scale data migration programs
• Experience with schema harmonization, ETL pipeline design, and data quality frameworks
• Strong knowledge of FedRAMP, FISMA, and federal cloud compliance requirements
• Experience with metadata management and authoritative source registry design

Preferred Qualifications

• Databricks Certified Data Engineer or equivalent certification
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect or AWS Certified Data Engineer certification
• Experience with federal environmental or geospatial data systems
• Familiarity with spatial data integration and GIS data pipelines
• Active Public Trust Clearance

Peraton is a next-generation national security company that drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world's leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted, highly differentiated solutions and technologies to protect our nation and allies. Peraton operates at the critical nexus between traditional and nontraditional threats across all domains: land, sea, space, air, and cyberspace. The company serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies and supports every branch of the U.S. armed forces. Each day, our employees do the can't be done by solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers. Visit peraton.com to learn how we're keeping people around the world safe and secure.